Hey I came on this site to find movie times and saw this thread. I can confirm that the border is closed without a permit. I live in Yangon and to get to Kunming this morning I had to come through the open border (now even open to online e visas) in Thailand and then go through Lao. If anyone were trying to go in through the china border without a permit they would be entering illegally and putting anyone they interact with such as check point guards and hotels at risk of jail time. Going through Lao and Thailand was great and once you are in Burma you can even go right to the Indian border without any problem. Just don't try and cross it. Ps how do I find Kunming movie times on this site?

So let me get back to the topic, and sorry again for the sidestep. Theres a very recent burmese immigration law around, that you need to exit same land route you entered Burma/Myanmar from. That means if you enter Burma from Ruili/Muse - and you need a travel agencys services for that - you must exit from Muse too, back to Ruili. If you enter from Tachilek you must exit from there etc. Dont ask me how strictly this law is enforced - as burmese officers didnt use to care so much about visa overstays either - but usually agencies dont like to take any risks. And you need an agencys services, their paperwork, transport, guide, if you want to cross from Ruili to Muse. To get to and from Burma, will cost a lot as you need re-entry to China. So whatever Tom was anticipating over that border a few years back didnt come true, in fact crossing it seems to be even more complicated now. And by the way, I dont have this information on black and white, it is information given by speech, from a major Burmese travel agency and very recently given information. Thats about it.

Oupsy i found my answer !