Who makes this guide — and where our photos come from.
Chiang Rai Guides is an honest, local-written travel guide to Chiang Rai, Thailand — real routes, real timing and real prices, written by people who actually live here. It is published by JTTT Travel, a small local tour operator based in Chiang Rai.
We verify details regularly, but opening hours and prices can change — please double-check anything important locally. Some links on this site are affiliate or sponsored listings; they may earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you, and they help keep this guide free and ad-free. We only recommend what we would use ourselves.
Most photos on this site are our own. The images below were sourced from Wikimedia Commons under free licences (Creative Commons / Public Domain). We gratefully credit the photographers below. If you are a rights holder and would like a change, please contact us.
| Place | File | Photographer | Licence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wat Ming Mueang | assets/images/wat-ming-mueang.webp | Stefan Fussan | CC BY-SA 3.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Wat Jet Yod (Seven Spires Temple) | assets/images/wat-jet-yod-cr.webp | Stefan Fussan | CC BY-SA 3.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Wat Phra That Doi Chom Thong | assets/images/wat-doi-chom-thong.webp | Chainwit. | CC BY 4.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Oub Kham Museum | assets/images/oub-kham-museum.webp | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Mae Fah Luang Art & Cultural Park | assets/images/mae-fah-luang-art-park.webp | Oatz | Public domain | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| King Mengrai Monument | assets/images/mengrai-monument.webp | Chainwit. | CC BY-SA 4.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Mae Kok River Long-tail Boat Trip | assets/images/mae-kok-river.webp | David McKelvey from Brisbane, Australia | CC BY 2.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Long Neck Karen Village (Tha Sud) | assets/images/long-neck-karen.webp | JTTT Travel | © JTTT Travel | Own photograph, Chiang Rai |
| 101 Tea Plantation | assets/images/101-tea-plantation.webp | JTTT Travel | © JTTT Travel | Own photograph, Chiang Rai |
| Hall of Opium Museum | assets/images/hall-of-opium.webp | CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| House of Opium (Sop Ruak) | assets/images/house-of-opium.webp | Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada | CC BY-SA 2.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Chiang Saen Ancient City | assets/images/chiang-saen.webp | Chainwit. | CC BY 4.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Wat Phra That Doi Wao & Skywalk (Mae Sai) | assets/images/wat-phra-that-doi-wao.webp | EmeraldRange | CC0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Chiang Khong — Mekong Riverside Town | assets/images/chiang-khong.webp | Jakub Hałun | CC BY-SA 4.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Ethical Elephant Sanctuary | assets/images/elephant-sanctuary.webp | Jtorquy | CC BY-SA 4.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
| Sunday Night Market (Happy Street) | assets/images/sunday-night-market.webp | BrokenSphere | CC BY-SA 3.0 | View on Wikimedia Commons |
CC BY and CC BY-SA licences require attribution; CC BY-SA additionally requires that derivatives share the same licence; CC0 / Public Domain require none. Full terms are linked above.
Chiang Rai Guides is written and maintained in Chiang Rai by the team behind JTTT Travel, a small licensed tour operator based in the city. That is not a disclaimer buried at the bottom of a page — it is the reason the numbers on this site are real. The timings come from driving these routes, the entrance fees come from paying them, and the honest warnings come from the questions guests ask us afterwards.
It also means we have an obvious interest in you booking a tour. So we try to be useful in the way that costs us something: this site tells you plainly when you do not need a tour, which is most of the city and all three famous temples.
Two things change faster than any guide can keep up with: festival dates that follow the lunar calendar, and transport that quietly stops running. The airport bus was discontinued in 2024 and is still listed on plenty of major travel sites. Please double-check anything your day depends on.
Three ways, all of them worth stating plainly:
Corrections, a price that has changed, a road that has closed, or an event worth listing — all of it is welcome. We list genuine local events free.