This huge park belongs to Boon Rawd Brewery. In case you don’t know, Boon Rawd Brewery is the Thailand’s biggest beer producer with 69% of market share as of 2012-2014. Boon Rawd’s Singha Park was originally developed to grow barley for Boon Rawd Brewery’s beer. Yes, that is right the initial intention for creating this park is to farm rice in order to make beer. But now it is showcasing itself as a spectacular agro-tourism attraction in Chiang Rai.

The site is commonly known as Singha Park. The area reveals that the well-known beer maker (Singha and Leo Beer) is also a large exporter of Oolong tea. The area concise of the 8,600 rai of land for plantation of several kinds of fruit and crops such as para rubber trees, jujube fruits, barley fields, strawberries, star fruit, mushrooms and salad vegetables.

The Sun hemp with its colorful yellow flowers stretches out as far as the eye can see, just begging to be photographed. Adventurers on two wheels can enjoy the challenging mountain bike track.

While the farm is open throughout the year. However, the best time for sightseeing is during winter time, from October until late January, as the sun is not too strong and the breeze is cool. During the day, it’s best to take the sightseeing car for the tour, which runs daily from 10am to 5pm and comes complete with a guide (THB50 for adult and THB25 for children).

After retiring from sightseeing, you can enjoy delicious food in Singha Park’s own restaurant, Bbu Bhirom.  Bhu Bhirom is an ideal place to enjoy good food with a glorious sunset and romantic atmosphere  Without any annoying buildings blocking your eyes, the al fresco dining area with comfy sofas upholstered in colorful shades is a relaxing perch for dinners overlooking scenic green and yellow agricultural lands stretching out as far as the eye can see.

Opening Hours: Early morning – Midnight
Location: About 15km sounth of town, on Phahonyothin Road.
How to get there: Cars, Hire a songtaew, motorcycle
Admission fee: None for visiting and wandering. But it’s THB50 from farm tour for adult and THB25 for children.
When to visit: Any time of year.

//www.chiangraibulletin.com/2012/12/26/10-places-in-chiang-rai-not-to-be-missed-during-winter/

Mae Sai

Just an hour and a half drive from Chiang Rai, Mae Soi is a small town that shares a border with Myanmar. Mae Soy itself isn’t anything spectacular, but it’s fascinating to visit as you get to see a chunk of what it’s like living in a border town.

Standing on the border of Thailand and Myanmar, you’ll see streams of people constantly traveling backwards and forwards between the two countries – most of them poor and most of them pulling carts piled with goods to sell or trade. Snotty nosed little kids will appear in huge packs begging for money and, once you cross over into Myanmar and see the small town on that side of the border, you’ll see how poor Myanmar really is.

At Mai Sai, there in really nothing much to see in Thai border. It is strongly recommend to cross the bridge into Tachileik, Myanmar. There are plenty of small shops lining both sides of the street leading to the border crossing that sell cheap jewels (rubies, emerald and jade) imported from Myanmar, cheap curio items (many of which are imported from China), cloths, fresh fruit.

Opening Hours: 08:30 – 17:30 (Custom control)
Location: 70km north of Chiang Rai City, on Phahon Yothin Rd/Route 1/AH2.
How to get there: Cars, Buses, Songtaew.
Admission fee: None
When to visit: Any time of year.

//www.chiangraibulletin.com/2012/12/26/10-places-in-chiang-rai-not-to-be-missed-during-winter/

Chiang Rai’s Night Market

Unlike Chiang Mai’s night market, that’s full of mass-produced items made specifically for tourists, a lot of what you can buy at the night market in Chiang Rai are unique items made by hill-tribe people. I bought several antique bags, a mask, some hill-tribe silver earrings, a handmade traditional Thai doll, a carved wooden bowl and an embroidered bag.

As we know, the hill-tribes of Thailand produce beautiful products, all unique and all lovely quality. The best places to buy these products are from the stalls the hill-tribe people set up by just placing a blanket on the street and selling from there. Prices are cheap here. You may find the same items in Bangkok but the price may rise to many folds.

