Practical tips for taking photos at the famous Chiang Rai temples

Wat Rong Suea Ten Blue Temple Chiang Rai Sarah Latham Copyright DO NOT USE

Situated in Northern Thailand, Chiang Rai is known for hosting a number of impressive temples. I had seen images of the beautiful Chiang Rai temples online and seeing them myself in real life is what drew me to visit Chiang Rai and Northern Thailand. I had a few days in Chiang Rai (although you really only need 2 days 1 night to see the Chiang Rai temples listed below) and spent them exploring and photographing them. My favourite Chiang Rai temples were the White Temple, Blue Temple and Dragon Temple or otherwise known officially as Wat Rong Khun (white), Wat Rong Suea Ten (blue) and Wat Huay Pla Kang (dragon). I discovered a number of things along the way and so I am sharing some practical tips on how to take photos at and visit Chiang Rai’s famous temples to help you when you visit as well.

Suggested read: How to spend two days in Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai White Temple – Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun is arguably the most famous of the Chiang Rai temples. As it is so popular, it will be busy no matter when you go (including getting there when it first opens). In fact, many Chiang Rai temple tours visit the Wat Rong Khun White Temple first on their itinerary so although normally arriving early is quieter it doesn’t seem to be the case with the Chiang Rai White Temple. As a result, I visited later in the afternoon, closer to closing time and found that although it was quite busy it was manageable.

At time of writing the Chiang Rai White Temple was 100 baht entry. I saw other blogs saying it was 50 baht entry so don’t be surprised if the price has increased by the time you go. Due to busyness, the temple operates a one-way system. When I visited this was only really enforced at the front (where the incredible and famous walkway with the sculls and hands are) and once you’re passed that you’re pretty much free to walk around as you like (within reason). What this means for you as a photographer is you will only get one shot at the Instagrammable Chiang Rai White Temple spot and once you pass it you can’t get back there (unless you pay entry again). If it is busy when you get to this spot, just loiter in the surrounding area until you get a clear (or clear enough) chance at a shot. There are speakers playing over and over again telling people not to stop on the walkway and keep walking across it so be sure not to take too much time getting photos, especially if anyone is waiting to go through. As a result, I don’t believe a tripod would be possible (sorry solo travellers) so you’ll have to go with someone or ask a random (it’s what I did after taking photos of someone else for them and it worked out great!). If you do bring a tripod though to the Chiang Rai White Temple, I think you’ll be able to use it for other areas of the temple, it’s just this spot will have constant traffic and hard to set up a tripod without it being in the way.

This Chiang Rai temple is found a 25 minute drive south from the centre of Chiang Rai (Google Maps directions here) and it was easy to get to and from with Grab (it was about £3 each way). Don’t forget your sunglasses, the white is very bright!

Suggested read: How to spend two days in Chiang Rai

Wat Rong Khun White Temple Chiang Rai Sarah Latham Copyright DO NOT USE

Chiang Rai Dragon Temple – Wat Huay Pla Kang

The Wat Huay Pla Kang is famous on Instagram for the impressive white dragon statues that flank a grand outdoor staircase. This place is another one on the tourist route and as you’ll see from the large carparks surrounding this Chiang Rai temple, it will get busy so your best bet is to get there early. This Chiang Rai temple opens at 7am but the dragon staircase area is outside the temple and therefore you can visit earlier than this if you want to catch it at sunrise. When I visited in February, sunrise was 650am so I arrived in time for it. There were only a few other people there which was great as there was a lot of room to get photos without other people there. Unfortunately there are massive lights in the middle of the stairs which will impede your framing of the dragons but you can still get really beautiful shots despite that. At the time of writing it cost nothing to visit.

This Chiang Rai temple is found a 15 minute drive north west from the centre of Chiang Rai (Google Maps directions here) and it was easy to get to with Grab (it was about £2.50). Please note though that if you come for sunrise, it may be quite hard to get a Grab returning to Chiang Rai at this time. I had read online of others that couldn’t get a Grab to return so I came prepared that this may be the case and was ready to walk the 1.5 hours back if needed (or more likely, walk until eventually a Grab did come and get me). However, after a few minutes of searching I was lucky and a Grab driver came and got me. If you want to come for sunrise, don’t come here if you need to be back in Chiang Rai early for any reason unless you have your own transport back. If you don’t want to be faced with the prospect of walking back, you can always just relax at the temple until it gets busier – given how large the carpark was I imagine that it would be quite easy to get a Grab a little later in the morning.

Suggested read: How to spend two days in Chiang Rai

Wat Huay Pla Kang Temple Chiang Rai Sarah Latham Copyright DO NOT USE

Chiang Rai Blue Temple – Wat Rong Suea Ten

Another famous Chiang Rai Temple – the Wat Rong Suea Ten, or known quite commonly, as ‘The Blue Temple.’ Out of the three temples listed in this article, this Chiang Rai temple is the closest to the centre of Chiang Rai (however, is still an 8 minute drive north of Chiang Rai – Google Maps directions here). Like the White Temple, the Blue Temple is featured early on in Chiang Rai temple tours so expect a crowd early. It may be wiser to visit later in the afternoon, but I visited immediately after seeing the Wat Huay Pla Kang dragon temple and despite arriving at opening (8am) it was already quite busy and by 825am, it was absolutely packed with tour groups. However, this didn’t actually impact me taking photos at the spot I wanted to get photos at (although I imagine it would impede most other places in the temple, especially the beautiful blue inside area). At time of writing it was free to enter. You can find the Chiang Rai Blue Temple Instagrammable spot just behind the entrance. In fact, there are two of them that flank the side of the entrance. Despite the crowds coming in, I had no issue getting photos here and could take as long as I wanted with my tripod. You can find the exact spot within the Chiang Rai Blue Temple on Google Maps here.

Suggested read: How to spend two days in Chiang Rai

The order I would see the Chiang Rai Temples in

I think you only really need one night and two days to see the best of the Chiang Rai temples. If I were to structure my time to make sure I saw the best temples at the best time I would start with my first day visiting the Chiang Rai Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten) in mid-afternoon, then go to the Chiang Mai White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) an hour before closing and stay to watch the sunset over the temple from outside the gates. I would then wake up early the next day to go and see the Chiang Rai dragon temple (Wat Huay Pla Kang) at sunrise. This way you can also add an extra visit to the Instagrammable Lalitta Cafe which is found just a 15 minute walk (or 3 minute drive) from the Wat Huay Pla Kang temple.

Suggested read: How to spend two days in Chiang Rai