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Two monks in orange robes on the stairway at Wat Huay Pla Kang, flanked by giant white dragons against a deep blue sky

Chiang Rai, the long day

The three coloured temples of Chiang Rai, with the Mae Kachan hot springs

Eleven to thirteen hours for three temples that look nothing alike, and a spring you can boil an egg in.

Full dayChiang Raifrom €26
Check availability ▸ ◂ Temple tours

Duration

Full day

Stops

5 on the route

Starts in

Chiang Rai

Price

From €26

The experience

Best for
Chiang Rai's three coloured temples in one day
Not for you if
Long vehicle days wear you out, or you would rather pay more for a small group and a shorter, calmer version of the same three temples

This is the cheap way to Chiang Rai, and it is worth being clear about what that means. Chiang Rai is a hundred and eighty kilometres north of Chiang Mai, three hours each way on Route 118, and the day runs from an early pickup to somewhere between eleven and thirteen and a half hours later. For that you get the three temples everyone comes north for, plus two stops the pricier version of this trip does not include, at a fraction of its price. What you also get is a full coach day: this is one of the most-booked trips in the north, and you will not have any of it to yourself.

The temples earn the drive. Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, is not an antiquity at all but a working art project the artist Chalermchai Kositpipat began in 1997 and never finished: you cross a bridge over a field of reaching hands, and the murals inside the ordination hall slide from Buddhist iconography into aeroplanes and superheroes. Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple, was finished in 2016 and is cobalt and gold from floor to ceiling around a white seated Buddha. Wat Huay Pla Kang, the Red Temple, sits on a hill north of town under a white Guan Yin some eighty metres tall, with a lift inside that climbs to a window in her head.

Read the rest

The two extra stops are what make this version different. Mae Kachan is a hot spring on the highway roughly halfway up, where the buses pull in, the water comes out of the ground hot enough to cook in, and the going trade is a net of quail eggs you lower into the pool for a few minutes. It is a rest stop with a gimmick, and after ninety minutes in a seat you will be glad of both. The other is a visit to a Karen village, and that one deserves a straight answer rather than a photograph: read the practical section and the questions below before you book, because whether it belongs in your day is a decision you should make knowingly.

Six hours of road, three temples and one stop that deserves a decision rather than a photograph.

The route

  1. Steam rising off a turquoise hot spring pool ringed with dark rock

    Mae Kachan hot springs

    A stop on Route 118 roughly halfway up, where the water comes out of the ground hot enough to cook in. A net of quail eggs, four minutes in the pool, and a foot bath if the seat has already done its damage.

  2. The white plaster and mirrored glass of Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, above its pond

    Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple

    Chalermchai Kositpipat's unfinished art project, begun in 1997. You cross a bridge over a sea of reaching hands, and the murals inside run from Buddhist iconography into aeroplanes and superheroes.

  3. The cobalt and gold facade of Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple, and its naga balustrade

    Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple

    Finished in 2016, cobalt and gold from floor to ceiling around a white seated Buddha. Twenty minutes, and the best photographs of the day.

  4. The white Guan Yin statue of Wat Huay Pla Kang seated above a green hillside

    Wat Huay Pla Kang, the Red Temple

    A working hillside temple north of town, red and gold at the base, crowned by a white Guan Yin some eighty metres tall with a lift up to a window in her head.

  5. Two Kayan women in traditional dress, wearing the brass neck coils, seated in a village near Chiang Rai

    A Karen village

    The stop that asks something of you. Read the practical section and the questions on this page before you decide whether to get off the bus, and if you do, buy directly and ask before you photograph.

Why this one

01

Wat Rong Khun, still unfinished

The White Temple is one artist's project, begun in 1997 with his own money and planned to outlive him. Plaster, mirrored glass, and a bridge over a sea of hands.

02

Wat Rong Suea Ten, cobalt and gold

A 2016 build, blue from floor to ceiling around a white seated Buddha. Twenty minutes, and the photographs everybody came for.

03

An eighty-metre Guan Yin

At the Red Temple, Wat Huay Pla Kang, a lift climbs inside the white statue to a window in her head, with the valley laid out below.

04

The Mae Kachan hot springs

A highway stop halfway up Route 118 where the water arrives hot enough to cook in. Buy a net of quail eggs, drop it in, wait, eat. Feet in the foot bath optional.

