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If you’re going all the way north to Chiang Rai, you’re probably going to visit the famous White Temple. It’s absolutely worth the visit, but there is a lesser known and equally beautiful temple you also need to check out. The Blue Temple Chiang Rai is worth spending an extra day in Chiang Rai to visit.
Trust me. You’ll regret not seeing it.
The Blue Temple in Chiang Rai is actually called Wat Rong Suea Ten, but I’ll keep referring to it as the Blue Temple Chiang Rai. That’s what it’s colloquially known as.
Plus it’s easier to remember, and everybody in Chiang Rai knows exactly what you’re talking about if you ask about it.
This guide will tell you everything you need to know about the Blue Temple Chiang Rai, so you can plan the perfect trip to see it.

Table of Contents
History of the Blue Temple in Chiang Rai
Wat Rong Suea Ten is also known as the Temple of Dancing Tigers. It’s called this because the story goes that there was an ancient temple where the Blue Temple Chiang Rai now stands.
It’s said that when the ancient temple still stood, tigers freely roamed around the temple and protected it. The ancient temple was abandoned over a century ago.
The Blue Temple in Chiang Rai is surprisingly young. Construction began in 2005 and was finished in 2008. I had no idea that the temple was so young when I visited it and only learned that after I left.
The temple was designed by Putha Kabkaew who was a student of the artist and designer of the White Temple also located in Chiang Rai. Again, I didn’t know that when I visited, but I did feel that the two temples felt a little similar even though I couldn’t put my finger on why. The main temple has a similar shape as the main temple of the White Temple.
Blue was chosen as the colour for the temple because in Thai culture blue is the colour of healing.
Installing an esim on your phone is a lot more convenient than getting a local sim when you arrive in Thailand.
How to Get to the Blue Temple Chiang Rai
Most tourists who visit Chiang Rai stay near the bus station and night market. It’s the most central area of Chiang Rai and where most of the hotels are.
The Blue Temple is located on the other side of the river from the bus station and main tourist area.
Walking
You can walk from the bus station area to the Blue Temple. That’s what I did. It takes about 45 minutes. You have to walk on some unpaved sidewalks and down into an underpass to find a staircase to cross the bridge.
It took me a while to figure out how to cross the bridge and thought I might have to give up and call a car to take me, but there is a staircase even though you can’t see it when you first walk up to the bridge.
Even though I walked to the Blue Temple in Chiang Rai, I don’t recommend it. It was hot and a much longer walk than I anticipated. There also wasn’t any shade covering.
Luckily, there are other easier ways to get to the Blue Temple.

Tuk Tuk
The first is to take a Tuk Tuk. They’re all over Chiang Rai, and your hotel could even arrange one for you. There are also lots of Tuk Tuks waiting in the Blue Temple parking lot waiting to bring tourists back to their hotel.
If you want to take a Tuk Tuk, just be sure to negotiate a price before you get in. Otherwise there is a chance that you’ll be overcharged and end up paying way more than you thought. And once you’ve already arrived at your destination, it’s pretty hard to get the price lowered.
Grab
The next option is to take a Grab. Grab is the Southeast Asian equivalent of Uber, and I rely on it a lot when in Southeast Asia. You have to download the app and input your credit card information while you’re in your home country. If you try to add a foreign credit card while already in Thailand, it won’t work.
Once you have the app downloaded, you use it just like you would Uber. A car or bike will come pick you up and drive you to the Blue Temple. It’s super affordable, and I recommend everybody going to Southeast Asia get the Grab app before their trip.
Songthaew
The final way to travel to the Blue Temple Chiang Rai is by Songthaew.
Songthaew is a form of shared taxi in Thailand. They’re big trucks with a covered back, and you sit on benches in the back. They’re very common in Thailand and one of the most affordable ways to get around.
The downside of using Songthaew is that they don’t always run on a set schedule. Drivers tend to wait until there are enough people wanting a ride to make it worth the money.
If you’re visiting the White Temple, they run every 10 or so minutes, so you never have to wait long, but that isn’t always the case with the Blue Temple.
A Songthaew left about five minutes before I was ready to go. I waited for about half an hour for another one to show up but none did. So I walked home. I’m weirdly stubborn about walking if I can. About 10 minutes into walking, a Songthaew drove past me. I assume it was coming from the Blue Temple.
Just like with a Tuk Tuk, if you take a Songthaew, be sure to ask the price before you get in. I’ve never had a driver tell me the price, and I’ve always had to ask.
Songthaew are very affordable, so they won’t break the bank.
In Chiang Rai, they typically drop the tourists off at the bus station. If there is somewhere else you specifically want to go, you have to ask the driver before getting in.

