The Golden Triangle was an area which until quite recently was a hotbed for drug smuggling (opium and heroin largely) and considered rather unsafe. Consequently, I thought this would be the perfect place to find less tourists :). Besides being a cultural center for the former Lanna Empire (whose language is still largely spoken aside Thai), this region is home to numerous minority tribes such was the Aka, and Karen (one subset of which are the long-necked kind shown below). While their lives and body modification practices may seem bizarre or even inhumane, it is ultimately their choice to continue them or not - and I'm happy that Thailand gave them refuge from persecution in Myanmar. I visited one of their refuge villages and got to see how they currently live. Not ideal, but much better than across the border.
Chiang Rai itself is a quaint city with a vibrant night market culture - especially interesting is the vast Saturday market that spans several kilometers! There are also numerous temples, great restaurants, and free outdoor cultural dance and music shows in the central night bazaar. Around Chiang Rai are elephant camps, the 'modern' White Temple, a temple formerly shared with monkeys (who have since moved to ground level due to tourists feeding them) and the scenes of some more recent historical events. One such place is Mae Salong, which is a place where 4000 KMT troops retreated to from Yunnan, China during the civil war. They recently switched their mode of subsistence from growing opium poppies to tea cultivation.
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