What to do in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Chiang Rai is a mountain city in the North of Thailand. It’s located near the borders with Myanmar and Laos. While it’s often overlooked in the benefit of its nearby neighbor Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai was one of the most positive surprises during our time in Northern Thailand. You’ve probably seen its instagram-worthy White Temple. However, Chiang Rai has a lot more to offer than people usually realize. From temples to nature and cultural heritage, Chiang Rai is somehow known but also a hidden gem. If you’re wondering what to do in Chiang Rai, this post is for you. Let’s dive in!

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Top 14 things to do in Chiang Mai, Thailand

1. Discover the Magical White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Even if you haven’t heard of Chiang Rai, you have certainly seen Wat Rong Khun. It is commonly known as the White Temple. This architectural masterpiece manages to show all the intricacy and detail of Thai architecture and strips it of its vibrant colors. This leaves a gorgeous temple all in white, silver and mirrors, symbolizing the purity of the Buddha.

Price: 50 THB (1.25€), Schedule: Mon-Sun, 8am-6pm.

In fact, the whole temple tells a story of the teachings of the Buddha. It symbolizes the path towards enlightenment, making merit and avoiding earthly possessions. One of the most shocking areas of the temple is the bridge over a moat of outreaching hands. The hands symbolize unrestrained desire, while the bridge means that the way to happiness is by letting go temptation and greed.

Disclosure: while the White Temple is a stunning piece of architecture and a gorgeous representation of Thailand’s Buddhism, do not mistake it for an ancient temple, as it was finished in 2008.

2. Immerse in Blue at the Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten)

The Blue Temple (or Wat Rong Suea Ten) is another unique and beautiful temple in Chiang Rai. Unlike the White Temple, the Blue Temple uses vibrant hues of blue and intricate golden details. The blue symbolizes the tranquility and healing of Buddhism. You won’t be surprised to learn that this temple was designed by a disciple of the architect that design the White Temple. When you go inside the Main Hall, you’ll see beautiful intricate paintings all around in vibrant colors.

Price: free, Schedule: Mon-Sun, 7am-8pm.

3. Find the Emmerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew

While the White and Blue Temples are more widely known, especially in social media, the most important historically and the oldest temple in Chiang Rai is Wat Phra Kaew. Wat Phra Kaew is a royal temple and it also hosts one of the main centers of Buddhist educations in Northern Thailand. However, the temple is most known for being the place where the Emerald Buddha was found. The Emerald Buddha is a green jasper statue of the Buddha clothed in gold that was found inside of a chedi from the original temple in 1434, when a lightning stroke and opened it. Now the original statue is in the Grand Palace in Bangkok, but a replica can be seen in Chiang Rai.

Price: free, Schedule: Mon-Sun, 9am-5pm.

4. Marvel at the Guanyin Temple at Wat Huay Pla Kang

Yet another wonderful temple in Chiang Rai, Wat Huay Pla Kang was a real surprise for me. The temple complex is located in beautiful green rolling hills just outside Chiang Rai and is composed of three main areas: the Phop Chok Dhamma Chedi, the White Wihan and the Guanyin statue. The temple is a mix of Thai Lanna and Chinese styles. The best part about it is that, despite being a stunning temple, it is still not as known as the White Temple, so we were practically alone!

Price: free, Schedule: Mon-Sun, 7am-9pm

Phop Chok Dhamma Chedi

The most colorful of the temples is the Phop Chok Dhamma Chedi, a 9-storey chedi with Chinese roofs on each level and guarded by colorful Chinese dragon statues. You can climb the stairs to the top floor, seeing carved statues of Buddha, Guanyin and monks. From the top floor you’ll get a fantastic view of the Guanyin statue.

White Wihan

The White Wihan is a layered white temple with an entrance with a Naga staircase. Inside, you’ll find a white hall with two white Buddha statues. The hall is lined with beautifully carved pillars.

Guanyin statue

The most impressive feature of the Wat Huay Pla Kang temple is the gigantic Guanyin Statue. Guanyin is the Goddess of Mercy in Chinese Buddhism. This statue is one of the biggest of its kind, at 90m tall (23 stories). It is difficult to capture in a picture how massive it looks! While depicting the same Goddess, it feels quite different than the Guanyin statue in Kek Lok Si temple in Penang, Malaysia. To get to the Guanyin statue you’ll have to climb a big staircase lined by massive white dragons. You can also enter the statue and even climb it for only 40 THB (1€), to enjoy some of the intricate murals inside.

5. Question everything at the Baan Dam Museum (Black House Museum)

Ok this one is a bizarre one. The Baan Dam Museum is a museum park designed by Thawan Duchanee that showcases a version of hell using Lan Xang (Laotian), Lanna, and Suvarnabhumi architectural styles, decorating rooms with dark colors and dead animals (such as crocodile and snake skins or buffalo horns). While some of bit is a bit dark and hard to look at for my taste, the museum is strangly and hountingly beautiful, and a wonderful counterpoint to the purity of the White Temple.

Price: 80 THB (2€), Schedule: Mon-Sun 9am-5pm

6. Eat Everything at the Chiang Rai Night Bazaar

At night, Chiang Rai comes alive at the Night Bazaar, where you’ll find plenty of stalls selling local food as well as some international food. It is an excellent place to try out some amazing Thai dishes. While it is perhaps not the best food you’ll ever have in Thailand, it is still delicious, cheap and has a very lively atmosphere! Some of the things we tried were Pad Thai (an obvious choice), Pad Kra Pao (my favourite Thai dish) and some stir fried baby kale.

7. Buy some souvenirs at the Saturday Night Walking Street

If shopping is your thing, the Saturday Night Walking Street will be up your allwy (no pun intended). On Saturday evenings, Thanalai Road stops the traffic and is filled with stalls selling clothes, handicrafts and delicious food treats! It is a perfect place to have a stroll, buy some souvenirs and have a fun evening with lots of people, nice food and live music!

8. Visit Chiang Rai’s Clocktower

Chiang Rai’s Clocktower was actually designed by the same architect that built the White Temple, and you can really see it in the details! It is gorgeous during the day, with its gold plated carvings, but it becomes alive every night when they put on a lightshow at 7, 8 and 9pm.

Price: free, Schedule: Mon-Sun 7, 8 and 9pm.

What to do around Chiang Mai, Thailand

8. See Three Countries Meet at the Golden Triangle

Now that you have explored Chiang Rai, it’s time to explore its surroundings. One of the most popular day trips from Chiang Rai is the so-called “Golden Triangle”. This area of the Mekong River is the convergence of the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. In full honesty, the area is beautiful but not particularly breathtaking, but there is something special in standing at the border of 3 countries.

Photo by Chainwit, CC BY-SA 4.0

9. Explore the Ancient City of Chiang Saen

Just south of the Golden Triangle, you’ll find Chiang Saen, a river city with some very well preserved ancient ruins from the Lanna Kingdom. While perhaps not as beautiful and well-preserved as other ancient cities in Thailand like Ayutthaya or Sukhothai, it is still a fantastic place to understand the past of Northern Thailand and much more off-the-beaten-path.

10. Hike to Khun Korn Waterfall

One of the most popular hikes around Chiang Rai is the Khun Korn Waterfall. The trail is quite easy and it’s only 1.4km long, going through the Khun Korn Forest Park and to the waterfall of the same name. The trail is full of lush vegetation, bamboo bridges crossing streams and it ends in the stunning Khun Korn waterfall, which is 70m tall and it falls into a pond where you can have a nice swim to cool down!

Price: free, Schedule: 8am-4pm

Travel tip: The Khun Korn Forest Park is located relatively near the White Temple, and it’ll take half a day at most, so you can pair them up for a perfect mix of culture and nature!

Warning: you’ll see signs alerting of snakes. It is definitely true so proceed with caution. Bring proper hiking shoes and ideally long pants.

11. Visit the Border Village of Mae Sai

One of the coolest things about Chiang Rai is how close it is to the borders to Myanmar and Laos. You can experience this first hand at Mae Sai village, a tiny town north of Chiang Rai that co-lives with its attached Burmese neighbour of Tachilek, with a border cross smack in the middle of both. While at the time of writing (2024) it may not be the best moment to visit Myanmar, it is a beautiful and welcoming country, so Mae Sae can be a perfect spot to move onward from your trip in Thailand and start your journey in Myanmar, when things calm down. Regardless of that, Mae Sai is a nice area to visit because of the nice viewpoints to the surrounding mountains and if you’d like to shop for goods coming from Myanmar or China.

There are plenty of things to do in and around Mae Sai, such as watching the views from Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple to shopping and dining in Mae Sai Market. Also, you can visit the Pha Mi village right next to it, with a beautiful scenery of mountains and lakes, or Ban Pha Hee, another village higher in the mountains focused on coffee plantations. You can also visit the Tham Luang caves, made famous because of the teenage football team that was trapped there for over a week because of monsoon rainfall floods in 2018.

12. Visit the Choui Fong Tea Plantation

On your way to Mae Sai, make sure you stop at the beautiful Choui Fong Tea Plantation. This tea estate is arranged in a gorgeous way, similar to that found in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. Choui Fong is one of the largest tea plantations in Thailand, and has now adapted a bit to tourists by adding a nice tea room where you can enjoy some tea-based food and drinks paired with the wonderful view of the tea fields.

Price: free, Schedule: Mon-Sun 8.30am-5.30pm

13. Watch the sunrise or sunset at Phu Chi Fa

Phu Chi Fa hill is one of the best hikes around Chiang Rai. This hill is located in the mountain range that separates Thailand from Laos. The hike is relatively easy if you’re in good shape, and it’ll take you to a viewpoint with expansive views over the valley and the Mekong river in Laos. If you manage to pair it with the sunset, you’ll get an extra layer of beauty! It is a relatively popular hike so do not expect to be alone, but it won’t probably be crowded either. If you’d like to avoid people altogether, then I suggest you visit the nearby Doi Pha Tang hill.

