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Roots Earth in Chiang Rai: audio stories about 40 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 40 places in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in Asia. The Chiang Rai stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The catalogue carries the written Spanish description of 36 of the 40 Chiang Rai places, and the Spanish audio stories of all 40. The app needs no account: open Chiang Rai, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 40 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: chiang-rai.md

The 40 places in Chiang Rai with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)
  2. Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue Temple)
  3. Baan Dam Museum (Black House)
  4. Wat Phra Kaew, Chiang Rai
  5. Wat Phra That Doi Chom Thong
  6. Wat Phra Sing, Chiang Rai
  7. Emerald Buddha (discovery site)
  8. King Mengrai Monument
  9. Chiang Rai Clock Tower
  10. City Pillar Shrine (Sadue Mueang)
  11. Oub Kham Museum
  12. Hilltribe Museum and Education Center
  13. Wat Ming Mueang
  14. Wat Klang Wiang
  15. Wat Ngam Mueang
  16. Mae Fah Luang Art and Culture Park
  17. Wat Huay Pla Kang (Big Buddha)
  18. Singha Park (Boon Rawd Farm)
  19. Kok River
  20. Mae Fah Luang University
  21. Chiang Rai Rajabhat University
  22. Overbrook Hospital
  23. Wat Si Koet
  24. Wat Chet Yot, Chiang Rai
  25. Wat Doi Khao Khwai
  26. Chiang Rai Beach (Hat Chiang Rai)
  27. Mae Fah Luang–Chiang Rai International Airport
  28. Chiang Rai Night Bazaar
  29. Saturday Walking Street (Thanalai Road)
  30. Sunday Walking Street (Sankhongnoi)
  31. Kad Luang Central Market
  32. Wiang Mueang Old Town
  33. Jet Yod Road Cafe Quarter
  34. Ban Du Neighbourhood
  35. Rim Kok Riverside Quarter
  36. Chiang Rai Municipal Park (Suan Tung Lae Khom)
  37. Doi Chaang Coffee Quarter
  38. Wat Pa Od (forest temple)
  39. Chiang Rai Old Bus Terminal Quarter
  40. Nong Bua Public Park

Is there an audio guide for Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)?

Yes. Wat Rong Khun (White Temple) has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 40 Chiang Rai places in the app, at 19.82467, 99.76333. Every one of the other 39 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Chiang Rai

Open Roots Earth and choose Chiang Rai. The city has its own map of places with all 40 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 40 places in Chiang Rai, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 40 places in Chiang Rai, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)

Coordinates
19.82467, 99.76333
In one line
A dazzling white temple sheathed in mirrored glass, begun in 1997 by artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. Its bridge crosses a sea of reaching hands, blending Buddhist devotion with surreal pop-culture murals in an ongoing work of contemporary art.

2. Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue Temple)

Coordinates
19.92338, 99.84171
In one line
A sapphire-blue temple in Rimkok, completed in 2016 by Phuttha Kabkaew, a student of the White Temple's creator. Its cobalt-and-gold hall, named for dancing tigers, shelters a luminous pearl-white Buddha rising more than six meters high.

3. Baan Dam Museum (Black House)

Coordinates
19.9921, 99.8607
In one line
A sprawling compound of dark teak halls created by artist Thawan Duchanee from 1975 onward. Across more than 40 buildings, the Black House gathers bones, hides, horns, and folk art into a brooding meditation on death and the human mind.

4. Wat Phra Kaew, Chiang Rai

Coordinates
19.91173, 99.82745
In one line
The Lanna temple where the Emerald Buddha was discovered in 1434, after lightning split open its old chedi. Once known as the Bamboo Forest Monastery, it now shelters a jade replica carved in 1991 and a small museum telling the famous image's story.

5. Wat Phra That Doi Chom Thong

Coordinates
19.91617, 99.82275
In one line
The oldest sacred site in Chiang Rai, crowning a hill above the Kok River. From here King Mangrai surveyed the land in 1262 before founding his city. A golden chedi and the city pillar shrine mark the spiritual heart of the region.

6. Wat Phra Sing, Chiang Rai

Coordinates
19.9099, 99.8313
In one line
A revered Lanna temple in central Chiang Rai, long associated with the famous Phra Sing Buddha image tied to Chiang Mai. Its 1890 ordination hall holds the Phra Singh Luang Buddha behind doors carved by artist Thawan Duchanee.

7. Emerald Buddha (discovery site)

Coordinates
19.91173, 99.82745
In one line
A carved jade Buddha, Thailand's most sacred image, revealed at Chiang Rai in 1434 when lightning split its plaster shell. From this site it journeyed through many kingdoms to Bangkok. A faithful replica now honors its place of discovery.

