พระพุทธนวล้านตื้อ — Attraction in Chiang Saen district

The Golden Triangle is the name given to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium production. Its geographical limits are the area in which the borders of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet at the confluence of the Ruak and the Mekong Rivers. Golden Triangle is in Chiang Rai Province, in the far north of Thailand. It was an expansive area taking in parts of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. In the past, the region was famed for opium cultivation in exchange with gold. In Thailand, Golden Triangle is located 28 Km from Mae Sai district. It’s the area where Khong River and Ruak River meet. The area is called Sop Ruak. The area is full of beautiful natural scenery and ancient temples. The scenery of Khong River at dawn is beautiful. You can see the sun rising in the fog. There’s a number of hotels and resorts built in the area, some of them are 5-stars. The typical sights on a golden triangle tour are the town of Mai Sai, where you can even cross into Burma for some shopping; the small village of Sop Ruak and finally the ancient city of Chiang Saen. How to get there: From Chiang Rai you can take a bus to Chiang Saen. From Chiang Saen take a Songtaew to Sop Ruak. There are also tours from Chiang Mai to the Golden...

Before getting on the boat, the tour guide took our passports because that area was like the border on the river between 3 countries: Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. The boat took us along the area while the tour guide told everybody about the area from the history, the people and other habitat. We were just in time to see the sunset in Golden Triangle. On the first round, the boat brought us to Myanmar then turned around and headed to Laos. As I watched on Nation Geographic Channel last year, that area was really famous for giant cat fishes which could be hundreds kilograms weight. On the program that day, they caught some and it was so wow to see those kind of huge cat fishes. From the boat, I could see a big casino in Laos which was still constructing. The sunset in Golden Triangle brought the feeling of nostalgia while I was looking at the sun going to down to the horizon and sparkling last sunshine of the day on the river. The color of water reminded me of the rivers at...

When you follow the river to the south (as I did several times by bike) all of a sudden you see the huge Buddha statue. It's immense and all comprising, dominating the surroundings. It's situated at a historic and interesting place. Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet along the two rivers over there. At the horizon one can discover China. Huge differences can be noticed. The place itself is nice for a stopover and the Thai even "send" rolling coins to the statue. Beautiful panorama, lot of typical boats, just relax and remember why it is the...