Why visit Mae Sot
Townapedia lists 5 museums and landmarks, 4 parks and trails, 108 places to eat, 50 places to stay and 1 attraction in and around town.
Highlights include Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge.
Weather in Mae Sot
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Mae Sot
Mae Sot (Northern Thai: ᨾᩯ᩵ᩈᩬᨯ; Thai: แม่สอด, pronounced [mɛ̂ː sɔ̀ːt]; Burmese: မဲဆောက်, [mɛ́ sʰaʊʔ]; Shan: မႄႈသွတ်ႇ, [mɛ sʰɔt̚]) is a city in western Thailand that shares a border with Myanmar to the west. It is notable as a trade hub and for its substantial population of Burmese migrants and refugees. The city is part of Tak Province, 87 km from the city of Tak and 492 km from Bangkok. It is home to the district headquarters of Mae Sot District, and is the main gateway between Thailand and Burma.
From the Wikipedia article Mae Sot (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Travel tips from other travellers: Mae Sot on Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Photos of Mae Sot
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Things to do1
Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge
Bridge · 6.1 km
International road bridge
Museums and landmarks5
Parks, trails and playgrounds4
Restaurants and cafes108
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Chormuang Cafe & Restaurant
Restaurant · Thai · 1.5 km
ถนนเอเซีย
Mo-Su 10:00-22:00
Blue Pond Cafe Maesot
Cafe · Breakfast, Cake, Chicken, Coffee Shop, Curry, Noodles, Sandwich
23/4 ถนนบ้านทุ่ง
Mo-Su 07:00-18:00
บ.กุ้งเผา (เฮียเบี้ยว) แม่สอด
Restaurant · Thai, Seafood · 1.1 km
625 Intharakeeree
Mo-Su 16:00-22:00
Homie Burmese Restaurant
Restaurant · Asian · 1.4 km
104,28 Ban Nuea
Tu-Su 07:00-17:00
Little Burma Tea Bar
Restaurant · Asian · 4.4 km
23 phra that pha Daeng
Fr-We 07:00-19:00
Pizza Club
Restaurant · American, Italian · 1.4 km
Mo-Su 11:00-22:30
96 more on the map.
History
In 1937 Mae Sot was a local administration, administered by a headman, usually called village headman or village chief (ผู้ใหญ่บ้าน phu yai ban). Its population at the time was approximately 12,000 people. On 30 September 1939 Mae Sot was established as a municipalitity and governed 27 villages. It was upgraded to a city municipality in 2010.
In 1997, the Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge opened across the Moei River connecting Mae Sot with Myawaddy. An additional border crossing, the second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, was opened in 2019 to the north west of Mae Sot to handle goods traffic.
In recent decades, the city has become home to thousands of Burmese migrants. Industries in Mae Sot have grown, especially in the areas related to international trade and manufacturing in textiles, garments, gemstones, jade and teak. By 2004, the numbers of Burmese migrants in Mae Sot had reached between 70,000 and 100,000.
From the History section of Mae Sot on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
More about Mae Sot
Geography
The neighboring districts of Mae Sot include Mae Pa tambon administrative organization (TAO) in the north, Mae Tao (TAO) to the south, Mae Pa and Phra That Pha Daeng (TAO) to the east, and the Tha Sai Luat Sub-district Municipality to the west.
Economy
Trade with Burma constitutes the largest portion of Mae Sot's economy. It has an established market for commodities such as wholesale gems and teak. Most of the town's service industries are supported by Burmese migrants who work in sweat-shops and factories throughout the region. The town also suffers from a black market in illegal smuggling, human trafficking, and narcotics. The Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge is the primary gateway for trade with Burma. The border region, several kilometres west from central Mae Sot, includes the Rim Moei Market that deals in imported goods and woodwork.
Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and prime minister, in May 2015 invoked his authority under Section 44 of the Interim Charter to declare the area of Wang Takhian in Tha Sai Luat subdistrict of Mae Sot a special economic zone (SEZ). The current plan is to transform nearly 2,200 rai of land of Tha Sai Luat into an SEZ. The government has offered to compensate displaced villagers at 7,000-12,000 baht per rai of land and resettle villagers in another district of Tak. As of July 2016 the current market price of a rai of land in Mae Sot is almost one million baht, leading villagers to reject the offer.
Mae Sot is located on the East-West Economic Corridor, which connects Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
From the Wikipedia article Mae Sot, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to stay50
Churches and places of worship11
Shopping21
Gas and EV charging7
Schools, colleges and libraries12
Healthcare5
Map of Mae Sot
224 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Mae Sot Airport (MAQ) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 3 km away.
- Mae Ramat 30 km north, about 30 min by car
- Tak 62 km east, about 1 h by car
- Ban Tak 66 km northeast, about 1 h by car
- Ban Wang Man 78 km northeast, about 1 h 15 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Keep exploring
Local news
Headlines from INDB.
Reviews, tips and questions
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- Mapillary (see each image): photos
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (7), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (5), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (8), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (6), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae sot dried fish 01, Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Thailand (Unsplash bLiHqa-xK0w), Peter Hershey peterhershey, CC0
- Mae Sot Tak Province Thailand - panoramio, schämpu, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio, Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (1), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (2), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (3), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mae Sot, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand - panoramio (4), Mozhar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Tha Sai Luat, Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand - panoramio (17), ::::=UT=::::, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Tha Sai Luat, Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand - panoramio (15), ::::=UT=::::, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Tha Sai Luat, Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand - panoramio (16), ::::=UT=::::, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge, Lerdsuwa, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Maesot2, Dl4gbe, Public domain
- Mae Sot temple07, Meneerke bloem, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cricket Thai food, 咽頭べさ, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Giant water bugs Thai food 1, 咽頭べさ, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Giant water bugs Thai food, 咽頭べさ, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fried bread Burma, 咽頭べさ, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fried bread Burma 1, 咽頭べさ, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Mother in Thailand (Unsplash), Aleksandar Popovski popovski, CC0
- Riding Through The Market (Unsplash), Peter Hershey peterhershey, CC0
- ISS030-E-127718 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- Street-level photo, kaanpakpum, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, kaanpakpum, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, kaanpakpum, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, kaanpakpum, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, kaanpakpum, CC BY-SA 4.0
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