16 Great Things to Do in Chiang Rai

Intro to Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai is a smaller northern district of Thailand which remains somewhat off-the-beaten-path for many travelers. However, the region is beautiful and there are many things to do in Chiang Rai. The area is known for ethical elephant sanctuaries, amazing local legends and folklore, unique temples and obscure hiking routes.

Chiang Rai was founded in 1262 by King Meng Rai of the Lanna Kingdom (Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields). Chiang Rai became a par of Thailand territory in 1786. The area is renowned for it’s natural highland beauty, the convergence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers, various shrines to Thai and Lanna royalty and massive Buddha sculptures.

Affiliate Disclosure: Leftfade Trails contains affiliate links, so using services or products through these links supports the website, at no extra cost to the user. All links are to tested services and products designed to aid travelers on their journeys. Some links specifically connect to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate this website earns from qualifying purchases.

Shortlist of Things to Do in Chiang Rai

Clock Tower of Chiang Rai – A famously ornate clock tower located near central Chiang Rai.

Elephant Valley – Located slightly outside of Chiang Rai, this program allows tourists limited interactions with elephants. The program ensures ethical treatment and stabilizing the wild elephant population of SE Asia.

Chiang Rai Night Bazaar – A diverse series of goods, snacks and trinkets for sale in evenings in Chiang Rai.

Wat Rong Khun (White Temple) – An astonishing “art” temple made of twisting, swirling white accents to traditional structures. The walkway over the lake with hundreds of rising hands is a particularily famous aspect of the temple.

Wat Phra That Doi Khao Kwai – This temple is located north of the city with a huge, unique statue of a Sihuhata. The Sihuhata is a Thai deity who eats hot coals, excretes gold nuggets and provides wealth to worshipers.

Rai Mae Fah Luang – A unique green space famed for hosting the largest collection of folk art and teak artifacts from the Lanna Kingdom.

Manorom Coffee Shop – A popular coffee shop overlooking the Mekong River

Baan Dam Museum (Black Temple or Black House) – A series of buildings created with a mixture of traditional northern Thai buildings. The designs use unconventional and contemporary architecture styles. The artworks, designs and messages of the museum are unique combinations of Lanna, Thai and contemporary philosophies.

Pong Phra Bat Water Fall – A small waterfall at the end of an easy hiking trail. It is located in Lam Nam Kok National Park, Chiangrai.

Huai Mae Sai Waterfall – Found at the end of a moderately challenging hiking route, this waterfall is made of two levels. There is a small swimming area at the base. It is somewhat popular and busy.

Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue Temple) – A huge temple covered in elaborate and intricate blue-and-gold decorations. The temple is fascinating fusion of traditional Buddhist values and classic Thai architecture. It is also known as “The Temple of the Dancing Tiger” based on the history of the location.

Singha Park Chiang Rai – This is a small outdoor space for families. The scenic park is in a farm-like setting hosting tea plantations, orchards, walking paths, a tram & a petting zoo.

Wat Huay Pla Kang – Also known as “Big Buddha of Chiang Rai,” this temple is famous for an enormous white statue of Guanyin =, goddess of mercy. The temple is a Lanna-Chinese styled temple with Chinese dragons, smaller statues and views of the surrounding hills.

Oub Kham Museum – This is an ethnographic museum with several zany and unique artifact highlighting Northern Thailand’s tribal history with jewelry, costumes & sculptures.

Wat Phra Kaew – This temple is home to the Emerald Buddha, considered the most important Buddha statue in Thailand. Legend says the statue was discovered after lighting struck a chedi in Wat Pa Yia (Bamboo Forest Monastery, later renamed Wat Phra Kaew). The stucco statue inside was moved. It was eventually discovered to be made of semi-precious green jasper when the stucco was removed.

Sop Ruak – Also known as the “Golden Triangle” area, Sop Ruak Village is at the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak rivers. The lively village area is for tourism, with boat rides, shops and overlooks at the Golden Triangle Viewpoint. 

Detailed List of Great Things to Do in Chiang Rai

Clock Tower of Chiang Rai

This clock tower is famous landmark in Chiang Rai. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat, the artist who constructed Chiang Rai’s famous White Temple. The structure is located to the north of the night market area. It is brightly lit in the evenings.

Elephant Valley

Located slightly outside of Chiang Rai, this program allows tourists limited interactions with elephants. The program ensures ethical treatment and stabilizing the wild elephant population of SE Asia. The project helps domesticated elephant populations learn how to live in the wild by introducing new program members into “paired learning” with another elephant in the sanctuary.

The program has a larger venue in Cambodia which serves as the “graduation” training center, where elephants learn full independence. The elephants at Elephant Valley are still at the “kindergarten” level, so they’re still allowed to interact with humans once per day. However, visitor-volunteers doing chores and maintaining the habitat cannot approach elephants within the enclosure. When an elephant draws near, visitors can watch before moving away.

Chiang Rai Night Bazaar

A diverse series of goods, snacks and trinkets for sale in evenings in Chiang Rai. This night market is a nice place to get dinner and find traditional attire. However, the night market isn’t as big as the ones in Chiang Mai.

Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)

An astonishing “art” temple made of twisting, swirling white accents to traditional structures. The walkway over the lake with hundreds of rising hands is a particularly famous aspect of the art venue. The entire site is a privately owned art exhibit. It is owned by Chalermchai Kositpipat, who designed and constructed the temple. It is wise to visit the temple early in the morning. This is one of the most popular attractions in Chiang Rai, so it gets fairly busy.

Wat Phra That Doi Khao Kwai (Sihuhata Temple)

This temple is located north of the city with a huge, unique statue of a Sihuhata. The Sihuhata is a Thai deity who eats hot coals, excretes gold nuggets and provides wealth to worshipers. The temple itself has excellent overviews of the lower city and green hills. However, the four-eyed crouching Sihuhata is the main draw. The deity is covered in pale, frayed rope, giving it “fur.” There are several small hiking paths in the area which lead to smaller religious structures and older, smaller statues of the Sihuhata.

Rai Mae Fah Luang

Originally, this location was set aside as a training-camp for hill-tribe youths undergoing traditional leadership training. The location was eventually converted into a park which housed a vast number of artifacts and teak artworks from the Lanna Kingdom. The area is comprised of three main buildings, Haw Kham (Golden Pavilion), Haw Kham Noi and Haw Kaew. Haw Kham displays ancient Lanna teak artifacts. Haw Kaew has rotating exhibitions of teak wood art. And Haw Kham Noi has 19-century ancient mural paintings. Visiting the grounds cost 200 baht for adults.

Manorom Coffee Shop

A popular coffee shop overlooking the Mekong River. It’s a fairly busy and popular coffee space with decent food. The location is within walking distance of the famed Blue Temple.

Baan Dam Museum (Black Temple or Black House)

This location is a mildly disturbing “museum” and art space comprised of 40 different structures in a single complex. The strucure isn’t a true temple, but it serves as a home for demon statues, skulls, skins, horned artworks and creepy taxidermy. The grounds are not designed after the Christian “Hell” but instead refer to the cycle of Samsara – a period of life, death and rebirth. Mortality and undesirable traits, like lust and greed, are recurring themes.

The artworks, designs and messages of the museum are unique combinations of Lanna, Thai and contemporary philosophies. The creator of the masterpiece was a devout Buddhist.

The Black House is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM but is closed for lunch from 12 PM to 1 PM. Entry is 80 baht for adults.

Pong Phra Bat Water Fall

This is a small waterfall at the end of an easy hiking trail. It is located in Lam Nam Kok National Park, Chiangrai. The entire park has excellent, casual hiking trails passing over other waterfall locations, small wooden bridges and forested hills.

Huai Mae Sai Waterfall

Found at the end of a moderately challenging hiking route, this waterfall is made of two levels. There is a small swimming area at the base. Visitors are able to jump off the upper cliffs into the deep portion of the pool. It is somewhat popular and busy, so going earlier in the day is recommended.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no tours or buses that head to this location. The best way to reach it is through motorbike rentals. It is a forty five minute drive from Chiang Rai through narrow but well-maintained roads.

The drive to Mae Sai Waterfall is very scenic, with tea plantations, active rice fields, and rolling hills along the drive.

Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue Temple)

This is one of the most famous and elaborate structures in Chiang Rai. Blue Temple is a huge temple covered in elaborate and intricate blue-and-gold decorations. The temple is fascinating fusion of traditional Buddhist values and classic Thai architecture.

It is also known as “The Temple of the Dancing Tiger.” Legends about the temple reference another ancient temple which once stood here. Supposedly, after the temple was abandoned, tigers moved in. The tigers roamed freely over the temple grounds centuries ago.

Singha Park Chiang Rai

This is a small outdoor space for families. The scenic park is in a farm-like setting hosting tea plantations, orchards, walking paths, a tram & a petting zoo. It’s a generally peaceful area to walk around. The immense golden guardian statue is the park’s most famous feature.

Wat Huay Pla Kang

Also known as “Big Buddha of Chiang Rai,” this temple is famous for an enormous white statue of Guanyin =, goddess of mercy. The temple is a Lanna-Chinese styled temple with Chinese dragons, smaller statues and views of the surrounding hills. It’s considered a serene place to visit, through it gets a bit busy midday with tour groups. The enormous dragon-guardian statues found on the complex are especially unique, copying naga-poses with bright Chinese attributes.

Oub Kham Museum

This is an ethnographic museum with several zany and unique artifact highlighting Northern Thailand’s tribal history with jewelry, costumes & sculptures. The museum covers over a thousand years of history regarding the Tai people and Lanna Kingdom culture. The privately owned collection belongs to Julasak Suriyachai, who is descended from an old Lanna royal family. The museum’s centerpiece is a 400-year-old golden throne of Tai Yai Royals, hailing from the Shan State Myanmar. The throne is especially rare, the only one left of it’s kind in the world.

Wat Phra Kaew

This temple is home to the Emerald Buddha, considered the most important Buddha statue in Thailand. Legend says the statue was discovered after a natural disaster (either an earthquake or lighting strike) broke an ancient chedi in Wat Pa Yia (Bamboo Forest Monastery, later renamed Wat Phra Kaew). The stucco statue found inside was moved to another temple area, when a monk noticed a green sheen under the Buddha’s nose. It was eventually discovered to be made of semi-precious green jasper when the stucco was fully removed.

Later, the miracle of the statue caused it’s fame to grow. The King of Chiang Mai, Sam Fang Kaen, commanded that the statue be transferred to his capital. However, the elephant moving the jasper statue returned it to Lampang three times, which was taken as a divine sign. The statue remained there for a period of time before being moved again, first to Chiang Mai and later to Chiang Rai.

Sop Ruak

Also known as the “Golden Triangle” area, Sop Ruak Village is at the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak rivers. The lively village area is for tourism, with boat rides, shops and overlooks at the Golden Triangle Viewpoint. 

This area is usually reached through tour groups, though personal vehicles can reach it in about an hour.

Sop Ruak is fairly small, but it has various streams, temples, plaza areas and nearby lake areas. Overviews of the plantations in the lowlands are espeically pretty.

Looking forward to finding more strange things to do when visiting Chiang Rai? Read about firsthand travel experiences here at the Leftfade Trails Blog