Far northern Thailand · 190 km north of Chiang Mai

Chiang
Rai

The first Lanna capital, an hour of mountains from Myanmar and Laos, and the strangest temples in Thailand.

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The White Temple
The Blue Temple
The Black House
Golden Triangle
Tea hills
Mountain villages
Introduction

Older than Chiang Mai

King Mangrai founded Chiang Rai in 1262 and ruled Lanna from here for more than thirty years before he moved the capital south to Chiang Mai. The town that remains is small, low and easy to walk, wrapped around a bend of the Kok river with mountains on three sides. It is the last real town before the borders: Myanmar is an hour north, Laos an hour east, and the hills in between are where most of what you come for actually is.

Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, in its garden south of Chiang Rai

What makes Chiang Rai worth the journey is not the town but three buildings around it, all built in living memory by artists who did not much care what a temple is supposed to look like. The White Temple is a working artwork still under construction. The Blue Temple is what happens when the same school gets a free hand and a lot of cobalt. The Black House is a museum of dark wood and animal bones that is not a temple at all, though everyone assumes it is.

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Quick facts

Chiang Rai

  • Founded 1262 by King Mangrai, the first Lanna capital
  • 190 km north of Chiang Mai, about 3 hours by bus
  • No railway: the line stops at Chiang Mai and Den Chai
  • Airport CEI with several daily flights from Bangkok
  • Cool season November to February, genuinely cold at night in the hills
The mountain village of Mae Salong in the hills of Chiang Rai province
Getting there

Getting there from Ban Krut

There is no train, and that is the first thing to know. Thailand's northern line ends at Chiang Mai, so however you travel, the last stretch into Chiang Rai is a road or a runway.

The fastest route is two flights or one flight and a bus. From Ban Krut, take a northbound train to Hua Hin, roughly 2½ to 3½ hours, and fly Hua Hin to Chiang Mai; from Chiang Mai it is about three hours by bus on the mountain road, which is a good road and a beautiful one. The alternative is to go to Bangkok and fly direct: several airlines fly Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi to Chiang Rai every day, about an hour and twenty minutes in the air.

Chiang Rai's airport is called Mae Fah Luang International and sits ten kilometres north of town, so the last leg is short. Mae Fah Luang was the honorific of King Bhumibol's mother, and the name is carried too by the district up at Doi Tung, by a garden in town and by the university near the airport. The road from Chiang Mai through Chiang Rai and on towards Laos is being upgraded. In town itself you will not need transport at all; for everything outside it you will, and a rented scooter is the usual answer. The roads are good far into the mountains, so driving yourself is no trouble, and if you would rather not, you can hire a driver with a car. In town there are tuk-tuks as well.

Good to know

Before you go

  • November to February is the season. It is dry, clear, and cold enough at night in the hills to want a jacket.
  • March and April are burning season. It is not only the valleys: the whole province fills with agricultural smoke and the views disappear.
  • The three big sights are in three different directions outside town. Plan them as two days, not one.
  • Bring your passport if you go to the Golden Triangle; the border crossings are right there. The point itself is not up in the mountains but down in the flat part of the province, where the Mae Sai runs into the Mekong. As a region the Golden Triangle covers Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, Doi Mae Salong included, and the Hall of Opium museum tells the story of the opium trade.
The Mekong at Sop Ruak, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet
See & do

See & do in Chiang Rai

Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple in Chiang Rai
Temple

The Blue Temple

Wat Rong Suea Ten, finished in 2016 by a student of the White Temple's architect. Cobalt blue and gold from floor to ceiling, with a white Buddha at the end of it. Ten minutes north of the town centre and free.

Baan Dam, the Black House museum near Chiang Rai
Museum

The Black House

Baan Dam, forty-odd black teak buildings filled with horns, hides and bones by the artist Thawan Duchanee. Not a temple and not for everyone, but nothing else in Thailand is remotely like it.

The golden clock tower in central Chiang Rai lit up at night
Town

The clock tower

The town's landmark, designed by the same artist as the White Temple. It changes colour and plays music at seven, eight and nine each evening, which is more charming than it sounds.

Tea terraces at Choui Fong in the hills north of Chiang Rai
Hills

The tea hills

North of town the road climbs into tea country: Choui Fong's terraces, and beyond them Mae Salong, a Chinese village founded by Kuomintang soldiers who never went home. Cool air, oolong and noodles. Akha, Lahu, Thai Yai and Hmong live in these mountains, and the villages will feed you and put you up for the night.

Doi Tung Royal Villa in the mountains of Chiang Rai province
Mountains

Doi Tung

The royal villa and gardens on the mountain, built as the centre of a project that replaced opium fields with coffee, tea and macadamia. The drive up is half the reason to go.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Chiang Rai

The town centre around the clock tower and the night bazaar is walkable, cheap and where the buses arrive, which makes it the sensible base for a short visit. Along the Kok river the hotels are quieter and greener, and out in the hills there are resorts with views where you also eat: the food at Katiliya is excellent, and a homestay will feed you hill-tribe cooking, so nobody has to drive anywhere for dinner. Two nights in town covers the three big sights.

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Chiang Rai White, Blue & Red Temple & Karen Tribe

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