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Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Jul 06, 2011
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Chiang Rai, Thailand, Travel

Date: 24th November 2010

Woke up at around 6am today. I re-packed my bags and checked out of my room as by the time I would have come back, it would have been past 12 noon. I left my bags at the hotel reception and walked to the bus station after having tea from stall serving early morning office goers.

I boarded a bus leaving for Chiang Saen at 6:30am. Mae Sai is the northern most town in Thailand. Located in Chiang Saen (which is in Chiang Rai province), it is from here you reach the Golden Triangle.

What’s the Golden Triangle you ask? It’s the point where three countries – Thailand, Myanmar & Laos – all meet, with only a river separating them.

The journey to Chiang Saen town takes one and half hours.

Small town Chiang Rai school parade Thailand — Passed through a small town

Small town school kids north Thailand — Cute kids were all dressed up and marching somewhere

Bus ride to Mae Sai town Chiang Rai Thailand — Concrete roads gave way to untarred roads. A sign of how remote a place I was heading to.

By around 8:15am, I was in the town of Chiang Saen. Now, I was expecting to see the ‘Golden Triangle’ right as soon as I got down.

Mae Sai town Thailand — But I was told it was still further away

The awaiting moped taxis offered to take me there… for ฿100. I said ‘No way!’ and instead got into a pick-up taxi going to the Golden Triangle. Cost around ฿30.

Mae Sai river road to Golden Triangle — It was still a bit chilly in the morning

Mae Sai river town Chiang Rai Thailand — That’s Mekong river

Road to Golden Triangle Chiang Rai Thailand — It’s a 10 minute drive to the Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle sign Chiang Rai Thailand — And finally, here I was

The Imperial Golden Triangle Resort Chiang Rai Thailand — The Imperial Golden Triangle Resort, the only major hotel facing the Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle entrance Chiang Rai — I kept walking to see where the ‘triangle’ was

And here it was…

Golden Triangle Mae Sai Chiang Rai Thailand panorama — That’s Myanmar to the left and Laos to the right

Hmm, that’s it. That’s what I came all the way for 🙂

Myanmar Burma from Golden Triangle view Chiang Rai — Not sure what this building in Myanmar was

Golden Triangle special economic zone Laos — Across in Laos, this was some special economic zone

Mekong river Myanmar Laos view from Golden Triangle — The Mekong river flows all the way from China

Now, I didn’t come all the way here just to see a river. After all, Myanmar and Laos doesn’t look all that different from here.

There are boat rides that take you along the Mekong river and up to the shores of Myanmar and Laos. I approached one boatman and he told me I’d have to wait a bit for other tourists… or pay ฿1000 for the ride. Needless to say, I told him I will wait.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t waste any time and so, I decided to check out the surroundings.

Golden Traingle temple park Mae Sai Chiang Saen Thailand — There was a temple-slash-park nearby

Golden temple coin rolling buddha statue Mae Sai — This was some contraption where in you roll a coin down to the smiling Buddha statue down there and you can hear the coin roll all the way down into his tummy

Mekong river Golden triangle boat tour — I could see one group boat tour on their way

Temple entrance near Golden Triangle — Checked this place out next

Wat Phra That Ku Phao temple Mae Sai Thailand — Wat Phra That Ku Phao temple

Golden Triangle view Mekong river from hill Mae Sai Chiang Rai — You get a better view from up here

Wat Phra That Pu Khao old temple Mae Sai Chiang Rai — Checked out what looked like an even older temple

Wat Phra That Pu Khao tourist Chiang Rai — Got back down

Once out, I went back to the river banks to see if there were enough tourists in a boat ready to embark on the river tour, but there still wasn’t any.

I waited a little bit.

But the heat was getting to me, and time wasn’t on my side. There was one attraction I just had to see before I left Chiang Rai. My Orient Thai Airlines flight was at 4:25pm, which meant I had to be at the airport at least by 2:30pm. Given that the journey back to Chiang Rai town was going to take one and half hours (now considering traffic), I couldn’t hang around much longer.

I boarded a passing by pickup taxi (which itself aren’t that frequent on this stretch) and made my way back to Chiang Saen town.

Laos across Mekong river Chiang Rai — Was I disappointed I couldn’t do the boat ride? A little bit

My friend Sawmteii (whom I would meet up with in a few days) did the Golden Triangle boat tour from Chiang Mai, which cost them around ฿2000 per person. They told me the boat tour basically takes you to the shores of Myanmar and Laos for a few minutes. Doesn’t sound that exciting I know, but if I had managed to get a spot on a boat from here for a reasonable rate, I would have done it just so I can check off the ‘Golden Triangle tour’ from my list of things-to-do in Thailand.

