Why Is There Almost a Buddist Temple on Every Street in Chiang Mia, Thailand?

Religions in Thailand

  We enjoy strolling around and exploring the streets in our Chiang Mia Old Town hotel neighborhood. During our walk each day we discovered many beautiful and traditional architecture and buildings. From what we have observed in Thailand for the past two weeks, three things have stood out for me:

  1. Thai temples

  2. Spa and massage centre

  2. Coffee shops, big and small

 

We went to the massage centres three times on this trip, visited a coffee shop every day and sometimes numerous times a day. But, there are so many temples in the city of Chiang Mia that, I think, there must be at least and often, more than one temple on each street. There are as many massage centres as the number of coffee shops and temples on the streets in Thailand as the case in Chiang Mia.

  I was curious why there are so many temples in Chiang Mai? We saw not only temples but worship altars everywhere even on grounds of schools and educational institutions.

 

I tried to find out more about religions in Thailand and learned that Thailand is overwhelmingly a Buddhist country, with Theravada Buddhism as the dominant religion, practiced by approximately 92-94% of the population. It influences Thai culture, laws, customs, and daily life profoundly. The King is constitutionally required to be a Buddhist, and many Thai men will ordain as monks for a period of time in their lives. Chiang Mai is often called the "Rose of the North," but it could just as easily be called the "City of Temples." It's estimated there are over 300 Buddhist temples (*wats*) within the city and surrounding areas. There are several key reasons for this:

  1. Politics - Chiang Mai was the capital of the independent Lanna Kingdom for centuries. Building temples was a primary way for kings and nobles to demonstrate their power, piety, and merit. Each new ruler or wealthy family would often sponsor a new temple or expand an existing one to gain religious merit and public favor.

2. Sense of Community - In traditional Thai society, the temple (*wat*) was far more than just a place of worship. It served as the heart of the community, functioning as the school, hospital, town hall, community center, and even a news hub. Having a temple in every neighborhood meant essential services were accessible to all. This reminds me of the churches in Canada some of which also serve as a community centre for their community.

3. The Accumulation of Merit - In Theravada Buddhism, making merit (*tham bun*) is a core practice for a better future life. Donating money, materials, or labor to build and maintain a temple is considered one of the most meritorious acts a person can perform. This created a constant cycle of patronage and temple construction.

 

4. Thriving Spiritual Center - The city has always been a major center for Buddhist scholarship, meditation, and monastic practice. Different temples served different purposes—some were for the common people, some were royal temples, and others were remote forest monasteries for intense meditation.

  Other religions include Islam which is the largest religious minority, representing about 5-6% of the population. The majority of Thai Muslims are Malay ethnics living in the southernmost provinces (like Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat). There are also many mosques in Bangkok and other major cities.

Besides the Muslims, other religions also coexist such as Christianity. Christians make up just over 1% of the population. Christian communities are found throughout the country, but are more prominent in the north, partly due to the work of historical missions.

Based on data from the Religious Affairs Department and local directories, there are roughly 80 to 100 Christian churches in Chiang Mai city and the surrounding province compared to over three hundred Buddhist temples in the same area. This numbers explained why we saw a temple on every street corner in Chiang Mai! Other minority religions include: Hinduism & Sikhism, other folk religions & Animism. Even within mainstream Buddhism, many Thais also incorporate beliefs from folk religions and animism.

We often saw Spirit Houses outside homes and businesses, where offerings were made to protective spirits of the land.So, the sheer density of temples is a direct reflection of Chiang Mai's rich history as a powerful, independent kingdom where Buddhism was woven into the very fabric of society.

 

RT, Chiang Mia, Thailand

Getting a Powerful Massage at the Women Massage Centre by Ex-Prisoners , Chiang Mia, Thailand

Thai Massage is famous! When our friend from Thailand learned about our visit to Thailand, he highly recommended us to try the Thai Massage while visiting the country. I did and I loved it! Each time I got a massage in Thailand, it was a good experience. However, there was one that stood out for me - a Thai massage I received from the Women's Massage Centre by Ex-Prisoners in Chiang Mia.

I was a littel nervous making the massage appointment. What happened if that person for wahtever reason lost her temper and took it out on me while she was massaging me? Would she still be mad at the world? Would she hurt me? What kind of crimes did she commit? Would she be a violent person? All these questions and doubts filled my mind before booking a massage appointment for myself. However, understanding that everyone made mistakes in his/ her life, I stronly believed that we need to give ex-prisoners opportunites to rebuild their lives and earn a living in their community. I was determined to support these women and would do it through my actions.

