Chiang Rai is Thailand's northernmost major city, set in a broad river valley surrounded by forested mountains near the borders with Myanmar and Laos. It is calmer, smaller, and less commercialised than Chiang Mai, with a good night market, pleasant temples, and easy access to some of northern Thailand's most interesting countryside.
The city's most famous sight is the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun), 10km south of town — not ancient but extraordinary: an entirely white structure encrusted with mirror fragments that flash in the sun, surrounded by sculptures of hands reaching from the earth. It is one of the most striking buildings in Thailand.
The real draw of the Chiang Rai region is what surrounds it. The Golden Triangle — where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak rivers — is 60km north near Chiang Saen. Doi Mae Salong, a mountain village near the Burmese border settled by Kuomintang soldiers who fled China in 1949, is known for its tea plantations and oolong. The hill tribe villages around the province offer trekking through forests and terraced rice fields.