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 intriguing interior. The chedi is linked to a viharn, a later construction that contains a series of murals depicting scenes from 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 multi-tier 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 (ordination hall), 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.

Teak plays a prominent role in this beautiful monastery, which was designed by a Burmese architect and built by migrants from the country's Shan state during King Rama V's reign (1868–1910). The bot and viharn combine to make one giant structure, supported by stilts and housing statues made of marble and bamboo.

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 by a small lake, right next to the equally important Wat Chong Klang.

Completed in 1871, this striking white-and-gold structure features a rarely seen wicker Buddha, gorgeous stained glass, and teak figurines that depict the various stages of the Lord Buddha's life. It's one of two Burmese temples built by a small lake in the middle of Mae Hong Son—the other being the similarly named Wat Chong Kham.

Built in 1863, this temple, with its multi-tiered wooden roof structure adorned with detailed zinc carvings, is an excellent representation of Shan-Burmese architecture. It is also noted for housing Mae Hong Son's most celebrated Buddha image—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 exterior of the viharn (assembly hall). 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 sometimes 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. Take a look at the interior murals, some of which depict life here in the past.

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 King Phu in 1295, right around the arrival of Lanna's first ruler—and King Phu's grandfather—King Mengrai.

The Emerald Buddha---which now sits in Thailand's holiest temple, Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok---is said to have been discovered when lightning split the chedi housing it, which was at the temple of the same name at the foot of 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 strikingly beautiful.

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.

This 14th-century temple draws worshippers from all over Thailand, particularly those born in the year of the rabbit; Lanna people believe that traveling to pay respect to the Phra That of their lunar year of birth brings great prosperity. Others are attracted to a hillside location that looks down on the town of Nan and its main river, an iconic reclining Buddha image, and a tall gold chedi said to store a holy Buddha hair that once belonged to King Lithai.

One of Nan's oldest and most historically significant wats, Wat Phra That Chang Kham was built at the turn of the 15th century, right across from what is now the 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 of the surrounding mountains, especially at sunset. 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 paid for the building to be erected).

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.

This visually appealing, blue-toned monastery sits on a 6-acre area where tigers roamed the site of a derelict temple a century ago---hence its name, which translates to "Canal Temple of the Dancing Tigers." Villagers later decided to freshen up the grounds and erected a 6.5 meter-high Buddha statue with gems under its base. The Blue Temple, with sky-blue walls representing the dharma doctrine, is now a monastery as well as an art museum. Despite the psychedelic murals and occasionally purple-lit interiors, a few monks still live and practice here.