What I love about Thailand - One of the World's Top Tourist Destinations

We were in Chiang Mia for a little more than a week and we fell in love with this city! Thailand is one of the most popular and successful tourist destinations on the plantet. Pre COVID period, it attracted almost 40 million tourists in 2019. Though the number of tourists declined sharply during COVID with only 6.7 million in 2020 and only 427,000 in 2021 due to strict entry policies. However, the tourists are returning fast.

In 2023, there was a strong rebound to 28 milliong arrivlas and in 2024, Thailand welcome over 35 million arrivals, almost reach the 2019 numbers. For years leading up to the pandemic, Thailnad ranked 8th or 9th in the world for international tourist arrivals. It competes closely with countries like the UK, Turkey, Germany and Mexico. Many tourists love coming to Thailand for a variety of reasons; I love Thailand for the following reasons: 1. Plants and greenery everywhere!

 

I loved the way Thai people decorated their gardens and the front of their houses with various size of plants in nice flower pots hanging from trees or displayed on shelves.

2. Nice, polite and gentle people providing good services wherever we went. ( I can’t say that about every country where we have visited. In certain European countries, we found people were cold, unfriendly and unwelcoming, Therefore we have no desire for a returned visit to these countries. ) But with Thailand, it is a complete different situation. Thailand is known as the 'Land of Smiles", its hospitality is a key reason why we will certainly return for more future visits.

  3. Safe and clean cities and litterless streets – When in Thailand, we felt completely safe! There were a couple of nights when we went out walking on the streets and we were not afraid or nervous at all. We didn't see any drunks, crazy or angry people screaming at others for no reason like we often see so often in North American cities.

 

Thai people are clean people. This was evident on Thai city streets and in their pubic spaces. Thais obviously love keeping their cities clean and are making conscious efforts to do so. Thailand may not be as wealthy as other countries. But from what we saw, Thais' mom and pop small stores were kept spotless and free of clutters. It was a pleasure for us walking by their stores and finding their creative ways of making their storefronts attractive and inviting.

  4. Affordable living accommodations, groceries and dining out at restaurants - Coming from a western country, we have the advantage of our currency being much stronger comparing to the Thai Baht, therefore giving us more buying power in Thailand.

  5. Delicious food

Thai cooking is famous in the world. While we were in Thailand, we didn’t venture into any western food franchised restaurants such as KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Pizza or Burger Kings.

There were so much good and inexpensive Thai food around, we didn’t need to go into any fast food at all. I think we have had enough Pad Thai that would last us for a long time!

  RT, Chiang Mia, Thailand

A Chiang Rai Hotel Review - A Relaxing and Enjoyable Stay in a Resort Like Chiang Ria Hotel

We visited Ching Rai, Thailand recently, a smaller city about 4 hours of bus ride from Chiang Mia. We were there for a few days staying at a hotel which was more than we expected; it was like a resort.

The ground was nicely kept and the tress and plants were beautifully manicured. However, the cleanliness of some of the public spaces such as stairs and walls could be better. The part I enjoyed the most was taking part in the zumba exercise class and swimming in the Olympic size swimming pool during our stay at the hotel. Since we were in Thailand in August, everyday the temperature was above 30 degrees, therefore getting a dip in the pool in the evening was a cool and relaxing experience. I love doing lane swim, therefore I chose later hours to swim when there were not too many people.

It was fantastic being in the pool after the sunset and doing my lane swim to my heart's content! The zumba class was fun with not one but three energetic instructors leading us in our moves. This was the kind of hotel where I could spend a few days wihtout running around the city too much for sightseeing.We started our day with our breakfast in the hotel's spacious dining room. The breakfast was served buffet style with various dishes served on long tables.

There were a mix of western style style breakfast such as eggs, sausages, toasts. milk, coffee and teas as well as Asian style food items such as congee, fried noodles and steamed buns. There was a good variety from which to choose. ">

Be Aware of Scamming Transportation Sites When Buying Bus Tickets Online in Thailand

We made a sidetrip visiting Chiang Rai for a few days and only bought a one way bus tickets for two going from Chiang Mia to Chiang Rai as we were not sure the time of our return from this city.

 

Today we were sure that we would  like to return to Chiang Mia the next day, Sunday. We went online to purchase our tickets for the Green Bus which was the bus that brought us to Chiang Rai. But strangely, we could not find the Green Bus site or any information about their buses.

