Backpacking Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai is what Chiang Mai was twenty years ago, and a lot of people pass straight through it on their way to Laos without realising. Two days here is one of the better trades on the whole route.
The pull is the temples, and they are not the ones you have seen. The White Temple is a still-unfinished art project started in 1997, all mirrored white plaster, with a bridge over a pit of hands reaching up out of the ground. Then there is a Blue Temple that glows, and a Black House full of animal skulls. None of it is ancient and all of it is unforgettable.
Around the city are green hills, tea plantations and mountain villages, and an hour north is the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet across a river. This is also where most people cross into Laos for the slow boat, which makes Chiang Rai the natural full stop at the end of northern Thailand.
Why Chiang Rai is popular with backpackers
- Far quieter than Chiang Mai, and cheaper with it
- The White Temple, which does not look like anything else
- Proper mountain scooter roads with barely any traffic
- The crossing point for Laos and the slow boat
- Tea plantations and hill villages within an hour
- It still feels like a Thai city rather than a backpacker one
Best time to visit Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai sits further north than Chiang Mai, which makes it the coolest place in Thailand. In December the nights can drop towards ten degrees.
Want the White Temple photographed against a blue sky? Come between November and February. During burning season the sky goes a flat milky grey for weeks, and no amount of editing fixes it.
Backpacker budget: around €17 a day
- €5hostel bed
- €1.20local meal
- €1.20beer
- €5scooter per day
Guide prices from our own days in Chiang Rai. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best hostels in Chiang Rai
Baan Mai Kradan Hostel Chiang Rai
Small, wooden, central and genuinely friendly. This is a hostel where people sit in the common area and talk to each other rather than at their phones, which in a city this quiet is what you want.
Mercy Hostel Chiang Rai
The one with the pool, which after a full day on a scooter in the hills is worth more than it sounds. Big rooms, easy atmosphere, and the best-known backpacker address in town.
Bed Friends Poshtel
A step up in comfort for barely any more money. Quieter than the others, close to the centre, and the right choice if you have a long border day tomorrow and want to be rested for it.
Best things to do in Chiang Rai
The White Temple
Wat Rong Khun. Plaster, mirror fragments and an artist who has been working on it since 1997 and is still not done. You cross a bridge over hundreds of hands clawing up out of the ground, which is the part nobody warns you about.
Crossing into Laos
Chiang Rai is the jumping-off point for Huay Xai, and from there the slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang: two days on a wooden boat and one of the great journeys in Southeast Asia.
A scooter day in the hills
Tea plantations, ridge roads and villages where the bus does not go. The riding around Chiang Rai is some of the best in the country and there is almost no traffic on it.
The highlights in one day
The three temples are spread out on different sides of the city. If you are not riding, one of these tours strings them together with lunch and saves you a day of working out songthaews.
The Golden Triangle
Standing on a riverbank looking at two other countries at once is a better feeling than it has any right to be. The area was the centre of the opium trade for decades, and the museum there is more interesting than the viewpoint.
Best area for backpackers
The city centre
Everything backpacker-shaped in Chiang Rai is in the centre: the hostels, the night bazaar, the restaurants and the bus station you will be leaving from. The city is small enough that this is not really a decision.
What you get in this area:
- Cheap hostels and guesthouses, most around €5
- The night bazaar and its food court, every evening
- Walking distance to everything except the temples
- Quiet, in a way Chiang Mai has not been for years
- The easiest place to arrange transport onward to Laos
How to plan your days in Chiang Rai
Two days does it: one for the temples, one for the Golden Triangle or the border.
The three temples. The White Temple first, before ten, then the Blue Temple and the Black House. All three are within scooter range of the centre and no two of them look remotely alike.
Tonight: the night bazaar by the bus station, with a food court in the middle and live music.
Golden Triangle, or Laos. An hour north is the point where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet across the water. Or cross at Chiang Khong and start the slow boat towards Luang Prabang.
Tonight: back in Chiang Mai, or in Huay Xai on the other side of the river.
Food and drink in Chiang Rai
The food up here is northern: milder, saltier, sticky rice instead of steamed, and with a clear influence from Myanmar and Yunnan that you can taste in the noodles.
The night bazaar by the bus station has a food court where you eat for a euro or two with a band playing in the middle of it. That is dinner sorted, both nights.
What to eat here:
Getting there and onward
For a lot of backpackers Chiang Rai is the last stop in Thailand before crossing the Mekong into Laos.
Getting there. The bus from Chiang Mai takes about three hours and costs around €6. There is also an airport with cheap flights to Bangkok.
Around town. The temples are spread out well beyond the centre. A scooter is about €5 a day, or take a day tour that does all of them.
The border. Laos is via Chiang Khong, two hours away. On the far side is Huay Xai, where the slow boat to Luang Prabang starts, and it leaves once a day.
- BusChiang Mai 3 hrs · Bangkok 12 hrs overnight
- ScooterFrom about €5 a day, for the temples
- Border busChiang Khong 2 hrs, then the Friendship Bridge
- Slow boatHuay Xai to Luang Prabang, 2 days
- PlaneBangkok in about 80 minutes
Staying safe in Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai is quiet and safe. What needs attention here is the mountain roads and the paperwork you need at the border.
- Sort your Laos visa in advance, or bring clean dollars in cash for visa on arrival
- Carry a passport photo for the crossing. It saves a queue and a fee
- Cover up at the White Temple. They turn people away at the gate
- Take the road to the Golden Triangle slowly. Plenty of blind bends and slow trucks
- Change money at the border itself. The rate there is always worse
- Photograph the military posts in the border area
- Plan a long ride during burning season without a mask
- Forget the slow boat from Huay Xai leaves once a day, and it does not wait
Rebels on the Road tip
Take the scooter out early towards the tea plantations at Mae Salong or up to Doi Tung. The mist sits between the ridges just after sunrise and the road is empty. Stop at the little roadside coffee places on the way, most of which grow what they are serving you. It is the quietest good morning in northern Thailand.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Chiang Rai?
Two. One for the temples, one for the Golden Triangle or the border. Three if you want a proper scooter day in the hills.
Is Chiang Rai worth it?
Yes, and especially if Chiang Mai felt busy to you. The temples alone justify the trip, and it is quieter and cheaper than Chiang Mai.
Can you get from Chiang Rai to Laos easily?
That is one of the main reasons people come. Bus to Chiang Khong, cross the Friendship Bridge, and pick up the slow boat at Huay Xai for the two-day trip to Luang Prabang.
What is the best way to explore Chiang Rai?
On a scooter, for about €5 a day. The temples, the viewpoints and the tea plantations are all outside town, and the riding here is some of the best in Thailand.
How is Chiang Rai different from Chiang Mai?
Smaller, quieter and far less geared to tourists. Chiang Mai has a backpacker scene; Chiang Rai has a city that happens to have backpackers in it.