05

The cheapest way north

Around half the price of the small-group version of the same three temples. The trade is group size and a longer day, and it is a fair one if you know you are making it.

What is included

Included

  • Pickup and drop-off in Chiang Mai, early in the morning
  • Air-conditioned transport for the whole day, about six hours of driving
  • A driver and guide for the stops, with an audio guide offered on some departures

Not included

  • Temple admissions: the White Temple charges foreign visitors, the Blue and the Red are free or ask a donation
  • The village entrance fee, if the Karen village stop is on your departure
  • Lunch, and the eggs at the hot springs, which cost very little and are half the fun
  • The lift inside the Guan Yin statue at Wat Huay Pla Kang
  • Tips, welcome but never expected

Practical detail

Duration
11 to 13.5 hours door to door. The spread is real: traffic and group size decide where you land in it
Pickup
Early, in Chiang Mai. Time and pickup point are confirmed when you book
The drive
About three hours each way on Route 118, six hours of road inside the day
Stops
Mae Kachan hot springs, Wat Rong Khun (White), Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue), Wat Huay Pla Kang (Red) and a Karen village. The order varies with traffic
Group
Large. This is a coach trip, not a small group. A private option exists at a different price
The village stop
A Karen village visit is part of this itinerary. Many such villages in Thailand are home to Kayan families who came from Myanmar as refugees, and the arrangement has long been criticised. See the questions below before you decide
Dress code
Shoulders and knees covered at all three temples, for everyone. Shoes come off in the halls
Bring
Water, sunglasses, small notes for admissions and eggs, and something warm for the air conditioning
Best season
November to February. In March and April the burning season fills the valleys with smoke and takes the views with it
Cancellation
Free cancellation applies; the exact terms for your booking are shown before you pay

Read the guide page: temples ▸

Common questions

How is this different from the other Chiang Rai day trip on this site?

Same three temples, different day around them. This one costs roughly half, runs longer, travels in a larger group, and swaps the Lalitta waterfall cafe for the Mae Kachan hot springs and a Karen village stop. The other is a smaller, tighter version of the same route at a higher price. If the budget is the constraint, take this one and accept the coach. If the day itself is the constraint, pay the difference.

Should I go to the Karen village?

You should at least know what you are visiting. The women with brass neck coils are Kayan, a Karenni group from Kayah State in Myanmar; many of the families living in these Thai villages arrived as refugees from the late 1980s onward, and their legal status and freedom to leave have been questioned for as long as the villages have charged admission. Some residents describe the arrangement as the only paid work available to them; critics, including refugee agencies, have called the villages human zoos. Both of those things can be true at once. If you go, buy something directly from the person who made it, ask before photographing anyone, and do not treat a home as a set. If that sits badly with you, stay on the bus: nobody will mind, and the temples are the reason you came.

How long is the day, honestly?

Eleven hours on a good day and closer to thirteen and a half on a bad one, with about six of them in the vehicle. The pickup is early and the return lands in the evening. It is the longest trip on this site, and it is worth planning nothing at all for the following morning.

What are the hot springs actually like?

A roadside stop, not a spa. Mae Kachan sits on Route 118 about halfway to Chiang Rai: there are pools too hot to touch, foot baths at a bearable temperature, stalls, toilets and a small trade in nets of quail eggs you lower into the water and eat a few minutes later. Twenty minutes, and a good deal better than a petrol station.

Are the temple entrance fees included?

Assume not, and carry small notes. The White Temple charges foreign visitors a modest admission, the Blue and the Red are free or ask a donation, and the lift inside the Guan Yin statue is paid separately. What your specific departure covers is listed on the booking page before you pay.

Is the White Temple worth it with the crowds?

Yes, and there is no version of this trip that avoids them: every coach out of Chiang Mai arrives in the same window late in the morning. The building absorbs it better than you would expect, because most of what is worth looking at is detail, and detail does not have a queue. Go straight to the murals in the ordination hall while everyone else is on the bridge.

Can I get to Chiang Rai on my own instead?

Yes. Green buses run from Chiang Mai in about three and a half hours, and songthaews or a rented scooter cover the temples from there. It costs less and gives you the day back, but you will spend that day on logistics, and you will not fit all three temples plus a spring into it without staying the night. At twenty-six euros the arithmetic rarely favours doing it yourself.

Book it

Ready when you are

Dates, times and live prices come up at the next step. Booking takes two minutes, and the cancellation terms are shown before you pay.

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