But one site kept popping up, giving us information for private cars, vans and SUV's. However, the fee charges were calculated in US$ and it was a lot! It was very strange and frustrating as we kept typing in Green Bus to Chiang Mia but no information was coming up.

 

  My husband said"Well, it looks like may be the Green Bus seats are all sold out because tomorrow is a Sunday. We may have to go with one of the smaller companies' van."

  But then the charges were outrageous once we converted them in Baht, Thailand's currency . It was  almost 10X the charges. "Forget about it! We would not pay for that." We thought.

We went to our hotel concierge and asked them how to buy Green Bus tickets as we were having problems buying them online.

 " You can go to the bus station directly. Or you can buy from 7 Eleven, up the street." replied the nice lady behind the front desk.

  That was exactly what we did. We went to the 7 Eleven, a convenient store, which has many stores all over Thailand and bought our Green Bus tickets going to Chiang Mia the next day. Easy as pie and we didn't have to pay un reasonable price!

 We finally figured out the site that popped up right away was a scam always directing users like us to their site and preventing  us from getting to the real site that we wanted.

 

A word of CAUTION: When travelling in Thailand, you must be aware that whenever you are directed to a site that looks like a legitimate business site but is not the one you want, you may have to pay much much more. Lots of scams around in Thailand when purchasing things or looking for information online  these days. Consumers beware!

We were grateful that we didin't get trapped and were able to buy the tickets at the 7-11 Store and boarded the bus at the Chiang Rai Bus Terminal going back to Chiang Ria!

Happy Travelling!

R.T, 

Chiang Rai, Frustrated in Thailand

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A Hilarious Incident During My Massage - Chiang Rai, Thailand

Learning that we would visit Asia, our Thai friend from Canada highly recommended us to visit the city of Chiang Rai.

Therefore, we took a side trip from Chiang Mia and visited Chiang Rai for three days relaxing and enjoying its slower pace and nice scenery.

Chiang Rai is a much smaller city than Chiang Mia therefore we were glad to see that the basic infrastructures such as hospitals, training schools, banks and quite a few of nice resort hotels, restaurants and yes, the ubiquitous massage centres, everywhere.

 

 Wherever we travel, we would like to contribute to the local economy as much as we are able. However, neither are we drinkers, casino goers nor serious shoppers; the only way we could spend money is buying their services and dining at the local cafes and restaurants.

 Our Thai friend from Canada highly recommended us to try the Thai massages and we took his suggestions to heart. Though a much smaller city than Chiang Mia, Chiang Ria has numerous massage centres and cafes as well.

 

 Tryng to help the local business and vendors, we gladly taste the food at a few of the resturants, enjoyed our coffee/ tea breaks at the cafes and did not hestiate to shop at the small vendors on the street as well as getting some massages from the local centres.

 

 

  Not too far from our hotel, we saw a few massage centres during our walk to downtown. We chose a massage centre close to our hotel and went for a two hour massage.

This was our way of trying to help local Thai people by bringing them some business and contributing to their economy. Both my husband and I went for the traditional Thai body massage as well as a foot massage.

 

Half way through the massage, my masseuse climbed on the massage table straddling herself over me, giving my body a strong deep massage. I couldn’t help but started laughing as I remembered well how western movies and TV shows depicted Thai massages.

In North America, shows often exaggerated the Thai massages experiences as scary and painful episodes by showing the masseur/masseuse jumping on top of his/ her client's back performing some sort of Kung Fu moves and making the client screaming in agony. It was just pure comical stuff! Seeing these comical images in my head and finding my masseuse kneeling on top of me, I couldn’t stop laughing my head off while lying there receiving the treatment but in a much less exaggerated manner.

The masseuse was beside herself when I was laughing out loud and couldn't stop chuckling for a good few minutes. She couldn't figure out what was going on, what she did and why I was laughing so hard. It was just hilarious!

 

I finally stopped laughing and explained to her the reason so that she knew it was not something she did that caused this unusual behabiour from her client.

  The massage was therapeutic and relaxing and our muscles felt more relaxed with less tension. The two hours flew by in no time. We enjoyed it so much that we went back for another session the next day before boarding the Green Bus going back to Chiang Mia.

  RT, Massage Centre

  Chiang Rai, Thailand

Meeting and Learning about the Kayan Long Neck Tribe in Chiang Rai

Since our goal for our Chiang Rai trip was to relax, we didn’t want to hit all the tourist attractions therefore didn’t sign up for any tours. However, there was one thing that was on our list of must do – a visit to the Long Neck Village.

