Even though there are no direct flights from Phuket to Chiang Rai, flying from Phuket to Chiang Rai via Bangkok is still the fastest way to complete the journey.
Flight schedule from Phuket to Chiang Rai
Click on the Phuket – Chiang Rai link in the timetable below for more information and to buy tickets.
| Phuket - Chiang Rai ฿ 1,180–1,929 3h 25m – 1d 50m | |
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Phuket Airport
Flights from Phuket to Chiang Rai depart from Phuket International Airport, Mai Khao, Thalang District, Phuket 83110.
Chiang Rai Airport
Flights from Phuket to Chiang Rai land at Mae Fah Luang – Chiang Rai International Airport, 404 Moo 10 Phahon Yothin Road, Ban Du, Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai 57100.
About Travel to Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai is a small city with around 70,000 permanent residents in the centre of the city. The main tourist attractions in Chiang Rai, which are its highly elaborate modern re-imaginings of traditional Thai Buddhist temples, are located outside of the city itself.
Chiang Rai City
Most of the hotels and restaurants foucssed on catering to visitors are clustered in a fairly small area on either side of the Phahon Yothin Road, close to Chiang Rai Night Bazaar and Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1. Compared to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai feels small with much fewer points of interest, although for those visitors prepared to explore the city more closely there some interesting and historically important important city centre temples such as Wat Phra Sing, Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Mung Muang.
Guan Yin statue at Wat Huay Pla Kang in Chiang RaiThe White Temple
Located 13 km by road from Chiang Rai City, the White Temple (also known as Wat Rong Khun) is the major tourist attraction in the area. It’s easy and cheap to reach the White Temple by taking a local bus from Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 1, which is located in the town centre. It’s well worth making the effort to travel to the White Temple. It’s an artistic masterpiece and very unusual.
The White Temple is a project initiated by one of Thailand’s most famous artists to build a new temple complex within the ground of an older temple. The main feature of the temple is a series of buildings connected by a walkway taking visitors on a symbolic journey through the cycle of life and death as described in Buddhist theology. The buildings are highly ornate, with striking sculptures, predominantly decorated in white plaster mixed with ground up glass.
Wat Huay Pla Kang
Wat Huay Pla Kang is a large temple complex located 8 km by road from Chiang Rai City. Like the White Temple, Wat Huay Pla Kang is another recent temple building project that is ongoing. The main features of the temple are its enormous statue of Guan Yin. who is the Buddhist goddess of Mercy, a 9 storey Chinese style pagoda and a very large prayer hall.
Visitors to Wat Huay Pla Kang will marvel at the scale of the temple and its buildings. The artwork at the temple is very good also, particularly the wooden and marble statues located within the pagoda and the prayer hall.
The Blue Temple
The Blue Temple (also known as Wat Rong Seur Ten) is located 4 km from Chiang Rai in the same direction of Wat Huay Pla Kang. Many people choose to visit both temples on the same day for that reason.
The Blue Temple is much smaller than the White Temple, but they bear lots of similarities. The artist behind the Blue Temple studied with the artist working on the White Temple. A major difference is the colour scheme. At the name of the temple suggests, the colour scheme is blue rather than white. The other major difference to the White Temple is that one of the focuses of the Blue Temple is wall murals. Wall murals are a traditional feature of temples in Thailand, and the wall murals at the Blue Temple are a more modern rendering of an ancient art form.