59 Best Sights in Northern Thailand, Thailand

The magnificent Hall of Opium is a white stucco, glass, marble, and aluminum building nestled in a valley above the Mekong. The site is so close to former poppy fields that a plan is still being considered to extend the complex to encompass an "open-air" exhibit of a functioning opium plantation. The museum traces the history of the entire drug trade, including a look at how mild stimulants like coffee and tea took hold in the West. It even attempts to give visitors a taste of the "opium experience" by leading them through a long tunnel where atmospheric music wafts between walls bearing phantasmagoric bas-relief scenes. The synthetic smell of opium was originally pumped into the tunnel but the innovation was dropped after official complaints.

It's an arresting introduction to an imaginatively designed and assembled exhibition, which reaches back into the murky history of the opium trade and takes a long look into a potentially darker future.

The 193 sights historic sites within the Sukhothai district are considered part of the historic park and are covered in the single entrance fee. Most of the key sites such as Noen Prasat (the Royal Palace) and Wat Mahathat are within the moated city walls but it's worth heading farther afield to Wat Saphan Hin, which offers an elevated vista of the valley below, dotted with Sukhothai’s signature ruins.

Until the 13th century most of Thailand consisted of small vassal states under the thumb of the Khmer Empire based in Angkor Wat. But the Khmers had overextended their reach, allowing the princes of two Thai states to combine forces. In 1238 one of the two princes, Phor Khun Bang Klang Thao, marched on Sukhothai, defeating the Khmer garrison commander in an elephant duel. Installed as the new king of the region, he took the name Sri Indraditya and founded a dynasty that ruled Sukhothai for nearly 150 years. His youngest son became the third king of Sukhothai, Ramkhamhaeng, who ruled from 1279 to 1299. Through military and diplomatic victories, he expanded the kingdom to include most of present-day Thailand and the Malay Peninsula. By the mid-14th century Sukhothai’s power and influence had waned, and Ayutthaya, once its vassal state, became the capital of the Thai kingdom.

Sukhothai was gradually abandoned to the jungle, and a new town grew up about 14 km (9 miles) away. A decade-long restoration project costing more than $10 million created ths 70-square-km (27-square-mile) Sukhothai Historical Park. Sukhothai is busiest during the Loi Krathong festival, which is celebrated in the Historical Park each year on the full moon in November. Its well-orchestrated, three-day light-and-sound show is the highlight.

Sitting amid a tranquil lotus pond, Wat Mahathat is the largest and most beautiful monastery in Sukhothai. Enclosed in the compound are some 200 tightly packed chedis, each containing the funeral ashes of a member of the royal family. Towering above them is a large central chedi, notable for its bulbous, lotus-bud prang. Wrapping around the chedi is a frieze of 111 monks, their hands raised in adoration. Probably built by Sukhothai's first king, Wat Mahathat owes its present form to King Lö Thai, who in 1345 erected the lotus-bud chedi to house two important relics brought back from Sri Lanka by the monk Sisatta. This Sri Lankan–style chedi became the symbol of Sukhothai and classical Sukhothai style. Copies of it were made in the principal cities of its vassal states, signifying a magic circle emanating from Sukhothai, the spiritual and temporal center of the empire.

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.

Like many other sanctuaries, Wat Si Chum was originally surrounded by a moat, and the main structure is dominated by a statue of the Buddha in a seated position. The huge but elegant stucco image is one of the largest in Thailand, measuring 11¼ meters (37 feet) from knee to knee. Enter the mondop, a ceremonial structure, through the passage inside the left inner wall. Keep your eyes on the ceiling: more than 50 engraved slabs illustrate scenes from the Jataka, which are stories about the previous lives of Lord Buddha.

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One of Thailand's most unusual architectural and artistic displays, the Baan Dam Museum, also known as the Black House, is essentially a vast outdoor art gallery, dominated by macabre and rather sinister imagery. It was conceived of by celebrated national artist Thawan Duchanee over the course of 36 years, and includes the work of a number of other artists. The sprawling compound has multiple buildings and artworks spread over the grounds, including monumental wood carvings, black thrones made of buffalo horns, and the artists’ likeness transformed into Buddhist imagery. It's creepy and fascinating and is a stark contrast to the nearby White Temple.

