Chiang Rai / Neighboring towns
Mae Chan
Mae Chan is a town in Chiang Rai Province, some 35km (22mi) north of Chiang Rai, about half way between Chiang Rai and Mae Sai. The town is a trading post for the Akha and Yao hill people who sell their goods and buy manufactured items. One can find silver ornaments and other tribal handicrafts at the shops of this town.
Mae Salong
Mae Salong, a small town in Chiang Rai Province, some 80km (50mi) northeast of Chiang Rai city can be reached via Mae Chan. What makes this little town different from others in northern Thailand is its Chinese populace. The inhabitants are mostly the families of Chinese Kuomintang soldiers who fled from the communists in 1949, first to Burma. They were driven out of Burma in 1961 and then settled on Doi Mae Salong (Mae Salong Mountain), just some 7km (4.4mi) from the Burmese border. Architecture as well as cuisine are Southern Chinese, and in spite of the fact that the place has become a popular tourist destination, it has kept its own distinct appearance.
Accommodation
Mae Salong Resort
Tel 71-4047
10 Bungalow 500-2,000
Bkk Resv Tel 253-3108, 253-4843
Mae Salong Guest House
Tel 71-2962, 73-1140
9 rooms, sgl/dbl 150-200
Mae Sai
Mae Sai is a boarder town in Chiang Rai Province, some 65km (41mi) north of Chiang Rai. As Mae Sai is just at the border to Burma, Burmese goods, especially handicrafts, can be purchased at good prices. Thais and Burmese can cross the border officially during daytime. Actually, many Burmese work in Mae Sai. The border river is just about 30cm (1ft) deep and many foreign visitors who stay at one of the guest houses along the river cross it for a few minutes so they can rightfully claim that they have been to Burma. As of December 1991, those who don’t have Thai or Burmese nationality cannot cross the border legally. However, in 1991 a hotel was being built in Tachilek on the Burmese side of the border, and it can be expected that the border will be opened to foreigners soon, even if the military junta remains in power in Burma.
Accommodation
Sin Wattana
24/2 Mu 10, Phahonyothin Rd
Tel 73-1950, 73-1002; 22 rooms, sgl/dbl 60-200
Top North
306 Mu 1, Phahonyothin Rd
Tel 73-1955; 26 rooms, sgl/dbl 150-200
Mae Sai
125/5 Phahonyothin Rd, Tel 73-1462
42 rooms, sgl/dbl 70-150
Mae Sai Guest House
688 Tambon Wiengpangkam
Mae Sai riverside, 17 rooms
sgl/dbl 60-120; Resv S. Tailor, 8/1 Soi Sukhapiban, Mae Sai
Transportation
Bangkok - Mae Sai
Buses from Bangkok’s Northern Bus Terminal on Phahonyothin Road; 906km, non-aircon 169 Baht, 15:00, 17:05; aircon 305 Baht, 8:00, 19:00, 19;15, 19;30, 19:45, 19:55; VIP 445 Baht, 7:30, 19:00, 19:30
Chiang Saen
Chiang Saen is a town in Chiang Rai Province, some 75km (47mi) northeast of Chiang Rai, on the bank of the Mekong River, right at the Laotian and close to the Burmese border - on the Thai side it is the community closest to the Golden Triangle in the narrowest sense of the designation. Its lovely setting on the Mekong enhances the charm of its old temples, Wat Pa Sak and Wat Phrathat Chom Kitti, as well as the Chiang Saen Museum.
Accommodation
Poonsuk
95 Phahonyothin Rd, Tambon Wiang
10 rooms, sgl/dbl 40-80
Yonok Lake View
109 Chiang Saen Lake
Tel 71-3107; 20 rooms, sgl/dbl 250
A private resort covering 16 hectares (40 acres). Among the activities offered for tourists are fishing, boat rowing and rafting in the lake.
Places of Interest
Chiang Saen Museum
The museum has ancient Buddha images and other antiques. It is open to visitors every day except Tuesdays and Fridays.
Golden Triangle
This is the most famous attraction of Chiang Rai Province, the place where the borders of the three countries Thailand, Laos and Burma meet. The meeting of the borders is just some 9km (6mi) north of Chiang Saen. "Golden Triangle" is just an approximate geographical term, not as specific as Ko Samui Island where it is obvious that the seashore defines the geographical entity. Travel agencies in Chiang Rai Province vigorously claim that the Golden Triangle is just the area within sight of the convergence of the borders; obviously they want to sell their services and bank on the desire of visitors to really have been at the place with the magical name Golden Triangle - the countryside itself doesn’t differ from normal northern Thai countryside and would not be enough to draw tourists in as large numbers as it actually does.
International usage, however, considers a much larger area as Golden Triangle - principally a region not of just a few hectares at the actual border convergence but of a few thousand square kilometers in the territories of Thailand, Burma and Laos. This encompasses the whole region traditionally producing opium as its main cash crop - and obviously, opium is not just grown within a few hectares of the meeting point of the borders, an area where opium actually is unlikely to be found these days as it is just too prominent, visited by too many tourists.
The Golden Triangle in the narrower and the wider sense has been cleverly marketed as a tourist destination during the last few years, with utter disregard for ambiguities. On the one hand, the Thai government of course regards drugs and anything that has to do with them as illegal and immoral and regularly conducts poppy eradication campaigns. On the other hand, the tourism planners’ promotion of the Golden Triangle as a tourist destination relies heavily on the reputation of the Golden Triangle as an opium growing region.
Tourists who love to see themselves as adventurers would love nothing better than to be brought directly to poppy fields. Later they could claim to have traveled the world indeed, to have been there, at the infamous Golden Triangle and to have seen personally those poppy fields that are the menace of the world - and they could bathe themselves in the prestige of a traveler and adventurer.
But without poppies no tourists. And therefore, while Thai law enforcement agencies claim that the opium problem basically has been solved on Thai territory, tourism promoters subtly suggest that indeed, Thai Golden Triangle territory is the world’s main source of opium.
The Golden Triangle already is amazingly touristy. If one still wants to consider it an adventure area, than it must be seen as a thrill without a risk - enjoyable in armchair comfort: luxury accommodation is available within sight of the convergence of the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos and tourism has become an important economic aspect in quite a number of hill tribe villages.
Chiang Khong
Chiang Khong is in Chiang Rai Province, some 80km (50mi) northeast of Chiang Rai.
Accommodation
Wattana
288/1, Tambon Wiang; 10 rooms
Fang Khong
63 Mu 2, Sai Klang Rd, Tambon Wiang; 10 rooms
Damronggoon Poonsuk
108 Sai Klang Rd, Tambon Wiang; 7 rooms
Phan
Phan is a town in Chiang Rai Province, some 50km (31mi) south of Chiang Rai.
Accommodation
Ngo Un
439-441 Tambon Muang Phan, Tel 72-1247
16 rooms, sgl/dbl 60-100
Wiang Pa Pao
A town in Chiang Rai Province, Wiang Pa Pao, is some 75km (47mi) southwest of Chiang Rai, approximately half way between the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Accommodation
Thai Yakorn
218 Mu 1, Tambon Mae Jedee
12 rooms, sgl/dbl 40-80
Chai Warit
8 Mu 2, Tambon Wiang
22 rooms, sgl/dbl 40-80
Pong Nam Ron Resort
294 Mu 6, Tambon Mae Jedee Mai; 20 rooms, sgl/dbl 150-500
Pimpa
223 Mu 6, Tambon Wiang
9 rooms, sgl/dbl 80-120
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