• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
  • Contact
  • Videos
  • Online Private Lessons
  • ONLINE GROUP CLASSES
  • Reading and Writing Thai Course

Learn Thai with Mod

Learning Thai made easy with Mod!

Our Thai lessons focus on “realistic Thai”, meaning sentences and usage that will make you sound like an actual Thai person rather than a formal and dull text book.

  • Important Dates
  • Out Visiting
  • Read and Write Thai
  • Speak Like a Thai
  • Thai Food
  • Thai Culture

Photo Gallery: My Trip to Chiang Rai

Monday December 7, 2015 by Mod 12 Comments

“Chiang Rai (เชียงราย)” might be less well known than Chiang Mai as a tourist destination. After my visit to Chiang Rai in February 2015 I found that Chiang Rai was actually much fascinating with less tourists than Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai is endowed with an abundance of natural beauty and cultural heritage that attracts visitors year round.

Where is Chiang Rai?

Chiang Rai is one of 77 provinces of Thailand. Located at the most northern part of the country, it covers a land area of some 11,678 square kilometres with a population of 1.23 million persons of varied ethnicities. It shares long borders with Myanmar and Laos seperated mostly by majestic mountains and mighty rivers including Mekong River. It is also relatively close to Yunnan province of Southwest China. (Yunnan is becoming more and more accessible from Chaing Rai by boat with the clearning of rocks in the Mekong River channels.)

A little History of Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai was founded by King Meng Rai in 1262, and was the fist capital of the Lanna Thai Kingdom before it moved to Chaing Mai. It became a territory of Siam in 1786, was annexed in 1899, and formally became a province in 1933.

 My Journey to Chiang Rai

Day 1:Doi Mae Salong

I took an early flight from Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok to Chiang Rai which took only one hour and ten minutes. Once I landed the rental car I hired via a website was delivered right in front of  the gate of the  arrival terminal in the Chiang Rai International Airport. There was no hassle at all, I only paid a cash deposit and gave a copy of my passport then I  just drive away.

I immediately headed to my first destination with the help of Google Map “Doi Mae Salong ดอยแม่สลอง“.

Doi Mae Salong is one of Chiang Rai’s top attractions, also known as “little China on the mountain”. It is well wroth dizzying drive 80 kilometres northeast of the city, rising to a cool attitude of 1,800 meters.

When communism was established in China in 1949, the Kuomintang southern remnants of the National China Army, fled into Burma (Myanmar) and survived by growing opium. The Burmese army pushed them into Thailand in 1961. Somehow, they established themselves on this mountain and were welcomed by the resolutely anti-communist Thais. They brought their own language and their style of building. Roofs with upturned corners can even be seen on brand new homes.

The struggles of the original settlers ended as recently as the 1980’s and the straggling, switchback little town of some 20,000 inhabitants has been named “Santikiri สันติคีรี” which means “hill of peace”.

Mae Salong

Santikhiri village is noted for its high mountain oolong, a high grade traditional Chinese tea, which makes up about 80% of all tea production in Chiang Rai. Near the peak of the mountain visitors will find several tea plantations as well as tea houses. The mountain is particularly busy from November through February, when temperatures drop below 20 degrees and tourists from the rest of Thailand flock here for a touch of cold weather.

IMG_8214
At 101 Tea Plantation

Tea tasting is another Mae Salong “must”. I love this small cafe called Sweet MaeSalong, it is located on a hill facing pretty view of the mountains. I ordered a small jus of Oolong tea to pair with my Raspberry Bomb cake, it was so nice! Uhmm… I really miss that moment.

IMG_8618

 

A market in Doi MaeSalong

After enjoying my tea and a walk around the local market, I drove up to the highest point of the mountain to visit Phra Boromathat Chedi, it is a chedi built on a hill 4 kilometres away from the village, in honour of the late Princess Mother, Srinagarindra. There is an excellent view of the Myanmar frontier from the top, an area that was off-limits when it was under the control of the warlord Khun Sa.