I found that most of the tours included visits and stop always at a couple of temples and other sites. Not interested in visiting any other sites, we approached the hotel front desk after breakfast asking the staff about visiting the long neck village only. I was happy to find out that we could hire a taxi which would take us directly to the Long Neck Village, with the driver waiting for us while we could spend sometime there and then the taxi would bring us back - all that for 500 Bhat, about Can.$30.00! Loved it!

 

 

 

  This time we had a real taxi vehicle, unlike the previous ride with the elephant tour. The taxi ride took less than 30 minutes, not too far from Chiang Rai. The driver dropped us off at the entrance and waited for us outside.

 

 

  We visited the Long Neck Karen Village, a tourist destination in Northern Thailand, home to the Kayan Lahwi (Padaung) people and a subgroup of the Karen ethnic minority. Arriving at the site, we paid an entrance fee to enter the village. It was drizzling that day and we needed to be careful while hiking down the dirt paths leading us to four or five different villages. It looked like there were only a handful of people living in these villages. Each of these small villages had a couple of inhabitants displaying and selling their handicrafts and souvenirs to visitors.

The "Long-Neck" people, who call themselves the **Kayan Lahwi**, are not originally from Thailand. They are an ethnic minority group from the Kayah State in neighboring Myanmar (Burma). They came to Thailand primarily as refugees fleeing a brutal and long-standing civil war between the Myanmar military and various ethnic minorities in their home region. Starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, groups of Kayan people crossed the border into Northern Thailand seeking safety.

  The Thai government did not grant them official refugee status but allowed them to settle in designated villages, which have since become major tourist attractions.

Since it was raining that day, the were few visitors to the village. Initially it was just my husband and I exploring on our own. When a larger group of tourists arrived, a few women dressed in their colourful costumes assembled and started to chant their tribal songs. After their performance, we were allowed to take some pictures with them.

There were not too many villagers at all. Not sure if they actually lived in these huts full time. The biggest village was located at the last section of the village - the Long Neck tribe.

There were stalls lined on both sides of the mud road all displaying the same kinds of crafts – hand woven scarves, hand crafted wooden long neck women statues etc. We were curious about the practice of women wearing metal coils around their neck and learned that the practice of wearing brass neck coils is a deeply rooted cultural tradition specific to the Kayan Lahwi women.

The primary reason for women wearing these coils is their cultural standards of beauty. A long neck with many coils is considered the epitome of femininity and elegance. The practice is strictly gendered. The coils are a central part of their cultural identity, marking them as Kayan women. It is a tradition meant to enhance female beauty and signify a girl's transition into womanhood. The first coils are typically fitted on a girl when she is around 5 years old, and more coils are added over time.

We bought a couple of wooden crafted items from one lady and two hand woven scarves from another stall. The ladies were very friendly. One of them even volunteered to put a metal coil on my neck. The metal coli was like a necklace which had a clasp that could be opened and closed at the back. The metal coil could weigh up to 2 -3 kg.

Our tour guide also told us one of the interesting reasons for Kayan women wearing the metal coils. It was to defend against tiger bites. Historically, the Kayan males had always gone out for hunting leaving the women and children behind in their dwellings sometimes for days. While the men were away, tigers would come and attack the women delivering the fatal attacks by grabbing and biting the women's necks. By wearing the metal neck coils, the women could save themselves from these fercious deadly bits.

After visitng the village, I had some mixed feelings as we learned that some of these villages are not traditional, free-living villages. They are, in effect, **controlled tourist sites**. the Kayan people, particularly the women, generate income by selling handmade textiles and souvenirs to tourists. Their ability to live and work outside these villages is legally restricted.

 

I was glad that we visited the Long Neck Village in Thailand as we have seen some reporting on TV. However, there have been some debates about whether visiting the Long Neck Village is an ethical thing to do. Sone of the concerns involve the villages being likened to "human zoos" or "prisons" where resdients have limited freedom.Many toursits choose not to visit becasue they do not want to support the exploitation of this tribe, or becasue the villages are deemed to be faked and have been created for the purposes of tourism.

  After visiting and talking with the Long Neck Tribe, I found that the Kayan women were genuinely happy to see tourists visiting them as their purchase of the souvenirs and handicrafts was an important source of income for them. If you are travelling to Thailand, one of the best way to support the Kayan people will be to visit them in their villages and purchasing handicrafts directly from them. We were glad we did just that!

