Chiang Rai – Unveil The Beauty Behind “Golden Triangle”

Located 170 kilometers away from Chiangmai, Chiangrai is near the borders of Thailand with Laos and Myanmar. This used to be called the “golden triangle” with the famous white temple.

While Chiangmai is very dynamic with several entertaining activities, Chiangrai is a peaceful and contains mysteries which will make anyone curious. In order to explore everything in this city, you might need only 3 to 7 days. However, Thailand has several fascinating place and in the case that you only have one day in this city, below might be the appropriate schedule with the most attractive places which you can rely on.

You can travel from Chiangmai to Chaing Rai. After many days exploring Thailand, we figure out that in order to be convenient for the tourists, they could follow the tour or rent the motorbikes by themselves. The cost for renting motor bike is about 300-400 baht for each motorbike in one day, depends on the types of motor. To save the time, you should get start in the early morning. Moreover, the weather at that time is quite cool.

The first place which should visit first is the white temple Wat Rong Khun. The temple is designed in 1997 by Chalermchai Kositpipat, a Thais artist. The concept of the construction is to honor the pure wisdom of Buddha. The temple looks totally different from many other ancient pagodas or temples in Chiangmai.


The interesting point is that there are many pictures of famous people all over the world being hang around the temple, such as Superman, Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley. However, visitors are not allowed to take pictures in the temples.


The second place is an extremely attractive destination: The Golden Triangle. This used to be a very dangerous zone, with high mountains and thick forests. Golden Triangle used to be the largest opium production zone of the world. Nowadays, this place no longer grows opium but becomes an ideal ecological resort. The fields of old poppies were replaced by greenery and fruit trees all year round.


There is now a temple with a large statue that can be seen from afar, being highlighted by the sunlight. Around the area are the opium shops and museums. From here you can rent a boat to go to the border of Laos or Myanmar, the fee is only about 200-300 baht per person and you can go for 1-2 hours. The famous golden triangle in history is now a very peaceful place.


The last point to check before returning to Chiangmai is the village of long neck Karen. The Karen people are actually part of Myanmar’s ethnic minority migrating to Thailand, scattered in some of the northern provinces of the country.

The number of women’s bracelets here depends on their age. Some necklaces are 35cm high and weigh 5kg. Just like in Myanmar, the long neckers here live in a separate area, each of which will make its own souvenirs for tourists.

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply