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Samosas

Mae Sai, Burma – For travelers wishing to stay in Thailand over a month or expats without a work visa, the occasional visa run is a necessity.  I had to activate my brand new business visa by leaving the country and coming back.  Instead of visiting another country, I opted to do a day trip from Chiang Mai to Burma.  All the travel agencies in Chiang Mai sell visa run tickets to Mae Sai.  A van picks you up early in the morning takes you up to the border, you cross over the border and then back again to obtain a stamp and then take the van back to Chiang Mai.  Right before the border back to Thailand, a vendor was selling a mess of fried things and I couldn’t resist buying a bag of samosas (3/5 baht) before reentering the land of smiles.  Once back in Thailand, I sat down at a cafe with a fellow visa runner, a young Canadian traveler, ordered a papaya fruit shake and dug into the samosas.  They were crispy, filled with spiced potatoes, accompanied by a super garlicky soy-vinegar dipping sauce with mint, and really quite delicious.  Damn, I said, after wolfing down all three, I wish I had gotten more.  ”Let’s go back to Burma!” said my new friend. It almost sounded like a good idea.

Samosa Vendor in Front of the Burma-Thailand Border