  RT, Long Neck Karen Village,

  Around Chiang Rai, Thailand

The Late Thai King - Earning the Love and Respect of His People in Chiang Rai, Thailand

The city of Chinag Rai, with a population of about 78,000, was the perfect place for us to have a nice and relaxing holiday during our recent visit to Thailand. It was established as a capital city in the reign of King Mangrai, in 1262 CE. Chiang Rai is recognized as a "Design City" by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. We were happy being in Thailand and wanted to soak in the culture, the customs and learn about its people and enjoy the food and the beautiful scenery. Not desiring to have a busy schedule, we didn’t run around trying to see all the attractions in Chiang Rai but to enjoy the quietness of this smaller city and make use of the amenities of our resort like hotel.

After breakfast each day, we went out and explored the downtown and some nearby neighborhood on our own. Just like in Chiang Mia, we saw many cafes and came across a few nice coffee shops as well as massage centres.

What impressed us the most was the beautiful highly decorative golden monument and the Chiang Rai Clock Tower dominating the downtown street of city. The golden monument in downtown Chiang Rai is for the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), who was the monarch of the entire Kingdom of Thailand from 1946 until his passing in 2016. It was unveiled as part of celebrations for King Bhumibol’s 80th birthday and stands as a symbol of the city's admiration for his leadership. The late king is often referred to as "The Father" of the nation.

The people of Chiang Rai, and all Thais, built this monument (and many others across the country) to honor him for a lifetime of work dedicated to improving the well-being of his people. His contributions and his projects had a profound impact on Chiang Rai and the entire northern region.

  I was curious to find out what exactly did the late King do to have earned him such immense love and respect for the Thais to build him this golden monument. I found out the tremendous work he did for his people:

  1. Royal Development Projects: The late King spent decades traveling to the most remote and impoverished parts of Thailand, including the mountainous and often underserved provinces of the North like Chiang Rai. He personally identified problems and initiated over 4,000 Royal Development Projects. For the people of Chiang Rai, these included:

* Water Management - He introduced innovative irrigation systems, small-scale dams (check dams), and artificial rainmaking projects to help farmers in the dry season and prevent flooding in the rainy season. This was crucial for agricultural stability.

  * Alternative Crops - Knowing that opium cultivation was a primary source of income for many hill-tribe people in the region, but also a destructive one, the late King pioneered the "Royal Project' which encouraged and supported farmers to replace opium poppies with sustainable, high-value cash crops like coffee, strawberries, cabbages, and flowers. This transformed local economies, provided legitimate income, and helped conserve the environment.

  * Infrastructure and Education - He initiated projects to build schools, clinics, and roads in remote villages, connecting them to essential services and markets.

 

#2.The "Sufficiency Economy" Philosophy

  This was his flagship philosophy, taught to the Thai people. It emphasizes: * Moderation and prudent living.

  * Reasonableness in decision-making

  * Building a strong immune system - against internal and external shocks (e.g., economic crises, natural disasters). This philosophy was applied to agriculture, encouraging farmers to be self-reliant, reduce debt, and diversify their crops instead of relying on a single volatile cash crop. This had a massive impact on the agricultural communities in and around Chiang Rai.

  # 3. Unifying Figure and Moral Compass

  For seven decades, King Bhumibol was a constant, stabilizing presence through countless political coups, economic booms and busts, and social changes. He was widely seen as a moral compass and a unifying father figure who worked tirelessly for the benefit of all Thais, regardless of their background, ethnicity, or social status.

My other question was Why a Golden Monument in Chiang Rai Specifically?

  The people of Chiang Rai experienced the benefits of his work directly. They saw their quality of life improve, their children get an education, their farms become more productive and sustainable, and their communities gain access to healthcare and infrastructure. Therefore, people in Chiang Rai built the golden statue as their way to express:

 

*Gratitude - For the late king's lifelong dedication to their well-being

  *Respect - For a king who genuinely cared and worked for the poorest and most remote communities.

  *Loyalty - To the monarchy as an institution.

  *Remembrance - To ensure that his teachings and legacy continue to inspire future generations in Chiang Rai.

 

I always wonder why Thais love their kings and respect the royal families so much and glad that I have learned a few things about their beloved late kings.

  I did my research on the computer and would like to acknowledge and thank DEEP SEEK AI for providing me with the above information.

  RT, Chiang Rai, Thailand

  2025 Other Important Chiang Rai Monuments