The prelude to our Southeast Asian tour actually started with two nights in Bangkok in an attempt to adjust to the Indochina Time Zone (only 14 hours ahead of Denver, Colorado). But our first actual stop was Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Greeted by our guide, “Danny” ~ Mr. Pongsatorn Jitpraphai, as we came off the short flight from Bangkok, we were escorted to our very own private van (mini-bus?) with a driver. Danny will be our guide here in Thailand, and we feel very fortunate.
The first surprise of the trip was that we needed a light jacket and long-sleeved shirts to eat dinner in the outdoor cafe of our hotel in Chiang Rai. After 90 degree temperatures in Bangkok, you could say we were delighted by the temperatures but that would be an understatement ~ we were ecstatic! (PS ~ “cooler” temps this time of year are normal, as are the other two seasons; hot & damn hot with lots of humidity later in the year….)
Chiang Rai was the perfect introduction to “real” Thailand. Chiang Rai sits at a slightly higher elevation and has a drier climate than most of Thailand. It is surrounded by fields of rice, lychee fruit trees, corn, tobacco, pineapple and tea among other things. The city has a thriving market with late night eats and a manageable downtown. The people were friendly, easy to engage, and fluent enough in tourist to know what we wanted with hand gestures and a smidge of English.
Historically, the agriculture product most famous in this province was the poppy. Chiang Rai province along with neighboring countries Myanmar and Laos at one time produced nearly all of the opium/heroin available in the world. The white powder was traded as a commodity literally worth its weight in gold, and the area earned the nickname “Golden Triangle”. In 2023 Myanmar was the world’s largest producer of opium because a crackdown on poppy production in Afghanistan led to a 95% reduction in opium production by that country. According to authorities there is no opium farming in Thailand today.
We could have gone through the Opium museum, but opted for a long-tail boat ride on the upper Mekong river through this fabled confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. Watching boats traverse this wide river carrying everything from 18 wheelers to sacks of grain was pretty cool. Laos allows folks from China to lease land for 99 years, and that has resulted in tons of new housing and at least one casino on that side of the river. The practice reminds me of the houses we have rented in Mexico that were owned by U.S. citizens leasing the property….also for 99 years.
You don’t go anywhere in Thailand without seeing at least one huge Buddhist temple along your route. We visited three of the more modern temple complexes while in Chiang Rai ~ Wat Ring Suea Ten (better known as the Blue Temple), Wat Huai Pla Kang (complete with giant Chinese goddess statue) and the Wat Rong Kuhn (White Temple). These three temples were all amazing, and mostly contemporary in style and art.
The Wat Rong Kuhn (the White Temple) sticks out for its chapel mural by Chalermachai Kositpipat, who included Darth Vader, 9/11, the Ninja Turtles, Freddy Krueger and many other pop culture references. To this person who grew up in a Christian tradition, the mural started towards the floor with what looked like hell (9/11, etc), then onto every day life, then into heaven. As I gain more insight and read more about Buddhism, I’m almost 100% sure that’s not what the artist was portraying. I’m also 100% sure I’m not qualified to interpret his work so if you’re curious I encourage you to check it out yourself. My favorite part of the White temple was a tie between the art gallery full of more works by Kositpipat and the opportunity to purchase a tin Bodhi tree leaf outside the temple. After purchase, you write your prayer on the leaf and then it is hung in a walking gallery just outside the chapel. The leaves were individually beautiful, and grouped all together were a magnificent emobodiment of prayers from all over the world.
When you can eat good food and have a positive impact on the country you are visiting how can you say no? We visited a location in the chain of restaurants named Cabbages and Condoms. C&C operates as you might expect ~ as a business that serves the community in HIV prevention, to help control the spread of STD and for “primary health” of the people ~ which may or may not mean birth control. The food was really great and it was fun to support important work for the general health of the population. They have several restaurants in Thailand, and their website says they even have locations in England and Japan! Go support them next time you’re in one of these countries won’t you?!
Chiang Rai ~ would we live here? Probably not……..even though it would be economical I’m not sure we could take the heat. Would we visit again? Maybe….with friends…..but probably not. It was interesting and cool and a good intro, but I think there are other places in Thailand that warrant exploration before we come back again.
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