The Phra Boromathat Chedi
The Phra Boromathat Chedi
The view from the Phra Boromathat Chedi
The view from the Phra Boromathat Chedi

After a full day of exploring Doi Mae Salong, I headed back to the resort I already checked in when I first arrived. It is a lovely family-run resort surrounded by beautiful gardens and mountain views.

One memorable thing for me was when I woke up in the morning and walked out to the balcony to enjoy the view, the only sound I heard was bird singings, no cars, no unpleasant noise, no pollution only fresh and clean air. It was wonderful!

Mountain Home Chiang Rai
My balcony
Some more Oolong tea to warm myself up. It was 18 degree Celsius…I know it wasn’t cool for you but it was totally chilly for me.

Every year from 28 December to 2 January, Santikhiri village hosts the annual cherry blossoms festival, which is organised by Mae Salong Nok Tambon Administration Organisation in association with Mae Fa Luang District. The festival celebrates the culture of the hill tribe people from the Chiang Rai area, and includes a handicraft sale, a light and sound show, a parade by the tribes people, and a beauty contest.

I made my trip in February so most of cherry blossoms were already fall off, but I was lucky enough to see a couple of trees with full bloom cherry blossoms. They were so delicate and lovely.

IMG_8175

 Day 2:  Mae Fah Luang Garden, Doi Tung

I left Doi Mae Salong late after breakfast and slowly drove to my next destination “Doi Tung ดอยตุง” which took about 1.5 hours.

Mae Fah Luang garden is an award-winning garden, acclaimed the most beautiful temperate flower and plant garden in Thailand. The gardens are located on land that was originally the Akha village of Pa Kluay. This village used to be an important route for opium caravans and those involved in heroin-related weapon trafficking  until it was resettled by the Doi Tung Development Project of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation.

IMG_8328

A garden of mostly temperate flowers was built over 10 acres of land in accordance with the Princess Mother’s wishes to give Thai people who have never travelled overseas an opportunity to enjoy a temperate flower garden.

The flowers in Mae Fah Luang Garden are grown and nurtured by local villagers. The landscape designer, Pravit Boonmee, has been untiringly devoting his talents and experience for 17 years since the beginning of the development of this garden. He is still facing with the constant challenge of how to keep the garden in full bloom all year round. Among his unique creations are the special colour schemes for the different days of birth of the royal family such as red for the Princess Mother who was born on a Sunday, and yellow for His Majesty the King who was born on a Monday.

The Garden brings substantial income to the area, directly as job opportunities for the locals, and indirectly as a tourist destination that on some days welcomes more than 10,000 visitors.

IMG_8326

In the middle of this garden stands “Continuity”, a sculpture by the late Misiem Yipintsoi. The princess mother gave this name to the sculpture to draw attention to the fact that continuity ensures the success of any endeavour.

IMG_8316

From Mae Fah Lunag Garden, you can continue further to visit Doi Tung Royal Villa which was built with Princess Mother’s private funds; she considered it her first real home in Thailand. The Princess Mother also made it known that without the Doi Tung Development Project, she would not have built a house in the area. She only stayed because she could reforest the land and helped to improve the lives of the local people.

There are accommodations in Doi Tung if you wish to stay. I have been there with my family before a few years ago, so I decided to head down to the city center.

On my way to town, I made a quick stop at Choui Fong tea planation as I heard that they serve delicious tea desserts. This place is very large (1,000 rai) full of well grounded tea plantation. You can drive up to look at the views, sample a few teas, buy a tea drink or some loose teas to take home.

(Tip: This place is very popular among Thai tourists because it was used as a location for a famous Thai drama series. It can be very busy during public holiday with long beverage queue. Just be patient!)

Choui Fong tea planation
Choui Fong tea planation
IMG_8347
Delicious green tea cake and iced tea at a cafe in Choui Fong tea planation.
IMG_8355
A quick picture in the tea garden in front of the cafe. ( I didn’t really pick the tea leaf :P)

Day 3: Black House & Wat Rong Khun

I had to admit that before I went to Chaing Rai , the only tourist attraction I knew was “Wat Rong Khun วัดร่องขุ่น” or the White temple. 