Chiang Saen town bus stop — I got into a bus heading for Chiang Rai

Bus Chiang Saen to Chiang Rai — Bus ticket cost ฿74 (Taken on the Nokia E72)

Leaving Chiang Saen for Chiang Rai Thailand — The bus left at around 10:30am

Chiang Saen outskirts farmland Thailand — Since I woke up early, with the sun hitting my eyes, I quickly dozed off

But I woke up to see the bus stopped and a police officer inspecting the passengers. He approached me and asked me where I was coming from. I quickly realized it was a check for illegal immigration, in case somebody from Myanmar or Laos just waltzed right into Thailand. I had a copy of my passport and showed him my driver’s license. That was it, the officer got down from the bus and we were on our way again.

Chiang Rai new bus terminal Thailand — This is the new bus terminal, which is a bit far from the main town

I got back to town just past 12 noon, so I was good on time. I decided to have lunch from The Pizza Company, which is Thailand largest and most popular pizza chain. They have a lot of value for money meals and their pizza was quite good too (my meal cost ฿179).

Soon after lunch, I decided to quickly head to Wat Rong Khun, also nicknamed the White Temple. I approached a tuk-tuk and told him I needed to quickly visit the White Temple and then be back in town to head to the airport. He offered to drive me to the White Temple, wait for me there, and then drive me to the airport — all for ฿250. Figuring it sounded like a time saver, I considered it a good deal and we first went back to Ruangnakorn Hotel to collect my bags.

Chiang Rai tuk tuk driver Thailand — The journey takes around 10 minutes from the city

Once I reached the White Temple, I left my bags in the tuk tuk and entered the premises. There isn’t an entrance fee for Wat Rong Khun.

Wat Rong Khun white temple Chiang Rai Thailand — It’s an art masterpiece for which construction began in 1998

White temple Wat Rong Khun tree heads Chiang Rai — The temple is designed with a theme of passing through hell during rebirth, a chance to purify oneself. Thus the colour white.

Wat Rong Khun White Temple hands from hell sculpture — Wat Rong Khun is easily one of the coolest works of art I’ve seen!

Wat Rong Khun White Temple buddhist hindu temple — The temple was designed by the same man behind the Golden Clock Tower in the city, artist Chalermchai Kositpipat

White temple Wat Rong Khun Chiang Rai Thailand — Photography inside the main hall, which houses the Buddha statue, is prohibited

White Temple Wat Rong Khun no alcohol Thai cut out — No alcohol allowed inside Wat Rong Khun… so says this cut out

White Temple Wat Rong Khun Chiang Rai panorama — Panorama comprised of 6 shots

White Temple Wat Rong Khun white fish pond Chiang Rai — Even the fish are white!

White temple Wat Rong Khun front Chiang Rai Thailand — It was time for me to leave

I went back to my waiting tuk tuk and we headed back into the city, because the airport was in the other direction.

While in the city, I saw a sign pointing to Chiang Rai beach… which made me wonder how there is a ‘beach’ in a land-locked district. Turns out it’s just on the shores of a river.

On the way to Chiang Rai airport — The drive to the airport takes around 30 minutes

Chiang Rai international airport Thailand — I arrived by 2:10pm, early enough

Chiang Rai International Airport is enough to serve the district and offers nothing fancy. I got my window seat and sat in the departures lounge.

Orient Thai one-two-go airlines Chiang Rai to Bangkok — My Orient Thai flight was on time as well

The ticket was cheap and the time suited me fine. Initially I was reluctant to fly Orient Thai, because they don’t seem to go by One-Two-Go Airlines anymore, because the airline apparently had a poor safety record in the past.

Aerial view Chiang Rai Thailand — But the flight was just fine

Clouds Thailand aerial photography from plane — The scenery gave way to the clouds

Thailand bangkok at night from flight — By the time I was over Bangkok, the sun had set

My next stop was Pattaya but in the flight, I was contemplating whether I should stay on Khao San road tonight and leave for Pattaya early morning tomorrow. But after I got out of Don Mueang Airport (the old airport), I decided to try and get to Pattaya tonight itself so that it’ll save me the trouble of waking up early again. I took a taxi and headed to Mo Chit bus terminal. En route the taxi driver asked me where I was headed, and when I said “Pattaya,” he told me “Oh, you won’t get bus now!”. Which I didn’t pay much attention to as I figured it was his way of making me consider taking a taxi ride all the way. Once at Mo Chit, I easily got a bus ticket — though most bus companies were on their final trip for the evening. This was around 6:30-7pm.

