No holiday in Chiang Rai is complete without a trip to the Blue Temple or Wat Rong Suea Ten.
This magnificent temple is located in the Rim Kok district in Chiang Rai, near the Kok River. As the name suggests the whole temple, inside and out, is an exquisite cerulean blue, lined with lovely gold embellishments.
When we first heard of the Blue Temple, we thought the concept was strange and wondered how we would feel about it, but the inside of the temple actually had a very mesmerizing and calming effect. It was strange to imagine since the walls are blue and filled with many intricate paintings depicting Buddist beliefs and legends, but was relaxing nonetheless.
Also, inside the temple sits a massive white statue of Buddha where the locals come to pay their respects and worship or meditate.
If you’re interested in it’s name, it roughly translates to “The Temple Of The Dancing Tigers” as the area used to be home to tigers who would leap across the Mae Kok River.
What Can You Do At The Blue Temple?
The temple is beautiful and calming, but remember that this is still a place of worship and you must be respectful during your visit.
You can take pictures outside and inside (unlike the White Temple) but you cannot stand and take pictures in front of the White Buddha inside the temple as that is deemed to be inappropriate.
The local Thai people get down and crawl towards the statue as a sign of respect, so don’t treat the sacred temple as merely a photo opportunity.
Vital Visitors Information
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How Much Does It Cost?
Currently, as of April 2019, the temple is free. Yay!
When Is It Open?
8 am to 8 pm. (I would always double check this; we have seen many varying times displayed)
We went at about 5 pm and caught a stunning orange sunset.
How Do I Get There?
We suggest either renting a scooter or a car (as we did) from your hotel. We paid 1200 THB to rent a car for the day.
Make sure to have your International Driver’s License, it isn’t necessary to hire out transport but may come in handy if pulled over by Law Enforcement.
X Marks The Spot
Other Transport Options
If you’re still planning your trip to Chiang Rai or any other trip around Southeast Asia, you should check out 12Go Asia. We relied on the for all our transportation and were always super happy about it!
What Should I Wear?
Since it is a temple and a place of worship you will have to be dressed appropriately.
This means that both men and women should cover up their shoulders and legs. Men can sometimes get away with wearing shorts.
However, they do provide sarongs at no extra cost to cover yourself up before entering the temple; so it’s best to be as respectful as you can be.
Remember to take off your shoes before entering into the temple. They have shoe racks outside and it is perfectly safe to leave your shoes there.
What else can I do in Chiang Rai?
We have a blog post up showing exactly what we decided to do on our trip to Chiang Rai. We had just over a day here and this is what we got up to.
➳ Chiang Rai – The Perfect 24 Hour Guide!
Chiang Rai has so much more to offer than just the Blue Temple, we really suggest spending some more time here if you are able to!
A Video Of Chiang Rai
Take a look at our travel diary from Chiang Rai!
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