There are many teak houses to admire all over Phrae, but none match this large one near the city's southern edge. Like many such houses, it's actually a reconstruction of several older houses—in this case nine of them supported on 130 huge centuries-old teak posts. The result is remarkably harmonious. A tour of the rooms open to public view provides a glimpse of bourgeois life in the region. The space between the teak poles on the ground floor of the building is taken up by stalls selling handicrafts, including carved teak.

Caves have a mystic hold over Buddhist Thais, so foreign visitors to Chiang Dao's famous caverns find themselves vastly outnumbered by the locals. The caves are thought to penetrate more than 10 km (6 miles) into the small town's guardian mountain, Doi Luang, but the sights in the lighted portion, which is only a few hundred yards, include spectacular stalagmites and stalactites, along with hundreds of Buddha statues and other votive items placed there by devout Buddhists. If you want to explore past the lighted areas, you can hire a local guide with a lantern for about B100. The mountain itself can be scaled in a day, but even just an hour or two of tough walking can bring you to viewpoints with amazing panoramas.

The cultures, ways of life, and crafts of the many hill tribe people that populate the Chiang Rai region are explained with extensive displays at this exemplary museum in the city center. The museum also supports its own travel service, PDA Tour, which organizes visits to hill tribe villages under the motto "We don't support human zoos!"

Opium is so linked to the history of Ban Sop Ruak that the small town now has two museums devoted to the subject. This smaller one is in the center of town. A commentary in English details the growing, harvesting, and smoking of opium. Many of the exhibits, such as carved teak opium boxes and jade and silver pipes, are fascinating.

Even if you don't stay overnight, pay a visit to this sumptuous resort that has the best views over the confluence of the Mae Sai, Ruak, and Mekong rivers.

For $30 (B984) you can get a three-night visa that lets you travel 63 km (39 miles) north to Kengtung, a quaint Burmese town with colonial-era structures built by the British alongside old Buddhist temples.

Visit this remote mountain village northwest of Chiang Rai, and you could be excused for believing you'd strayed over a couple of borders and into China. The one-street hamlet—the mountainside leaves no room for further expansion—is the home of the descendants of Chinese Nationalist troops who arrived here in the 1960s after spending a dozen or so years in Burma following the Communists' ascension to power in China. The settlers established orchards and tea and coffee plantations that now drape the mountainsides; in December and January, visitors crowd the slopes to admire the cherry blossoms and swaths of sunflowers. Call at any of the numerous tea shops for a pot of refreshing oolong. A local bus service runs from Chiang Rai to Mae Salong (the village's official, Thai, name is Santikhiri), and most Chiang Rai travel agents offer day tours for about B3,000.

Next door to Wat Phra That Luang, the National Museum exhibits artifacts from the Lanna period, as well as some Neolithic discoveries. The museum also has a good collection of carvings and traditional handicrafts from the hill tribes.

To get a sense of the region's art, visit the National Museum, which occupies a mansion built in 1923 for the prince who ruled Nan, Chao Suriyapong Pharittadit. The house itself is a work of art, a synthesis of overlapping red roofs, forest-green doors and shutters, and brilliant-white walls. There's a fine array of wood and bronze Buddha statues, musical instruments, ceramics, and other works of Lanna art. The revered black elephant tusk is also an attraction. The tusk, about a meter (3 feet) long, weighs 18 kg (40 pounds). It's actually dark brown in color, but that doesn't detract at all from its special role as a local good-luck charm.

Lanna history and culture are vividly chronicled at this jewel of a facility on the outskirts of Chiang Rai. The museum, in an attractive complex of historic buildings, displays several centuries' worth of local artifacts, including the throne and coronation robes of a 16th-century Lanna ruler.

Backpackers came to this scenic spot back in the ’90s and spread the word: it quickly became the sunset thing-to-do in Pai. What were dirt paths are now properly paved and lined with touristy vendors selling elephant pants. Once you climb the stairs and arrive at the viewpoint, intrepid hikers can walk at their own risk alongside skinny, unstable trails lined with slippery red sandstone and steep drop-offs. Proper footwear is an absolute must here. Also of note in the area is Pam Book Waterfall, about a 20-minute drive west on Route 1095, and the nearby Memorial Bridge many pass through on their way to Chiang Mai.

