Chiang Rai is located in the northern Thailand. Its border is next to Burma. Because Chiang Rai’s surrounding areas are high mountains, the weather is quite cold in the winter season (November to January). Chiang Rai is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand.

Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun (Thai: วัดร่องขุ่น) is a contemporary unconventional buddhist and Hindu temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat. Construction began in 1997.

For Thai language, Wat means “temple” and Rong Khun is the name of the district in Chaing Rai where the builder had been raised when he was young.

Wat Rong Khun had been built since 1997 by Chalermchai Kositpipat, the Buddhist artist who has spent his own money in building this temple. He does not ask anyone for money for donation and neither does he receive subsidy from the government. His declaration forbidding the faithful to give a donation of over 10,000 Baht is a clear testimony of his standpoint, retaining the freedom of his creative thinking.

Up to now, Wat Rong Khun has not been completed yet; however, it has become Chiang Rai’s top tourist destination because of its white-color spectacular design and the Buddhism paintings inside. If you have a chance to go there, don’t miss a hall of masterwork of Chalermchai Kositpipat. There are a lot of beautiful paintings with various kinds of arts.

Hall of Opium

It takes about 1.30 – 2 hours to visit Hall of Opium, where you can learn the history of the opium. The presentation and the display is really good. It’s worth your visit.

Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle is where you can see three countries, Thailand, Burma, and Laos. Moreover, in the past, this location was a very famous drug route in Asia.

Mae Sai and Tachileik Market

Mae Sai is the name of Chiang Rai’s district where is next to the border of Myanmar. There are a lot of traditional Thai products you can buy with reasonable prices such as silver stuff and other souvenirs. From Mae Sai, you can cross the border to Myanmar where there is a market called “Tachileik”. Tachileik Market is famous for imitated products. They sell clothes, sunglasses, watches, handbags, perfume, luggage of many brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Calvin Klein, Rolex, Oakley, Ripcurl, Billabong, etc. However, they are all imitated products with different grades and prices. If you don’t use the artificial products, this place is not suitable for you. You will buy nothing there.

Moreover, the sell many snacks there in low prices, but I didn’t buy them since I’m not sure whether they are also imitates products. It’s too risk to eat them. However, if you just want to see the strange things or the way of life there, please bring the mask the cover you nose and mouth because there is a lot of dust at the market.