Three countries, one bend in the river

What this corner actually is

The Golden Triangle is the point at Sop Ruak where the Ruak river joins the Mekong and Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. As a viewpoint it is a car park with a sign; as a place it is the centre of a history that shaped the whole northern region, because for most of the twentieth century this was the world's largest opium-producing area.

The Hall of Opium, funded by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, is a serious museum about that: the trade, the opium wars, the addiction, the armies financed by it, and the forty-year royal project that replaced poppy with coffee, tea and macadamia across the northern hills. It takes ninety minutes and it is the reason to come here.

Chiang Rai city itself is a pleasant provincial capital of about eighty thousand people and is mainly a base. The White Temple, twelve kilometres south, is a contemporary art project by a living artist that has been under construction since 1997; it is worth an hour on those terms and is disappointing if you approach it as a temple.

Doi Mae Salong, which is the surprise

An hour and a half west of Chiang Rai, at about 1,200 metres, sits a village where the signs are in Chinese and the food is Yunnanese. It was settled from 1961 by the remnants of the 93rd Division of the Chinese Nationalist army, who retreated from Yunnan in 1949, spent a decade in Burma, and were eventually allowed to settle here.

They grew opium for years, then were moved into tea by the same royal project, and the hillsides are now oolong terraces. The cemetery is full of Chinese names and the noodle shops serve Yunnanese ham. It explains more about the politics of this border than any museum, and almost no itinerary stops there.

How many nights

Two. One day for the Golden Triangle and the Hall of Opium, one for Doi Mae Salong and the tea country. If you are only passing through on the way to Laos, one night works and you will do the Hall of Opium on the way to the bridge.

Chiang Rai is three hours from Chiang Mai by road, which makes a two-night stop a natural extension of a northern Thailand trip rather than a separate journey.

The crossing into Laos

Chiang Khong, ninety minutes east of Chiang Rai, sits opposite Huay Xai in Laos across the fourth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge. You cannot walk across; a shuttle bus does the crossing. It is one of the nine Lao ports where an eVisa is valid, which is more than can be said for most crossings in the region.

From Huay Xai the Mekong slow boat runs downstream to Luang Prabang over two days with a night at Pak Beng, about USD 23 on the public boat. It is one of the best journeys in Southeast Asia and it is described in full on the nine-day Thailand and Laos route.

Allow ninety minutes for the crossing itself including both immigration halls. It is usually less.

When to go

What things cost

Photographs

When to skip Chiang Rai

• Late February to April, if the hills are the point. The smoke takes them.
• If you are not continuing into Laos and have limited days. Chiang Mai is the stronger of the two northern stops.
• If you expect the Golden Triangle viewpoint to be dramatic. It is a car park with a good view and a museum nearby.
• If you are hoping to cross into Myanmar at Mae Sai. We would not recommend it in current conditions.
• If you want a city. Chiang Rai is a provincial town and the interest is outside it.

Tours that include Chiang Rai

Two nights in the twenty-four-day four-country route and in the seven-day northern Thailand route. One night in the nine-day Thailand and Laos route, on the way to the bridge and the slow boat.

Questions travellers ask most

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