Page 276 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

274 INLE LAKE AND THE EAST TACHILEIK

MONG LA
Way out near the Chinese border, around 80km northeast of Kengtung, Mong La ( )
has a bit of a reputation. The town is run as a private fiefdom of the Shan separatist National
Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) and offers a surreal splash of modernity in this remote
region, with neon-lit streets and dozens of high-rises poking up from between the
surrounding hills. Mong La is effectively an extension of China, using Chinese currency,
electricity, phone lines and even running on Beijing time, and has long been popular with
6 (almost exclusively male) Chinese tourists, who come across the border to throw down cash
at the town’s casinos. Pressure from the Chinese government forced many to close in 2005,
though in the words of one local NDAA official, “we just moved them all back ten miles, and
made them much larger”. The town also has a flourishing drugs and prostitution scene
– child prostitution is endemic, with some of the girls in the town’s innumerable brothels as
young as 13. The town is also a major trading centre for animals and animal parts, as a visit
to the market will make clear, with live pangolins and monkeys, as well as tiger claws,
elephant skin, bear paws and the like all offered for sale. There’s no real reason to come here,
except to experience the general weirdness of the place, and the border is closed to
third-party nationals. It’s also worth reflecting that every foreign dollar spent here
contributes, however inadvertently, to propping up an economy whose entire rationale is
based on drugs, animal cruelty and sexual abuse.

changing times in Kengtung. The almost-funky decor is including good soups, stir-fries and tofu dishes (K3000).
certainly a change from your average teahouse, as is the You can eat outside under the giant banyan tree – although
menu, featuring pizza, pasta and dim sum alongside it’s not a garden, sadly, but a sort of concrete shelf.
traditional Shan dishes (most mains around K3000) – plus Daily 10am–9pm.
the best coffee between Taunggyi and Thailand. Lod Htin Lu 2nd Keng Larn Rd. Similar to – if a bit
Daily 7am–10pm. dingier than – the Golden Banyan, serving up a
Golden Banyan Zaydan Loang St T084 21421. One of similar array of generic Chinese-style fare (mains
the most reliable places to eat in town, serving a wide around K3000). Reliable, if not wildly inspiring.
range of Chinese dishes (most mains around K3000) Daily 10am–8pm.
DIRECTORY
Banks There are ATMs at the CB and KBZ banks in the town centre.

Tachileik

You’ll find yourself passing through the rapidly expanding little city of TACHILEIK if
making the trip between Kengtung and northern Thailand. There’s a palpable frontier
atmosphere here – it’s almost as if a zest for foreign currency has physically yanked the
place right up to the border, with Thai baht being the main currency accepted
everywhere from hotels to the tiny stores dealing in black-market goods. That said,
these days Chinese is quite possibly the second language here – a sign of the times.
Although there’s no reason to visit the place on its own merit, Tachileik has long been
a popular visa-run destination for expats living in Thailand and travellers wanting to
peek inside Myanmar without shelling out on a visa or benefiting the regime. If you
find yourself here with time to kill it’s worth having a look at the labyrinthine market,
stuffed full of contraband and pirated goods, from Thai cigarettes to fake foreign
liquor. Access to the surrounding countryside and hills, however, is strictly forbidden.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE TACHILEIK
By plane Tachileik’s small airport is 10km northeast of the baht by motorbike, or 300 baht by tuk-tuk). You can buy
town centre, just east of the Kengtung road (around 100 tickets from various agencies around the junction just up