The night market also has a lot of food stalls, and most of them offer Thai food that cooked a little less spicy to cater to tourists’ taste and there’s even live music and dancing girls to keep you entertained while you eat.

After dinner, you can finish up by walking across the street to get ice cream in ice cream shops or a few beer in nearby bars before going back to your hotel for the night. Chiang Rai’s night market really is a must see event.

Opening Hours: 18:00 – 02:00
Location: Center of town
How to get there: Tuk-Tuk, Songtaew, on foot from city center.
Admission fee: None
When to visit: Any time of year but the weather is great during winter.

//www.chiangraibulletin.com/2012/12/26/10-places-in-chiang-rai-not-to-be-missed-during-winter/

Chiang Saen’s The Golden Triangle 

The Golden Triangle covers an area of about 195,000 square kilometers and covers three separate countries; Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. The golden triangle was once a place where opium was grown widely, but this no longer exists on the Thai side of the border.

The location at Golden Triangle area where the border of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos is called Sob-Ruak Village are. meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Maekhong rivers. The Golden Triangle is something of a tourist attraction with many thing to visit and stay with Thai Lanna culture style touch with local style stay at home-stay or Golden Triangle Guesthouse.

The House of Opium is at the Golden Triangle, about an hour from Chiang Rai, and as the name suggests is a museum dedicated to the opium trade in the Golden Triangle (the Golden Triangle being Thailand, Burma and Laos). In this area of the world, the opium trade was a huge operation for hundreds of years.

Most of the people living in the area smoked opium, it was traded or sold quite easily, and much of the revenue for the area came from it. The House of Opium is fascinating though as it has an enormous collection of old opium pipes, weights and scales, and other drug paraphernalia.

The museum also has a great collection of religious items, miniature carved jade animals, ornate boxes, necklaces and much more. It’s a 3-storey museum that also has a large gift shop that sells some extremely cool stuff – reproduction opium scales and pipes, posters, t shirts, books, etc. Entrance fee is only around 50 baht (about $1,25) but well worth it.

Opening Hours: 18:00 – 02:00
Location: North of Chiang rai, in Chiang Saen
How to get there: Buses, Cars
Admission fee: None
When to visit: Any time of year.

//www.chiangraibulletin.com/2012/12/26/10-places-in-chiang-rai-not-to-be-missed-during-winter/

 Doi Chang

Doi Chang is one of the largest coffee grown community in Thailand. It is also known for being the agricultural research center in Chiang Rai. There are series of coffee plantations, macadamia, and all kinds of seasonal fruits, which these products will be distributed throughout the country.

Not only for coffee and development project that make Doi Chang interesting. Doi Chang has a perfect spot for sightseeing, along the way uphill. At the top of Doi Chang, many sightseeing spots, especially for sunrise and sunset, are provided for tourists, including the national park and the community’s research facility.

There are a few places to see in Doi Chang such as Vegetable plantation, Plantation of Arabica Coffee, Holly Well in Doi Chang national park, Doi Chang Lookout point, and Doi Wawee community.

Besides winter time, overnight staying is not famous among tourists. There are several resorts available in  Wawee village near Doi Chang Lookout point and national park. Camping sites are also available.

Getting to Doi Chang is quite an adventure  Starting from Chiang Rai city. Ran through the intersection of Highway 1211, about 21 kilometers to its five-way intersection, Huai San village pavilion. Turn right and follow the road straight through the pouring rubber dam to store water for about 9 kilometers Mae Mon.

Ban Huai San Lisu. He started up the steep slopes along the gravel road for about 7 kilometers from the Experiment Station at the V distance of 43 kilometers high that takes about an hour.

Opening Hours: All day
Location: 70km South west of Chiang Rai city
How to get there: Cars
Admission fee: None
When to visit: Any time of year, but best during winter

//www.chiangraibulletin.com/2012/12/26/10-places-in-chiang-rai-not-to-be-missed-during-winter/

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