Chiang Rai One Day Trip
So here is the details for my Chiang Rai one day trip by Wendy Tour.
(We confirmed our booking only on the day when we reached Chiang Mai Airport. So my advice here is to take time to survey from different agency before you make your decision. They have pretty much choices available. While our package for Chiang Rai tour cost 1300 baht including entrance fee and lunch!)
Itinerary of the Day:
- Hot Spring Maekacharn
- Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)
- Karen Long Neck Village
- Maesai Market
- Golden Triangle
- Laos Duty Free Market
Our tour guide for the day is Nancy and BIG thumbs up for her! Love her smiling face and how she talked with us like a friend. She can speak in English and Mandarin very well. And every time before we reach a destination, she will give full explanation of the related histories and stories of the place.
First Stop:
Hot Spring Maekacharn
It was an hour drive from Chiang Mai to here. We were given 20 minutes to walk around and take photos. A little bit disappointed as it has actually nothing much to see, with one fountain and a small hot spring to boil eggs and there were few women walking around to sell basket of eggs. You can buy from them and the boiled eggs will be all yours. On the way to washroom, there were two small pool which you can soak your legs inside, a comfortable way to kick start our day!
And opposite of it, there was a row of shops selling some local souvenirs, but we didn't get to have a stroll due to lack of time.
Second Stop:
Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)
Another one hour drive and we arrived at the second stop -- The White Temple, or also known as Wat Rong Khun in Thai. It is a privately owned, art exhibit in the style of a Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai. It is owned by Chalermchai Kositpipat, who designed, constructed, and opened it to visitors in 1997. Entrance fee is 50 baht for foreigners.
Third Stop:
Karen Long Neck Village
We had a strong struggle before we decided to come here and pay for a visit. Many post had discouraged people to come here as they claimed that this place has become very commercialized and it is more to a human zoo rather than a tribe. But it wouldn't be a complete trip if we do not witness this culture by ourselves, so we came here.
An entrance fee of 300 bahts is needed (While ours were included in the package).
And yes, they are not native in Thailand. Instead they are refugee from Myanmar who are not allowed to go outside for earning living. So, the only way they can earn is by selling their crafts in the tribe from us tourists.
And why do they wearing the rings only on neck, forearm and shins? This is to protect them from wild animals (snakes, tigers etc) attacks on this areas which can be very fragile. Other than that, they also claimed that girls with long neck are pretty.
You will have to walk for a small distance to reach the heart of the tribe, which have two rows of stalls on each side. Every stall is selling souvenirs and scarfs and there will be a lady/woman or small kid with heavy brass rings on their neck taking care of the stall.
Our tour guide, Nancy brought us from one stall to the other to explain the stories of them, which make us pity them even more. You can wear the brass ring on your neck and take a photo with them. You can also show your support by buying something from their stalls. Kids are good in posing though haha.
(P/s: My advice is to get a tour guide when you get here so that you can understand the tribe even more)
And this amazed me so sooooo much! The big earring (Akha) tribe. The moment when the woman took off her earring, I was like OMG! This is way too much. Her ear lobe formed a big hole of the earring and dropped down like a swing on the level of her neck. She is the only person in the tribe with big earring that we could found and Nancy told us that this tribe is getting extinct since new family members are no longer compulsory to wear the ring anymore.
You can read more information from here.
Forth Stop:
Maesai Market
Fifth Stop:
Golden Triangle and Boat Trip
So Golden Triangle is the intersection of 3 countries which are Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.You can have a bird-eye's view of the triangle section from above and there is river separating the countries. Pretty amazing right. Just imagine you ride on a boat and the next second you are in another country already HAHA
There is also a small island nearby which is known as "No Man Island" in the past, where a man from China started the business of opium and residents from the 3 countries joined in. Since the island was not owned by any country, thus it was the only land where you can do anything illegal including killing a man. Oh Yeah, but it is now belong to Laos, so
And here came the highlight of the day -- boat trip, which we basically just had a short ride across the brown color river with some explanation from tour guide. Anyhow, we did not even came close neither to the intersection of golden triangle nor the No Man Island and it already patah balik (Turning back).
Sixth Stop:
Laos Duty Free Market
After a short ride of the boat, we landed at Laos!
Okay. It was actually just a market known as Duty Free Market ( wasn't so sure if it is really duty free or not). Special local products from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are selling at here.
From Laos including animal whiskey from tiger penis, snake, gecko, tortoise etc. (this is crazy but I forgot to take any photo!) and coffee beans.
From China including some authentic branded bag such as Michael Kors, Chanel, Gucci etc (Well, I wasn't really sure of its authenticity though)
Others than that, I didn't found anything special and we just walked around while waiting for our boat to come.
--End of Chiang Rai trip --
🔺For my full itinerary in Chiang Mai, you can click here --> Chiang Mai 3 Days 2 Nights
(We confirmed our booking only on the day when we reached Chiang Mai Airport. So my advice here is to take time to survey from different agency before you make your decision. They have pretty much choices available. While our package for Chiang Rai tour cost 1300 baht including entrance fee and lunch!)
Itinerary of the Day:
- Hot Spring Maekacharn
- Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)
- Karen Long Neck Village
- Maesai Market
- Golden Triangle
- Laos Duty Free Market
Our tour guide for the day is Nancy and BIG thumbs up for her! Love her smiling face and how she talked with us like a friend. She can speak in English and Mandarin very well. And every time before we reach a destination, she will give full explanation of the related histories and stories of the place.