Sukhumvit Bangkok MRT pillars at night — The bus set off past 7pm, passing Sukhumvit

Rama highway to Pattaya at night — We mostly rode on the elevated highway, the longest in the world

Bangkok port on way to Pattaya — The journey took more than 2 hours

I arrived in Pattaya, not knowing where in the city I was. This was my first visit to Pattaya, as I had zero interest in visiting the place last year on my first trip to Thailand. I only had a hotel reservation for tomorrow, so I still needed to find a bed for tonight. I got into a pickup taxi and asked the driver to just take me to a “cheap room” for tonight. It was already past 10pm and I was eager to crash, as I have been up and about since 6am today. The driver took me to a place called Little Court. A single room cost ฿250 and I checked in. After freshening up, I went out to pick up some dinner and to buy some credit for my local SIM. After updating my father, I called it a night. Well, I tried to… but the room, despite being on a higher floor was still open to the bars outside playing loud music. I guess this was to be expected with Pattaya.

Next posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

Previous posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

Arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok

Thailand 2009: Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Dec 30, 2009
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Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Date: Dec 13th, 2009

(All currency conversions below are approximations as of the date of posting)

My flight landed at 5am at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. My first impressions of the airport? Big.

But sometimes I wonder if it’s too big for its own good. I took a lot of travelators after disembarking and then took a right… to take some more moving walkways.

I finally reached the counter where Visa on Arrival applicants had to queue up. The 15-day Visa on Arrival scheme is only open to a few countries, India being one of them. I decided to opt for Visa on Arrival because before departing, I got to know that up until March 10, 2010, there are no fees. So, basically free. Since my travel was going to be on a budget (‘cos in Thailand, you can do it on a budget) , I figured it was one of the things I could save money on. And I wasn’t the only one. The entire line was 90% Indians with the remaining 10% from countries I couldn’t probably spell correctly off the top of my head.

The form I had downloaded and filled up in advance was of no use as the form given at the counter looked different. I took the new form, filled it up, attached two passport-sized photographs and waited in line.

Annoyingly, there was only one officer manning the counter that time and it was painfully slow. So slow that by the time I got my passport stamped, it was 2 hours that I had stood in line! Very tiring. I probably won’t do Visa on Arrival next time if this is how it is going to be. After that, I collected my luggage fairly easily (I mean, after 2 hours, it was bound to be on the conveyor belt!) and then finished up all the procedures to get out the airport.

Then began the second phase of ‘annoying’. Suvarnabhumi has a network of escalators and lifts that only connect even and odd floors. For example, if I needed to get to the 3rd floor from 4th, I had to take the escalator to the 2nd and then take a lift to the 3rd floor. It was quite confusing but I had to get to the Dtac counter at the airport. I took a local prepaid SIM from them and it was weird how easy it was to get one. I mean, they looked at my passport but other than that, I don’t even remember filling up a form or even giving them photos, an address proof etc. like how it is out here. I even activated GPRS and got my number. Cost me 199 baht (Rs. 277).

Once my number was activated, I then headed to the ground floor to take a metered taxi to Petchburi Road.

Taking a metered taxi from the airport to Petchburi Road — Most of the taxi drivers don’t speak English

I decided to head straight to Petchburi Road because it was where Pantip Plaza was located. But first, I needed to get a room. I asked the taxi driver to stop at First Hotel Bangkok on Petchburi Road. The ride cost me 320 baht (Rs. 440). I went to First Hotel because it was on the main road and it was one of the hotels I had selected based on internet research. The lady at the reception showed me the rate card which showed over 2000 baht for a single room but soon scratched it and said she can give it to me at special rate of 1600 baht (Rs. 2,200) but the check out time was 12pm. I took the brochure and told her that I’ll be back. I stepped out because even though 1600 baht seemed like a good deal, I wasn’t going to be in my room much as my plan was to freshen up and then step out to get my camera. I also intended on leaving for Krabi that night itself.

I walked up a bit and was approached by several taxi drivers who said they could find me good hotels but I decided to go on without their help. Then a Tuk Tuk driver who was posted near Pantip Plaza called me and asked me if I was looking cheap rooms. Now, during my research on Thailand, a common word of advice I came across was to avoid Tuk Tuk drivers. Mostly because they often charge tourists the same amount of money (if not more) the taxis charge. This guy offered to take me around for 30 baht. I thought, what the heck. Couldn’t be any worse than our autos right? But then he told me about his ‘plan’. He would take me the tourism office and there, he asked me to just sit and listen to what the guys had to offer based on my needs. He asked me to sit for at least 10mins so that he would get a “gas coupon”. I went to the tourism office (which turns out was just an authorized travel agent) and the guy there showed me a hotel which would cost 1600 baht. I then told him that was the same rate I could have stayed at First Hotel and I needed a place I could stay without that annoying 12pm check out rule. He then lowered it to 1400 baht (Rs. 1,900) and said it was no problem, I could check-in now itself.