IMG_8620

IMG_8528

IMG_8536

IMG_8552

IMG_8570

IMG_8590

IMG_8617

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Out Visiting

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. SYLVAIN says

    Sunday December 17, 2017 at 15:37

    How to say it was 18°c ? Is there a classificator for degrees?

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Thursday December 28, 2017 at 18:44

      We say อุณหภูมิ 18 องศา /un-hà-puum 18 ong-săa/

      องศา /ong-săa/ means degree.

      Reply
  2. Kenny says

    Monday April 3, 2017 at 14:31

    Thailand is my third home, have travelled all over and love its diversity and warmness.
    I know many words and sentences in Thai but the construction, connecting words was and is the issue. Thankfully with your videos and role plays life has become a lot easier, for both work and family life 🙂

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Sunday April 9, 2017 at 10:49

      We are happy to hear that you found our lessons useful in your Thai learning. Hope you continue to follow our lessons in the future as well. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Scott says

    Tuesday January 5, 2016 at 07:37

    Beautiful pictures. What a gorgeous countryside. I never realized until now that Chang Rai would be a great weekend trip. Thanks for sharing this and, of course, helping me to learn Thai.

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Wednesday January 13, 2016 at 21:29

      Thank you for your comment. I actually haven’t finished writing this article but accidentally published it. I will complete it soon. Chiang Rai is definitely a wonderful place to visit.

      Reply
  4. Jason Stallworth says

    Wednesday December 30, 2015 at 02:26

    We visited Chiang Rai in October 2015 (we had someone drive us from Chiang Mai where we were staying). I see from yoru post that we missed so much. We only saw Wat Rong Khun. Next time we will visit all of these places we missed!

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Wednesday January 13, 2016 at 21:42

      I also would like to revisit Chiang Rai and go to places I haven’t been such as Golden Triangle area. 🙂

      Reply
      • Simon Wong says

        Thursday January 21, 2016 at 15:49

        I visited The Golden Triangle last week and half way on Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai highway 1, my first rest stop was at the official Doi Chaang coffee house for its incredible coffee.
        Spend a night at Doi Mae Salong which is an atmospheric village perched on the mountains bordering Chiang Rai and Myanmar at the elevation of above 5900 feet above sea level and take a long and winding road down the following day to Tachaileik.

        Reply
        • Mod says

          Tuesday February 9, 2016 at 12:30

          Thank you for your comment. It sounds like you had a good trip. I wanted to visit Chiang Rai again last month, but unfortunately didn’t have a chance.

          Reply
  5. Ian Rabig says

    Tuesday December 8, 2015 at 16:49

    Hello. I am VERY IMPRESSED.

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Friday December 18, 2015 at 22:23

      Thank you. 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Find what your looking for

Bangkok Day Trip featured Fishing Floating Market get well soon holiday Hor Mok How many in Thai Learn Thai Learnthaiwithmod.com on TV Living in Thailand Loi Kratong Song Lyrics Nam Neung New Year practice listening Thai rainy season Speak Thai Study Thai Thai chili and fish sauce recipe Thai classifier Thai consonants Thai Culture Thai food Thai Grammar Thailand Thailand travel Thai Language Thai Language Teacher Thai Lessons Thai letters Thai Middle class consonants Thai proverbs Thai Slang Thai street food Thai tradition Thai vowels Thai Wedding Traditional Thai Ceremony useful expressions Vegetarian Festival in Thailand What to Eat What to eat during vegetarian festival Where To Go

Feedback from the fans

  • Rebhsde on Thai Traditional Wedding Ceremony – Counting the Dowry
  • Kelvin on “Nang Kwak” The Goddess of Wealth
  • Mkay on “Nang Kwak” The Goddess of Wealth
  • Steven on Top 10 most Common Thai nicknames, and some weird ones
  • Laura on Hor Mok (ห่อหมก) – Thai Curried Fish Custard
  • Mod on Everyday Thai Phrase: Please Forgive Me!
  • ALIZA EARNSHAW on Everyday Thai Phrase: Please Forgive Me!
  • Anthony ando on Lesson 1 – Read and Write Thai
  • Tom on Practice Forming Thai Sentences : I Havn’t…Yet
  • Katya Bulgakova - Photographer and Makeup Artist on Thai Traditional Wedding Ceremony
  • lovestory4812@gmail.com on Thai Iced Tea Recipe
  • Sununta Schnittker on Things That Really Annoy Farangs in Thailand
  • Sununta Schnittker on Things That Really Annoy Farangs in Thailand
  • Buy Research Chemicals Online and API's on The Full Name of Bangkok
  • Antara on “Nang Kwak” The Goddess of Wealth
  • Kendall Young on Lesson 2 – Middle Class Consonants
  • Toni on Intermediate Thai : Usage of ที่ /tîi/
  • Anna on Kwan-Riam Floating Market
  • Jojo on 12 months in Thai language
  • GREFEUILLE Sylvain on Practice Forming Thai Sentences : I Havn’t…Yet

Archives dating all the way back to 2010

  • September 2024 (1)
  • June 2024 (1)
  • February 2024 (1)
  • August 2023 (1)
  • July 2023 (2)
  • June 2023 (2)
  • May 2023 (1)
  • March 2023 (2)
  • February 2023 (1)
  • December 2022 (1)
  • November 2022 (3)
  • October 2022 (2)
  • September 2022 (4)
  • August 2022 (1)
  • July 2022 (4)
  • June 2022 (4)
  • May 2022 (3)
  • April 2022 (3)
  • March 2022 (4)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • January 2022 (4)
  • December 2021 (1)
  • November 2021 (5)
  • October 2021 (2)
  • September 2021 (2)
  • August 2021 (2)
  • July 2021 (3)
  • June 2021 (3)
  • May 2021 (4)
  • April 2021 (5)
  • March 2021 (4)
  • February 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (3)
  • December 2020 (5)
  • November 2020 (6)
  • October 2020 (7)
  • September 2020 (3)
  • August 2020 (2)
  • July 2020 (4)
  • June 2020 (5)
  • May 2020 (3)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (4)
  • January 2020 (3)
  • December 2019 (2)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (5)
  • January 2019 (2)
  • December 2018 (3)
  • November 2018 (3)
  • October 2018 (4)
  • September 2018 (3)
  • August 2018 (2)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • June 2018 (3)
  • May 2018 (3)
  • April 2018 (3)
  • March 2018 (2)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (2)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (2)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (1)
  • April 2016 (3)
  • March 2016 (1)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (5)
  • November 2015 (3)
  • October 2015 (5)
  • September 2015 (2)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (1)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (8)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • February 2015 (4)
  • January 2015 (1)
  • December 2014 (3)
  • November 2014 (2)
  • October 2014 (1)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (4)
  • July 2014 (2)
  • June 2014 (7)
  • May 2014 (8)
  • April 2014 (5)
  • March 2014 (7)
  • February 2014 (7)
  • January 2014 (2)
  • December 2013 (3)
  • November 2013 (4)
  • October 2013 (5)
  • September 2013 (7)
  • August 2013 (5)
  • July 2013 (6)
  • June 2013 (6)
  • May 2013 (5)
  • April 2013 (6)
  • March 2013 (5)
  • February 2013 (3)
  • January 2013 (4)
  • December 2012 (1)
  • November 2012 (4)
  • October 2012 (8)
  • September 2012 (7)
  • August 2012 (13)
  • July 2012 (10)
  • June 2012 (7)
  • May 2012 (6)
  • April 2012 (6)
  • March 2012 (6)
  • February 2012 (9)
  • January 2012 (6)
  • December 2011 (6)
  • November 2011 (5)
  • October 2011 (4)
  • September 2011 (5)
  • June 2011 (1)
  • March 2011 (4)
  • February 2011 (4)
  • January 2011 (4)
  • December 2010 (9)
  • November 2010 (2)
Your Thai Guide
From as little as US$104 a day you can have fully licensed English speaking Thai tour guide at your side to explain, translate and help you understand what you are seeing and hearing during your stay.

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in