Jago 210| Exploring the Golden Triangle and the Thai - Myanmar Border at Mae Sai

After a day of resting at the Chiang Rai church, on the 57th day of my travel, the church members, Jeff and Wawa, took me around to the Golden Triangle, the meeting point of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
Now this area has become a developed ASEAN economic cooperation area. Even though it used to be a den of drug mafia and trafficking of endangered animals, even humans. It is also possible that mafia activities have become more legal because in Thailand weeds is legal and in Laos, across the Mekong River, casino buildings are mushrooming.
In the past, this area was part of the Kingdom of Chiang Saen, centered to the south of the triangle. Chiang Saen is the hometown of Meng Rai, the king who later founded the Lanna kingdom in Chiang Rai and then had Chiang Mai as its capital.
On the Thai side, now stands a giant Buddha statue that seems to be sailing the Mekong by boat. Could this be a sign that Thailand is leading the way in the development of Buddhism among these three Buddhist majority countries?
We continued westward until we reached Mae Sai, a border town with Myanmar. It is similar in appearance to Mae Sod, another border town in Tak. Old buildings flank the wide road leading to the immigration gate.
A small bridge connects the two countries. I got confirmation from the immigration officer that currently foreigners are not allowed to cross here. Thus it is only natural that my e-visa registration to cross through here was rejected.
In the end, I could only watch the Myanmar people going back and forth in Mae Sai. As I remembered, Myanmar women still wear tanaka on their cheeks and men wear sarongs with shirt tops.
They go to Mae Sai to work or shop. Mae Sai is a busy trading city visited by residents of Chiang Rai or Tachileik, Myanmar. Many cheap goods such as groceries from Thailand or branded imitations from China brought from Myanmar.
We returned to Chiang Rai and tomorrow I plan to go around King Meng Rai's city.
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Stage 1 Route - Sumatra (DONE!):
Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru
Stage 2 Route - ASEAN Mainland (Malaysia - Thailand - Laos):
Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China
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Music Credits:
And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...