Chiang Rai: Chiang Mai’s Nerdy Little Sister

We almost didn’t go to Chiang Rai, which would have been a huge mistake as it is home to one of the coolest things you’ll see in all of Thailand: The White Temple (or as the Thais call it, Wat Rong Khun). Two American girls in our Bangkok cooking class happened to mention that it was worth seeing, and after googling pictures of it, we thought so as well. Here is something equivalent to what you see when you google “White Temple Chiang Rai”:

Looks really pretty and ornate, right? That’s exactly why Brian and I decided it was worth a visit, without reading any more about it, and despite being pretty burned out by temples after over 3 weeks in Thailand. Since Chiang Rai is quite close to the border crossing to Laos that we were planning to use, it made sense to stop on our way out of Thailand. The White Temple is about 11 kms south of the main city of Chiang Rai (our whole world these days involves assessing distance in kilometers, something I never had any sense of before thanks to our American shunning of the metric system), so Brian and I decided to tempt fate yet again by riding a motorbike down there.

Upon reaching the White Temple, we soon realized that this wasn’t just another pretty temple. What makes the White Temple so unique is that it is a contemporary Buddhist temple that has been created by a famous Thai visual artist named Chalermchai Kositpipat. The temple has been designed to depict traditional Buddhist messages and stories in a contemporary, artistic way. It is a work in progress that the artist expects to continue to be incomplete even after he dies.

Ghoulish heads hang on trees in front of the White Temple. Some of these are fictional characters, but some appeared to be faces of political leaders.

Zombie hands, some holding things such as skulls, reach out towards you as you walk along the pathway leading to the temple.

Creepy guys like this one line the sides of the temple.

No smoking here or demons will eat your face.

Ahh, from far away it sure looks lovely, though!

Even the bathroom here is artistically designed and decorated (yes, this entire building is the bathroom)!

Sadly, the most interesting aspect of Wat Rong Khun could not be photographed. Inside the temple itself, the walls have been painted in a colorful mural similar to those found in other Buddhist temples. The only difference is that here in the White Temple, instead of portraying the story of Buddha, the mural depicts the end of the world with many contemporary images including a scene of New York City complete with burning twin towers, cartoon characters such as Spider-Man and Hello Kitty, and even Michael Jackson. No description can do it justice, it really has to be seen.

Although the White Temple is the main tourist attraction in Chiang Rai, Brian and I enjoyed exploring the rest of this city and its outskirts. Even though it is only a couple of hours from major tourist hub, Chiang Mai, it didn’t seem like too many tourists actually spend much time here. This is sad because it’s obvious that Chiang Rai is trying to compete with Chiang Mai as a major tourist destination–it has its own version of many things that Chiang Mai is known for including a weekend market. This is warranted though, because in addition to the White Temple, Chiang Rai has some interesting sites to see: