Chiang Rai is one of the northernmost provinces in Thailand and most well-known as being the gateway to the Golden Triangle, the place where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.
They city of Chiang Rai is an OK place to spend a day or two, but not too exciting. Like many other Thai cities, the streets and sidewalks are congested with cars, motorbikes and street vendors, but it lacks things like huge shopping centers, towering skyscrapers and a full-fledged red light district that are part of the personality of Bangkok. It did have a few decent restaurants, a night market and a place to get a good, cheap foot rub, so we were content.
Once you get out of the city, you can start to explore the region a bit. Many people visit Chiang Rai to go trekking, but we just rented a car and hired a driver to explore. There are some mountainous areas that offer nice views and unique insights into how people in other parts of the country live.
Mae Sai is the northernmost point in Thailand and the location of the Thai-Myanmar border. It's not too exciting, just a lot of shops selling the same kind of crap you can buy most anywhere else, but at least we got to look across the border and see "the country formerly known as Burma."
Sop Ruak is the official Golden Triangle spot. In the picture below, Myanmar is just behind my right shoulder and Laos is just behind me left.
They have a pavilion set up with all sorts Buddha images, elephant statues and other similar images just so you know that you're at a special place.
Once you climb up the steps and go behind the giant golden Buddha in the picture above, there's a slide of sorts where you can roll coins into the stomach of the white Buddha below. Every time someone did it, a recording would play with a Thai message followed by "Ha ha ha! Happy Buddha! Ha ha ha!" It got kind of old after the first 20 or so times of hearing it.
Chiang Khong is another border town. It backs up to the Mekong River and just beyond that is Laos.
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