What city are you traveling from?

@Br***

, got it. I’m in Chiang Mai and everyone here says it is required.

I believe you must also go to immigration within 24 hours of arriving back in Thailand, and they stamp your TM 30 with the date. I did this and it was easy, no line. I guess they can find you at 90 day report if you don’t do this.

@T**

, thanks I talked to my school today and they said the earliest the Ministry of Education will process paperwork is 30 days in advance, not 45. So I’m going to do it as soon as possible and hopefully avoid the Songkran weekend. Thanks!

Thanks, Tod. So I should ask my school to prepare paperwork early for me, and I hope it will work out. Otherwise, I will be spending April 11 all day at immigration and that does not sound like a good idea.

Bummer... I’m going to have to come back to Chiang Mai early, as school is on break and I hoped to be away for Songkran!

Hi, I wrote this post about my experience in December. Which part do you want to know about? You can check green bus website for current bus times.

And VIP just means bigger, more comfortable seats that recline. Good luck!

The Bus was not completely full, there were a few seats in the back near toilet. The “VIP” seats are only the first two rows of bus, and cost a bit more but still very cheap. I left at 8am from Terminal 2 Chiang Mai, arrived 12:45 in Mae Sai, songtauw for 15 baht over to border crossing by 1:15, walked across the bridge, left Thailand and turned in my departure card, walked into Myanmar, handed over my passport (they keep it), got my Myanmar day pass (10 usd), looked at some vendor stalls for 10 minutes, walked back across, got my passport when leaving and entered Thailand for my new stamp. Back on songtauw to bus station, left Mae Sai at 2:30 and was back in Chiang Mai by 8pm. If you do this, watch your time while over the border as there is a 30 minutes time difference Thailand-Myanmar. I almost missed my bus back.

On website you can choose location of your seat. Station is Terminal 2 across superhighway from Central festival.