8. King Mengrai Monument

Coordinates
19.9075, 99.8458
In one line
A bronze statue at Pho Khun intersection honors King Mangrai, who founded Chiang Rai in 1262 and went on to build the Lanna kingdom.

9. Chiang Rai Clock Tower

Coordinates
19.9082, 99.8326
In one line
A golden Lanna-style clock tower designed by White Temple artist Chalermchai Kositpipat and completed in 2008.

10. City Pillar Shrine (Sadue Mueang)

Coordinates
19.91617, 99.82275
In one line
Atop Doi Chom Thong stands the city's symbolic navel, a central pillar ringed by 108 smaller ones. Built in 1987 and laid out as a Lanna cosmic map, it represents Mount Meru, the heavens, and the sacred rivers.

11. Oub Kham Museum

Coordinates
19.9013, 99.8162
In one line
A private museum of Lanna and Tai royal treasures assembled by collector Julasak Suriyachai. Its halls hold regalia, textiles, and a gilded throne said to be roughly 400 years old, the last of its kind from the Shan courts.

12. Hilltribe Museum and Education Center

Coordinates
19.9088, 99.8347
In one line
A museum run by the PDA charity since 1987, explaining the Akha, Lahu, Karen, Hmong, Lisu, and Yao peoples of northern Thailand through costumes, tools, and exhibits on opium, livelihoods, and responsible tourism.

13. Wat Ming Mueang

Coordinates
19.9073, 99.8347
In one line
A 13th-century temple dedicated to the mother of King Mangrai, later held by Shan settlers who built in Burmese style. It blends Tai Yai and Lanna art, crowned by a chedi topped with a golden Burmese umbrella.

14. Wat Klang Wiang

Coordinates
19.9093, 99.8339
In one line
A temple built around 1432 at the exact center of the old walled town, its name meaning middle of the city. Exuberant Lanna decoration covers the ubosot and gilded gateway, and a pavilion still marks the original city pillar.

15. Wat Ngam Mueang

Coordinates
19.9112, 99.8299
In one line
A small hilltop temple in old Chiang Rai whose brick chedi enshrines the ashes of King Mangrai, the warrior-king who founded the city in 1262 and shaped the Lanna kingdom.

16. Mae Fah Luang Art and Culture Park

Coordinates
19.932, 99.8005
In one line
A serene garden park in Chiang Rai built by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, centered on the Haw Kham golden teak pavilion of 1984 and one of Thailand's finest collections of Lanna woodwork and art.

17. Wat Huay Pla Kang (Big Buddha)

Coordinates
19.9556, 99.8244
In one line
A hilltop temple north of Chiang Rai, where construction of the facilities and pagoda began in 2005, famous for a 69-meter white statue of Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy, a nine-tier pagoda, and dragon stairways blending Chinese and Lanna design.

18. Singha Park (Boon Rawd Farm)

Coordinates
19.8667, 99.7833
In one line
A vast agro-tourism estate of Boon Rawd Brewery near Chiang Rai, opened in 2012, spanning roughly 8,000 rai of tea terraces, flower fields, and orchards, marked by a giant golden Singha lion.

19. Kok River

Coordinates
19.925, 99.84
In one line
A 285-kilometer river rising in Myanmar's Shan State and flowing through Chiang Rai before joining the Mekong at Chiang Saen. It shaped the founding of the city and remains its defining waterway.

20. Mae Fah Luang University

Coordinates
20.045, 99.89472
In one line
A public university founded in 1998 in the hills of Chiang Rai, named for Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother. It teaches mainly in English and is known for its garden campus and tea-covered slopes.

21. Chiang Rai Rajabhat University

Coordinates
19.9667, 99.8833
In one line
A public university in Chiang Rai that began in 1973 as a teacher-training college, became a Rajabhat institute, and gained full university status in 2004, rooted in community development and education for the north.

22. Overbrook Hospital

Coordinates
19.9103, 99.8296
In one line
Chiang Rai Province's first private hospital, founded in 1903 by the Canadian Presbyterian missionary doctor William A. Briggs. Named for a Pennsylvania church that funded it, it brought modern medicine to a remote frontier town of a few hundred people.

23. Wat Si Koet

Coordinates
19.9068, 99.8318
In one line
A quiet neighborhood temple in Chiang Rai city, Wat Sri Koet sits off the tourist trail in Lanna style.

24. Wat Chet Yot, Chiang Rai

Coordinates
19.9105, 99.8355
In one line
A Lanna temple near the Chiang Rai Night Bazaar whose name means Seven Spires. Its distinctive chedi rises in seven graceful towers, echoing the famous Mahabodhi temple of Bodh Gaya in India, where the Buddha attained enlightenment.

25. Wat Doi Khao Khwai

Coordinates
19.8944, 99.8222
In one line
A hilltop temple south of Chiang Rai city named the Mountain of the Crystal Buffalo Horn. Its golden chedi enshrines a relic of the Buddha and ties together two northern legends, a sacred white buffalo and the four-eared, five-eyed creature called Sihuhata.

