I recently (May 2023) used the Mas Sai border crossing to renew my entry stamp (30 day visa exempt stamp) and thought I would provide a summary for others.
The first step was stamping out of Thailand. At this desk, the Thai immigration officer asked if I was going to come back to Thailand the same day or if I was going to spend several days in Burma. I told her that I was going to come back the same day and that I was just renewing my entry stamp (I still had 8 days remaining on it). She then stamped me out of Thailand and I walked to the bridge.
When you get to the Burmese checkpoint, they asked for my covid vaccination certificate (physical or digital was acceptable) or a copy of a Thai Ministry of Public Health document (I didn’t see exactly what document it was). I didn’t know I was going to need that certificate so I did not have it with me. After a few minutes of a back-and-forth I explained that I was only there to stamp into Burma and immediately stamp out, I wasn’t actually going to go into the town. They led me to an office where I paid 500thb and got both the entry and exit stamps for Burma. I then returned to the Thai side of the border.
At the Thai entry point, I had to fill out the iconic paper TM.6 form. I gave the form and my passport to the immigration officer and about two minutes later she stamped me into Thailand for another 30 days. Easy as that.
Couple of notes based on my stupidity – You need to stamp into and out of Burma, the Thai immigration officers won’t let you stamp out and back into Thailand. There are multiple signs for “passport control” on the Thai entry side. Go to the ones closest to the blue building if you’re not Burmese. Even with my mistakes and errors, it took less than 30 minutes.