The region's most significant artifacts are in Bangkok's National Museum, and the many pieces on display at this fine facility demonstrate the gentle beauty of the Sukhothai era. One of several impressive exhibits reveals how refinements in the use of bronze enabled artisans to create the graceful walking Buddhas.

A project of the royal family, this mountainside facility at 1,400 m (4,593 ft) elevation has both agricultural and political objectives. Developing new and more efficient farming practices is one goal; fruit, tea, and coffee research is another; and a third is to wean northern farmers off opium production. Remote and fascinating, the station is beloved by bird-watchers for its numerous rare species, and there are many flower gardens. The orchards, gardens, and hothouses are open to the public, and at various times of the year you can buy pears, apples, plums, and peaches harvested on-site.

Across from Wat Mahathat, there's not much left of Noen Prasat, which translates as "Palace Hill," but you can get an idea of the size from what remains of the square base. In the 19th century a famous stone inscription of King Ramkhamhaeng was found among the ruins of the palace. Now in the National Museum in Bangkok, it is sometimes referred to as Thailand's Declaration of Independence. The inscription's best-known quote reads: "This city Sukhothai is good. In the water there are fish, in the field there is rice. The ruler does not levy tax on the people who travel along the road together, leading their oxen on the way to trade and riding their horses on the way to sell. Whoever wants to trade in elephants, so trades. Whoever wants to trade in horses, so trades." Essentially, Thais imagine Sukhothai's government as a monarchy that served the people, stressing social needs and justice. Slavery was abolished, and people were free to believe in Hinduism and Buddhism (often simultaneously), and to pursue their trades without hindrance. 

Sukhothai grew wealthy on the fine ceramics it produced from the rich earth around the neighboring town of Sawankhalok. The ceramics were so prized that they were offered as gifts from Sukhothai rulers to the imperial courts of China, and they found their way as far as Japan. Fine examples of 1,000-year-old Sawankhalok wares are on display at this museum. The exhibits include pieces retrieved from the wrecks of centuries-old vessels that were headed to China and Japan but sank in typhoons and storms. Sukhothai Historical Park contains the ruins of many kilns used to fire the types of pottery on view here.

This fascinating museum of traditional tools, cooking utensils, animal traps, and handicrafts alone would justify a visit to Phitsanulok. In the early 1980s, Sergeant-Major Khun Thawee traveled to small villages, collecting rapidly disappearing objects of everyday life. He crammed them into a traditional house and barn, and for a decade nothing was properly documented. Visitors stumbled around tiger traps and cooking pots, with little to help them decipher what they were looking at. But Khun Thawee's daughter came to the rescue, and now the marvelous artifacts are systematically laid out, all 10,000 of them. You can now understand the use of everything on display, from the simple wood pipes hunters played to lure their prey, to elaborate rat guillotines. Thawee was honored with two university doctorates for his work in preserving such rare items. He also took over a historic foundry, which casts brass Buddhas and temple bells. The museum is a 15-minute walk south of the railway station, on the east side of the tracks, and the foundry is directly opposite.

Si Satchanalai was a sister city to Sukhothai back in their heyday; it was almost a mini Sukhothai. The historic park consists of eight main sites that can be explored by bicycle or on foot. Wat Chang Lom, with its unique stupa, is adorned with figures of 39 standing elephants around the base.

Foreigners may cross the river to visit Tachileik on a one-day visa ($10, B328) obtainable at the Burmese immigration office at the bridge. The town is a smaller version of Mae Sai, but with a vast tax-free emporium, a busy market, and three casinos packed with Thai gamblers.

This museum goes by two different names and commemorates the hundreds of Japanese soldiers who died here during a chaotic retreat from the Allied armies in Burma. Locals took in the dejected and defeated men, and a local historian gathered the belongings they left behind: rifles, uniforms, cooking utensils, personal photographs, and documents. They provide a fascinating glimpse into a little-known chapter of World War II.

About 28 km (17 miles) north of Mae Hong Son on the Pai road, this park has one of the region's strangest sights—a grotto with a dark, cisternlike pool overflowing with fat mountain carp. The pool is fed by a mountain stream that is also full of thrashing fish fighting to get into the cave. Why? Nobody knows. It's a secret that draws thousands of Thai visitors a year. Some see a mystical meaning in the strange sight. The cave is a pleasant 10-minute stroll from the park's headquarters.