Set opposite the Thai border town of Mai Sai, for many years Tachileik was one of the only overland border crossings between Thailand and Burma open (albeit in a crippled fashion) to foreigners in Thailand. This popularity gave the town an affluence that you don’t see in many other border towns between Thailand and Burma. Today it’s a hectic and modern town with round-the-clock electricity. Thai baht is the de facto currency, everyone is able to speak Thai and Thai telephone services work everywhere, making Tachileik quite unlike any other town in Burma.