First Stop:
Hot Spring Maekacharn
It was an hour drive from Chiang Mai to here. We were given 20 minutes to walk around and take photos. A little bit disappointed as it has actually nothing much to see, with one fountain and a small hot spring to boil eggs and there were few women walking around to sell basket of eggs. You can buy from them and the boiled eggs will be all yours. On the way to washroom, there were two small pool which you can soak your legs inside, a comfortable way to kick start our day!
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| Still with my sleepy face |
 |
| More of a drain maybe HAHA |
Second Stop:
Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)
Another one hour drive and we arrived at the second stop -- The White Temple, or also known as Wat Rong Khun in Thai. It is a privately owned, art exhibit in the style of a Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai. It is owned by Chalermchai Kositpipat, who designed, constructed, and opened it to visitors in 1997. Entrance fee is 50 baht for foreigners.
From Nancy, we knew that the ubosot, the main building of the white temple, is reached by crossing a bridge over a small lake. In front of the bridge is a circular area with hundreds of reaching hands that symbolize desire. This area represents human suffering and hell. The bridge towards the ubosot, called the bridge of “the cycle of rebirth” signifies the crossing over from the cycle of death and rebirth into a state free of suffering. And we were told not to stop on the bridge which means that bad luck will come.
After crossing the bridge the visitor arrives at the “Gate of Heaven” guarded by two huge creatures that represent Death and Rahu, who decides over men’s fate. At the end of the bridge in front of the ubosot are several Buddha images in meditation.
The most important building of the Wat Rong Khun, the ubosot or main hall is an all white building with fragments of reflective glass in the plaster. The walls of the white temple contain colorful murals that depict modern representations of good and evil, contemporary figures like Batman, Spiderman and Elvis, villains and superheroes from movies and comics and even spaceships.
Around the temple grounds are several concrete “trees” with thousands of medallions hanging down from them. For 30 Baht you can add yours with your name and wishes written on it. Visitors of the temple can make a wish by throwing coins into the wishing well.
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| Medallions (Or I called it a Blessing Leaflet instead) |
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| Throw the coin on the center part so that your wishes can come true |
And they have the most luxury washroom ever which the whole bulding is golden in colour. But too bad we didn't get to visit there due to lack of time again *cry
 |
| It is soooo hard to take a perfect picture! |
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| Yayyy Group photo!! |
Karen Long Neck Village
We had a strong struggle before we decided to come here and pay for a visit. Many post had discouraged people to come here as they claimed that this place has become very commercialized and it is more to a human zoo rather than a tribe. But it wouldn't be a complete trip if we do not witness this culture by ourselves, so we came here.
An entrance fee of 300 bahts is needed (While ours were included in the package).
And yes, they are not native in Thailand. Instead they are refugee from Myanmar who are not allowed to go outside for earning living. So, the only way they can earn is by selling their crafts in the tribe from us tourists.
And why do they wearing the rings only on neck, forearm and shins? This is to protect them from wild animals (snakes, tigers etc) attacks on this areas which can be very fragile. Other than that, they also claimed that girls with long neck are pretty.
 |
| One of the oldest from the tribe |
Our tour guide, Nancy brought us from one stall to the other to explain the stories of them, which make us pity them even more. You can wear the brass ring on your neck and take a photo with them. You can also show your support by buying something from their stalls. Kids are good in posing though haha.
(P/s: My advice is to get a tour guide when you get here so that you can understand the tribe even more)
 |
| She is pretty, isn't she? |
And this amazed me so sooooo much! The big earring (Akha) tribe. The moment when the woman took off her earring, I was like OMG! This is way too much. Her ear lobe formed a big hole of the earring and dropped down like a swing on the level of her neck. She is the only person in the tribe with big earring that we could found and Nancy told us that this tribe is getting extinct since new family members are no longer compulsory to wear the ring anymore.
 |
| When she was taking off the earring |
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| Words cannot describe how amazing it is |
You can read more information from here.
Forth Stop:
Maesai Market
Here is the THAI-BURMESE border, which is the northern most of Thailand.
You will have to pass through a market selling various types of souvenirs before you reach this gate written with "The Northern Most of Thailand".
You can see Myanmar opposite to you and it is separated by Mae Sai River.
We just stopped by for around 15 minutes before departing to another destination.
Fifth Stop:
Golden Triangle and Boat Trip
So Golden Triangle is the intersection of 3 countries which are Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.You can have a bird-eye's view of the triangle section from above and there is river separating the countries. Pretty amazing right. Just imagine you ride on a boat and the next second you are in another country already HAHA
 |
 |
| It was raining that time |
There is also a small island nearby which is known as "No Man Island" in the past, where a man from China started the business of opium and residents from the 3 countries joined in. Since the island was not owned by any country, thus it was the only land where you can do anything illegal including killing a man. Oh Yeah, but it is now belong to Laos, so
And here came the highlight of the day -- boat trip, which we basically just had a short ride across the brown color river with some explanation from tour guide. Anyhow, we did not even came close neither to the intersection of golden triangle nor the No Man Island and it already patah balik (Turning back).
Sixth Stop:
Laos Duty Free Market
After a short ride of the boat, we landed at Laos!
Okay. It was actually just a market known as Duty Free Market ( wasn't so sure if it is really duty free or not). Special local products from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are selling at here.
From Laos including animal whiskey from tiger penis, snake, gecko, tortoise etc. (this is crazy but I forgot to take any photo!) and coffee beans.
From China including some authentic branded bag such as Michael Kors, Chanel, Gucci etc (Well, I wasn't really sure of its authenticity though)
Others than that, I didn't found anything special and we just walked around while waiting for our boat to come.
 |
| Nice view at the jetty of Laos |
--End of Chiang Rai trip --
🔺For my full itinerary in Chiang Mai, you can click here --> Chiang Mai 3 Days 2 Nights
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