14. DECIDE if you visit the Long Neck Karen villages

Some areas of Northern Thailand, including Chiang Rai, is home to some villages of the Karen tribe. This tribe is Burmese in origin and known worldwide because of the brass rings women of the tribe wear to elongate their neck. It would not be honest to ignore that visiting their villages is a popular tourist attraction in the Chiang Rai area (although perhaps not as much as in Chiang Mai), but instead of telling you if you should visit or not, I’ll leave you with the ethical dilemma so you can choose for yourself.

There are two main problems with visiting Long Neck Karen villages. One is more about the feeling that you may have or that you may make the locals feel. Basically these villages are treated like a human zoo, were tourists take pictures of the locals just because they look “exotic”. Not great. Additionally, part (if not all) of the fees that you pay to visit these villages do not go directly to the locals, but rather to the government (which is not giving them legal Thai status anyway) and/or tour agencies. For this reason and after some soul-searching, we decided NOT to visit.

That being said, I am sure that if you do the proper research, there are ways to interact with the tribes to their benefit. An easy way to do this is to avoid the tour operators altogether and go on your own, ideally to lesser known and more remote villages. Try to interact with the locals and understand their culture, and consider contributing to the village economy not by charitable donations but by buying their products or staying overnight.

How to get to Chiang Rai, Thailand

Chiang Rai is a relatively large city, so it is well connected to many major hubs in Thailand. It has its own airport, and we flew in from Penang, Malaysia, and there are flights from many national and international locations.

However, most people visit Chiang Rai from the more popular Chiang Mai, located around 3h away by bus (it is not connected by train). You can take many buses (the most popular being Greenbus) from the Arcade Station in Chiang Mai.

Lastly, if you don’t have much time, you can always visit the main attractions of Chiang Rai as an organized day trip from Chiang Mai. However, I really recommend that you spend at least 2 days in Chiang Rai to fully immerse in this underrated city and discover a few of the lesser known wonders it has to offer.

Where to eat in Chiang Rai, Thailand

While not as much a food destination as Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Isaan, Chiang Rai has a lot to offer to those willing to explore Thailand’s Northern cuisine. To check out my favourite places to eat, read the post below:

Where to eat in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Where to stay in Chiang Rai, Thailand

While Chiang Rai’s tourism is relatively recent compared with other cities in Thailand like Bangkok or Chiang Mai, there are still plenty of accommodation options for every budget, but a bit more research may be needed.

Booking.com

Budget

Suree House was the best value for money we could find. Very cheap rooms that were nice and comfortable and a very central location. Some people complain about the mattress being hard, but that was not a problem for me. If you want some more authentic Chiang Rai experience I recommend Saikaew Resort, although it’s a bit far from the center, so get a bike!

Baan Mai Kradan Hostel is on the higher end for hostels but still a very decent price for this beautifully designed hostel. It is perhaps less social than other hostels I’ve been in, but you can meet people playing darts and there is bike hire available. If, instead, you want to save every coin, then Pikban is your choice. With some of the cheapest rooms in town and a very nice location, it’s the perfect budget option.

Mid-range

Probably the best hotel in Chiang Rai in terms of luxury-meets-budget is MORA Boutique Hotel, a beautifully designed boutique hotel with a perfect location in the center of the city. If you prefer a more modern design, Blue Lagoon Hotel is a perfect alternative for you. With a sleek design, a beautiful pool and restaurant and a central location, it’s a fantastic option for a very reasonable price.

It has more “Western” prices but it is well worth the money. Nak Nakara Hotel does not only shine by its beauty and its nice pool, but also because of how friendly and helpful the staff is. A similar alternative is Le Patta Hotel.

Luxury

The Riverie is really not my type of hotel: massive, unlinked to local culture and over-artificial, but it’s very recommended by many so I couldn’t not mention it. Instead, Le Meridien is a gorgeous riverside hotel with a three-level pool and some colonial-inspired architecture. It is the perfect luxury hotel for those that don’t want the “in-your-face-luxury” experience.

If you want a stay out of town, Anantara Golden Triangle is a perfect mountain resort. It is located on a hill with gorgeous views over the Mekong river from its infinity pool and it boasts luxurious Thai details. It is located next to an elephant camp (which I haven’t visited, so can’t comment).

Closing statement

I hope I have shown you how enriching a trip to Chiang Rai can be. It is easy to see it as a day trip from Chiang Mai or even skip it all together in your Thailand itinerary, but instead, I recommend that you spend some time there. Explore its unique temples, hike through its mountain trails and get to known its people.

If you are visiting Thailand, you’ll probably fly to Bangkok so this posts may be useful:

What to do in Bangkok: top 10 activities

Ayutthaya: a day trip from Bangkok, Thailand

Also, since you’re thinking of visiting Southeast Asia, maybe these will inspire you:

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What to do in Singapore: Top 11 things to do in Singapore

Ultimate 3 Weeks Malaysia Itinerary for First Timers

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