Mountainous and alluring, Chiang Rai is one of the best spots to do trekking in Thailand. The provincial capital of the same name is home to a wide range of excellent accommodation, from five-star international hotels to cheap backpacker guesthouses, as well as some great eating spots, with most cuisines covered and swish Western/Thai style coffee houses boasting free WiFi starting to multiply.
Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai also retains some of the small-town charm now relatively lacking in places like Chiang Mai and Bangkok, remaining the kind of place where a child might shout “Hello” from the back of their parents’ motorbike as they speed past. Chiang Rai has a charm which has disappeared from many of Thailands cities, such as Chiang Mai and most certainly, Bangkok.
Chiang Rai was established in 1262 during the reign of expansionist Lanna ruler Mangrai. Inheriting the throne from his father in 1259, he embarked on a campaign to quickly conquer — either by war or diplomacy — the surrounding fiefs.
Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai town is a ‘wannabe’ kind of place — it’s not too sure what it wants to be. While it has a reputation as a superb alternative trekking base to Chiang Mai, it has great potential for more but somehow appears to want to be left alone.
One of the great attractions of this part of Thailand is the cooler temperatures from November through to February, which is also the high season. Local people will be wrapped in scarves as temperatures plummet as low 20 degrees Celsius — for many visitors that’s just about perfect.
Chiang Rai
Most travellers are in Chiang Rai to trek. Dozens of travel shops offer treks ranging from a couple of days to five-day tours in the mountains. With so many close by and grouped in the streets around the night bazaar area, comparing prices and content is easy and quick. Many of these places have been arranging treks for years and in some cases it shows. Having said that, they can arrange to pop you on a boat to Laos, sort out a visa and rent you a jeep all within a few minutes of entering the shop.
The excellent Hilltribe Museum and Population and Community Development Association (PDA) has the most comprehensive information on all the tribes, their culture, a history of the opium trade and displays of traditional crafts.
Chiang Rai
A favourite trip is west on the Mae Nam Kok to Tha Ton. Boats leave from the pier near the new bridge at 10.30 and the journey takes around three hours. Although a ‘touristy’ type of trip, there’s still something magical about voyaging down these wide Thai rivers in a longtail. The real dense and untouched jungle is something you don’t see close up from the road.