26. Chiang Rai Beach (Hat Chiang Rai)

Coordinates
19.9333, 99.8333
In one line
A seasonal river beach on the Kok River near Chiang Rai city. In the dry season the falling water exposes a wide sandy bank where locals swim, picnic, and rent sunbeds, a riverside playground far from any sea.

27. Mae Fah Luang–Chiang Rai International Airport

Coordinates
19.95222, 99.88278
In one line
Northern Thailand's gateway airport, opened in 1992 about eight kilometers from Chiang Rai city. It honors Princess Srinagarindra, known as Mae Fah Luang, and now handles close to two million passengers a year on a single three-kilometer runway.

28. Chiang Rai Night Bazaar

Coordinates
19.9052, 99.8376
In one line
Chiang Rai's nightly market beside the Clock Tower, sprawling across several blocks from early evening until late. Crowded food courts, hill-tribe handicrafts, and open-air stages with Lanna dance make it the city's after-dark gathering place.

29. Saturday Walking Street (Thanalai Road)

Coordinates
19.9073, 99.8356
In one line
Every Saturday evening, Thanalai Road closes to traffic and fills with hundreds of stalls, hill-tribe craftspeople, food vendors, and live music, turning a central Chiang Rai street into one of the city's busiest weekly gatherings.

30. Sunday Walking Street (Sankhongnoi)

Coordinates
19.9023, 99.8278
In one line
On Sunday evenings, Sankhongnoi Road in Chiang Rai closes to vehicles for a smaller, food-focused walking market, with street stalls, stage performances, and local dance drawing residents to the southern edge of town.

31. Kad Luang Central Market

Coordinates
19.9066, 99.8371
In one line
Chiang Rai's main daily market, Kad Luang sits along Uttarakit Road between Wat Ming Mueang and the old clock tower, selling fresh produce, meat, and northern Thai ingredients each morning and street food each evening.

32. Wiang Mueang Old Town

Coordinates
19.909, 99.833
In one line
The historic core of Chiang Rai, Wiang Mueang occupies the original walled town founded by King Mangrai in 1262, a dense quarter of Lanna temples, shrines, civic landmarks, and the city's central market.

33. Jet Yod Road Cafe Quarter

Coordinates
19.9098, 99.8348
In one line
Named for the temple of Wat Jet Yod, this old-town street has become Chiang Rai's relaxed cafe and bar quarter, lined with coffee houses, restaurants, and evening hangouts a short walk from the historic temples.

34. Ban Du Neighbourhood

Coordinates
19.9667, 99.85
In one line
Ban Du is a populous subdistrict on the northern edge of Chiang Rai across the Kok River, a mix of residential streets, local temples, riverside eateries, and the everyday life of a growing provincial suburb.

35. Rim Kok Riverside Quarter

Coordinates
19.92, 99.845
In one line
Where Chiang Rai meets the Kok River, the Rim Kok quarter spreads along both banks with riverside restaurants, walking paths, bridges, and parks, a relaxed waterfront zone on the river where the city was founded in 1262.

36. Chiang Rai Municipal Park (Suan Tung Lae Khom)

Coordinates
19.904, 99.83
In one line
A green civic park on Thanalai Road built on a former prison site, named for the Lanna flags and lanterns it celebrates. Each winter it blooms into Chiang Rai's famous flower festival of tulips, lilies, and glowing lantern displays.

37. Doi Chaang Coffee Quarter

Coordinates
19.84, 99.65
In one line
A pocket of cafes and roasters carrying the city's coffee story, rooted in Doi Chaang, the Akha and Lisu mountain village whose Arabica grew from a royal effort to replace opium and became a celebrated single-origin Thai bean.

38. Wat Pa Od (forest temple)

Coordinates
19.89, 99.845
In one line
A quiet forest temple on the edge of Mueang Chiang Rai, the kind of leafy neighborhood monastery where shade, simplicity, and meditation matter more than gilded grandeur, rooted in the northern Thai tradition of the wat pa.

39. Chiang Rai Old Bus Terminal Quarter

Coordinates
19.9047, 99.8383
In one line
The original downtown bus station on Prasopsook Road, once the gateway for every provincial coach into Chiang Rai. Beside it sprawls the lively night bazaar, making this old transport hub the busy, food-filled heart of the city center after dark.

40. Nong Bua Public Park

Coordinates
19.915, 99.815
In one line
A spacious public park in Ban Du built around twin lakes, Nong Bua Yai and Nong Bua Noi, linked by a flower-lined road. Opened in 1988 and named for the King's Mother, it gathers palm, bamboo, and teak gardens around the water.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

  • No account
  • Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection
  • Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities

Roots Earth for Android is available on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app.