
We debated renting a car or hiring a driver to do a day trip out of Chiang Rai to the Myanmar border to see the Princess Mother’s swiss-style villa and garden and the “Yunnanese” village of Mae Salong. But, the more we read about these destinations, the more they sounded like a long drive for not much that appealed to us. We were loving our hotel (Maryo Resort), enjoying the leisurely pace, and decided to stick closer to home. As I mentioned before, there’s not tons of must-see sights in Chiang Rai. It’s in the far north of Thailand and tourists tend to come for the White Temple and to explore the region’s parks and villages. We’d seen the White Temple and our share of villages, so what about Chiang Rai itself? I came across mention of the Mae Fah Luang Art & Cultural Park. “Mae Fah Luang” refers to the recently-deceased king’s deceased mother, known as the “Princess Mother.” The park contained a Lanna-style wooden “pagoda” or temple made of wood from 32 traditional homes and gifted to the Princess Mother on her 82nd birthday. The park also contained other structures and exhibits relating to Lanna culture. This sounded like the perfect, easy destination.