So I paid for it and went to The Best Bangkok House. It was just off Petchburi Road and not very far from the overbridge to Pantip Plaza. The A/C room I got was clean and well equipped with a working TV (& remote), refrigerator, clean bathroom and a twin size bed. They have internet but only at the reception and you had to pay for it.

I took a nice warm bath and just as I stepped out thinking I’ll go shopping, the fact that I was up all night and how painful it was at Suvarnabhumi, the snooze-factor started to kick in. I was sooooo damn tired and just crashed on my bed.

I set the alarm for 12pm but only got up at 1:45pm. Realizing I didn’t have much of the day left, I headed straight for Pantip Plaza.

Ground floor at Pantip Plaza — Pantip Plaza in Bangkok

Pantip is Bangkok’s (if not Thailand’s) most popular IT mall. And by that I mean, the hub for grey market goods and pirated CDs, DVDs, software etc. It’s like National Market in Bangalore, only this is a 5 storey building with escalators and air conditioning. I checked Pantip first because I also had ask around for some stuff my friends wanted. A lot of the shops stocked the Canon 7D and it was available for as low as 52,000 baht (Rs. 72,000). I also asked around for the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 wide angle lens but most didn’t stock the Canon mount.

I then took a taxi and headed to MBK Center.

MBK Center, Bangkok (actually taken on 21/12/2009)

MBK used to be one of the biggest malls in Asia when opened in 1985 but even though there are swankier malls in Bangkok, it remains hugely popular even to this day. The reason I went there was for a store called Fotofile. When researching for camera shops of repute in Thailand, Fotofile was a name that often came up among photographers. They also happen to manage the official Canon store in MBK.

I got my Canon 7D body from them for 55,800 baht (Rs. 78,000). I also picked up a nice camera bag for 1500 baht (Rs. 2,000).

Canon/Fotofile at MBK Center in Bangkok — Top left: Kosin, the sales guy I mostly dealt with

Old Canon camera on display at the Canon store in MBK — Old Canon cameras on display at the showroom

Fotofile has like 2-3 stores in MBK alone and more in and around Bangkok. I went to the one on the ground floor as they stocked second hand lenses as well. They too didn’t have the Tokina lens so I ended up picking up the Canon 10-22mm f3.5 wide angle from them and since I didn’t feel like going back to Pantip, I picked up a 16GB CF card and a filter for the 10-22mm from the same store.

The good thing about buying from popular stores like Fotofile was that I could bargain (everything I picked up, I bought it at lower prices than what they initially quoted) and they are authorized to offer the 7% VAT Refund for tourists.

NOTE: The 7% VAT refund can only be claimed at the airport upon departure and you need to hand over a yellow form which is filled up at the store and given to the buyer. I saw some Indian tourists trying to show a bunch of receipts at the office in Suvarnabhumi and were denied. The minimum amount is 2000 baht I believe and it can even be a collective amount. For eg: if I bought from 4 different stores in MBK or Siam Center, I can get a 7% VAT refund form from a counter at the mall for the 4 bills totalling 2000 baht or more.

Grey market stores may be cheaper but all they are really doing is excluding the taxes they are supposed to impose on the sale and thereby passing on that reduction as a “discount”. Most stores (the many small ones) in Pantip Plaza do not give 7% VAT Refund.

Coming back to Fotofile, I ended up picking up everything on my credit card, for which they said there will be a 2% surcharge. I decided to reserve the cash in case of emergencies.

After picking up my gear, I went to the food court at MBK to grab something to eat. The food court at MBK works on a coupon system. You pay 100 baht (it can be any denomination) and you are given coupons in sums of 5, 10, 20 and so on totalling 100. They had several counters catering to all sorts of variety but I opted for a sea food fried rice.

The seafood fried rice I had at the MBK food court — Sea food fried rice consisting of prawns and squid (85 baht)

After lunch and encashing the remaining coupons, I walked around the same floor and came across a lot of clothes shops. Not branded ones but just small ones selling T-shirts and other gear. I’ll write about all this in detail in a later post. I picked up a pair of shorts because I really didn’t feel like wearing pants in the Thailand heat for the rest of my journey.

I remember the travel agent telling me that the bus to Krabi would leave at 5:30pm but by the time I was done with shopping, it was already past 6pm. I was quite tired with all the running around and told myself that this was supposed to be a vacation and decided to take it easy and leave for Krabi the next morning. Plus, I only needed to check out of my room 9am the next day.

I freshened up and checked out my haul.

The camera bag, 10-22mm lens, Canon 7D, 77mm filter and 16GB CF card — All the camera equipment I bought from Fotofile (Photo taken on the E72)

I kept the batteries for charging and stepped out for dinner which was mostly deep-fried sausages from a street vendor near Pantip Plaza where an open-air karaoke was taking place and some snacks from a 7-Eleven.