20 Best Sights in Northern Thailand, Thailand

On a hilltop in Tambon Pa Daeng, this late-12th-century temple is distinguished by its 33-meter-tall (108-foot-tall) golden chedi and breathtaking interior. The chedi is linked to a viharn, a later construction that contains a series of murals depicting scenes from the Buddha's life. The revered Buddha image is said to increase a woman's fertility. Cho Hae is the name given to the cloth woven by the local people, and in the fourth lunar month (June) the chedi is wrapped in this fabric during the annual fair. A fairly steep multitier staircase leads up to the temple.

Nan has one of the region's most unusual and beautiful temples, Wat Phumin, whose murals alone make a visit to this part of northern Thailand worthwhile. It's an economically constructed temple, combining the main shrine hall and viharn, and qualifies as one of northern Thailand's best examples of folk architecture. To enter, you climb a short flight of steps flanked by two superb nagas (mythological snakes), their heads guarding the north entrance and their tails the south. The 16th-century temple was extensively renovated in 1865 and 1873, and at the end of the 19th century murals picturing everyday life were added to the inner walls. Some have a unique historical context—like the French colonial soldiers disembarking at a Mekong River port with their wives in crinolines. A fully rigged merchant ship and a primitive steamboat are portrayed as backdrops to scenes showing colonial soldiers leering at the pretty local girls corralled in a palace courtyard. Even the conventional Buddhist images have a lively originality, ranging from the traumas of hell to the joys of courtly life. The bot's central images are also quite unusual—four Sukhothai Buddhas locked in conflict with the evil Mara.

One of Thailand's most astonishing buildings, Wat Rong Khun stands like a glistening, sugar-coated wedding cake beside the A-1 Chiang Rai–Bangkok motorway south of Chiang Rai. Popularly called the White Temple because of its lustrous exterior, the extraordinary structure was built by internationally renowned Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, assisted by a team of more than 40 young artists, craftsmen, and construction workers, as a Buddhist act of winning merit. The glistening effect comes from thousands of reflective glass mosaics set into the white stucco. In addition to the Buddhas, there are images from contemporary culture, including spaceships and Superman. A songthaew ride to the temple from Chiang Rai costs about B50.

A wonderfully self-satisfied Burmese-style Buddha, the cares of the world far from his arched brow, watches over this temple from 1827, which has a fine pulpit carved with incredible precision. It's located on a small lake, right next to the equally important Wat Chong Klang.

Built in 1863, this temple, with it's multitiered wooden roof structure adorned with detailed carvings in zinc, is an excellent representation of Shan-Burmese architecture. It is also noted for housing Mae Hong Son's most celebrated Buddha image, and one of the most revered in northern Thailand, which is now the centerpiece in the main sermon hall. Its origins are clear: note the Burmese-style long earlobes, a symbol of the Buddha's omniscience. 

Small yet spectacular, the rather gaudy Wat Hua Wiang Tai has a splashy naga snake coiled along the edges of its roof and boldly colored murals painted across the viharn's exterior. Come by in the morning to experience the hustle and flow of a nearby market as well.

Phrae's oldest structure lies within the Old City walls. Although the wat was founded in the 12th century, renovations and expansions completely obscure so much of the original design that the only section visible from that time is a Lanna chedi with primitive elephant statues. A small museum on the grounds contains sacred Buddha images, swords, and texts.

With its all-white exterior Wat Ming Muang strikes a dramatic pose offset slightly by the exterior's surfeit of intricate carvings (photo ops galore). The wat contains a stone pillar erected at the founding of Nan, some 800 years ago. Don't miss the interior murals, some of which depict life here in days gone by.

The name of this wat, Chiang Saen's oldest chedi, refers to the 300 ton sak (teak trees) planted in the surrounding area. The stepped temple, which narrows to a spire, is said to enshrine holy relics brought here in the 1320s, when the city was founded by King Saen Phu. The chedi itself predates that, however; it was built by Phu in 1295, right around the arrival of Lanna's first ruler—and Phu's grandfather—King Mangrai.

The Emerald Buddha, which now sits in Thailand's holiest temple, Wat Phra Keo in Bangkok, is said to have been discovered when lightning split the chedi housing it at this similarly named temple at the foot of the Doi Tong in Chiang Rai. A Chinese millionaire financed a jade replica in 1991, and though it's not the real thing, the statuette is still strikingly beautiful.

Commonly known as Wat Yai (the Great Temple), this mid-14th century temple developed into a large monastery with typical ornamentation. Particularly noteworthy are the viharn's wooden doors, inlaid with mother-of-pearl in 1756 at the behest of King Boromkot. Behind the viharn is a 100-foot corn-cob-style prang with a vault containing Buddha relics. Many religious souvenir stands make it hard to gain a good view of the complex, but the bot, or chapel, is a fine example of the traditional three-tier roof with low sweeping eaves, designed to diminish the size of the walls, accentuate the nave, and emphasize the image of the Buddha.

Within the viharn is what many consider the world's most beautiful image of the Buddha, Phra Buddha Chinnarat. It was probably cast in the 14th century, during the late Sukhothai period. Its mesmerizing beauty and the mystical powers ascribed to it draw streams of pilgrims—among the most notable of them was the Sukhothai's King Eka Thossarot, who journeyed here in 1631. According to folklore, the king applied with his own hands the gold leaf that covers the Buddha. Many copies of the image have been made, the best-known one residing in Bangkok's Marble Temple.

This 14th-century temple is worth visiting for its viharn, distinguished by some remarkably delicate wood carving and for colorful frescoes depicting the life of Lord Buddha. A sacred Indian Bhodhi tree stands in the peaceful temple grounds.

One of Nan's oldest and most historically significant wats, Wat Chang was built at the turn of the 15th century, right across from what is now a National Museum. True to its title, the "elephant temple," its large chedi is propped up by 24 stone pachyderms, protecting the country's largest ho trai (scripture library) and a rare solid gold Buddha image from the Sukhothai period.

In a woodland setting about 2 km (1 mile) east of the more famous Wat Phra That Cho Hae, this smaller wat has a chedi said to contain a strand of Lord Buddha's hair. A large standing Buddha stands watch over the gate, and the grounds contain an enormous reclining Buddha.

On the top of Doi Kong Mu, this temple has a remarkable view, especially at sunset, of the surrounding mountains. The temple's two chedis contain the ashes of two major 19th-century monks, Phra Moggallana (one of the Buddha's closest disciples) and Phaya Singhanat Racha (Mae Hong Son's first governor, who built the building).

Some scholars attribute this imposing octagonal wat inside Chiang Saen's city walls to its founder and namesake, King Saen Phu (1325–34), though others speculate that it predates him. Regardless of where its roots lie, Wat Phra That Luang is the tallest religious building in the Chiang Rai region, reaching towards the heavens at 88 meters high right next to the National Museum.

Near the summit of Doi Tong, this temple overlooks the Mae Kok River. The ancient pillar that stands here once symbolized the center of the universe for devout Buddhists. The sunset view is worth the trip.