Cost of Visiting the Blue Temple Chiang Ria
The Blue Temple is first and foremost a temple for the locals. It was built for the locals because there were no other temples in the area, and it’s primarily used by the locals.
It isn’t a tourist destination like the White Temple. Tourists just happen to visit it.
Since it was built for and used by the locals for their religious practices, there is no costs to visit the Blue Temple in Chiang Rai. Even if you’re just visiting it as a tourist and not using it for religious reasons, there is no fee to enter.
This is a nice change to a lot of the popular temple tourists visit in Thailand that often have entrance fees.
Hours of Operation
Now that you know how to get to the Blue Temple in Chiang Rai and that there is no fee for visiting, I’m sure you’re wondering when you can visit this beautiful temple.
The Blue Temple is open every day from 7am to 8pm.
It gets pretty crowded in the late morning until the early evening. If you want to avoid the crowds, be at the temple as close to 7am as possible.
I got there around 11am, and it was pretty busy especially inside the main temple. It was hard to get good pictures without a ton of people in the frame. I often had to stand around for five or so minutes to get a quick picture without people in it.
The Importance of Being Respectful
I mentioned earlier that the Blue Temple in Chiang Rai is primarily used by the locals. You should be respectful at every temple you visit in Thailand, but I think it’s even more important when you’re visiting a local temple and not a super touristy temple.
No Shoes
This means taking off your shoes before you go inside. There are lots of places to store your shoes on the outside of the temple. There are lots of signs reminding you to take off your shoes before you go inside, and you’ll remember when you see everybody else doing it.
If you’re like me and have a weird thing about not having your bare feet touch the floor, be sure to store an extra pair of socks in your purse or bag just in case you’re wearing sandals when you visit a temple.
Picture Etiquette
The Blue Temple like most temples in Thailand is a Buddhist temple. It’s often considered rude to take pictures of Buddha, but there aren’t signs in the Blue Temple telling you not to take pictures.
Almost everybody is taking pictures of the Buddha in the main temple, so you shouldn’t have any issues if you want to take a pictures.
That being said, if someone asks you not to take pictures of the Buddha or if signs appear in the future saying no pictures of the Buddha, it’s important you respect those signs.
Along the same lines, please don’t take pictures of people praying or of random people. It’s just rude. Nobody consented to you taking their picture.
People end up in the background of photos all the time. That’s not the issue. It’s rude when you make someone who hasn’t consented to being in your photo the primary focus of your photo. Tourists need to stop doing that.

Dress Appropriately
There are rules on how you must be dressed to enter a temple in Thailand and normally there is someone watching people who enter and stopping people who don’t meet the dress code.
You have to have your shoulders and knees covered to enter the temple.
A lot of tourists don’t realize this when they plan their trip to Thailand and only pack shorts and tank tops. That’s why you see so many tourists wearing those elephant pants with a shawl over their shoulders inside temples.
There aren’t really any clothing stores or stands near the Blue Temple in Chiang Rai, so you can’t quickly go out and buy something if you don’t meet the dress code.
So make sure you’re wearing the right clothing or have extra clothing packed before you leave to visit the Blue Temple.
Otherwise, you’ll be disappointed and not be able to visit the temple.
Hushed Voices
The final reminded is to keep your voice hushed if you’re talking to someone else. The Blue Temple is a religious place, and it’s respectful to keep your voice down and whisper if you’re going to talk inside the temple.
Can I Visit the White Temple and Blue Temple on the Same Day?
Technically, it’s possible to visit both temples on the same day, but I don’t recommend it. You’ll be rushed and tired. But if you only have one full day in Chiang Rai and want to visit both temples, it is possible.
The easiest way to visit both temples in the same day is by using Grab. You don’t have to rely on the timing of public transportation and can move at your own pace. It is going to be the most expensive way to see both temples though.
The next best option is taking the 8:10am bus from the bus station to the White Temple. The White Temple opens at 8am, and you’ll arrive around 8:30.
Arriving this early also means there won’t be many other tourists, and you’ll get some amazing pictures!
After you’re done at the White Temple, take the bus or Songthaew back to the bus station. From there, take a different Songthaew or Tuk Tuk to the Blue Temple.
Your Songthaew driver from the White Temple probably won’t drive you all the way to the Blue Temple, but you can ask. Maybe you’ll get lucky.
I recommend people allot at least four hours to visit the White Temple. This includes the time to get to and from the bus station to the White Temple and visiting the temple.
This is the minimum amount of time. You can easily spend an entire day at the White Temple it’s such a huge complex with so many things to see and do.
I recommend people allot about two hours to visit the Blue Temple including the time it takes to get to and from the bus station.
So, while it is possible to visit both temples in a day, you’ll be tired at the end of the day and won’t be able to see much else of Chiang Rai.
There aren’t a ton of other tourist things to do in Chiang Rai, but it is nice to not be rushed.
The Perfect Amount of Time in Chiang Rai
I think a day and a half is the perfect amount of time to spend in Chiang Rai. Most people come to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai by bus.
Catch a morning bus and be in Chiang Rai by noon. The day you arrive, you can visit the Blue Temple and the next day you can visit the White Temple.
The only tricky part about this is that a lot of people travel from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai every day.
When I travelled between the two cities, every blog post I read said that you could just show up at the bus station and easily get on a bus to Chiang Rai. That’s not the case anymore.
I got to the bus station at 8:30 hoping to get on a bus that left just after 9am, but the first bus that had an empty seat left at 1pm.
The only way your 1.5 days in Chiang Rai plan is going to work is if you buy your bus ticket in advance and don’t rely on just showing up at the bus station.
Learn from my mistakes!

The Importance of Internet Safety
You rely on public wifi when you travel. Even if you have an esim on your phone, which I highly recommend, you at least rely on the hotel’s wifi when you’re there to save your data for when you don’t have access to wifi.
Using publici wifi, especially when travelling, puts you at high risk of having your personal and private online information stolen. Even if you use a wifi network with a password, anybody who knows that password can use it, and it isn’t very secure.
Trust me when I say you don’t want to have your banking information stolen while you’re abroad and have to deal with the headache of cancelling your bank cards while trying to enjoy your relaxing vacation.
It’s a nightmare I wish on no one!
The only way you can protect yourself while using public wifi networks is by installing a VPN on your devices.
A VPN essentially puts an invisible forcefield around your devices that makes it impossible for prying eyes to access your online information and steal it.
A VPN makes using public wifi networks just as safe as using your home wifi network where you’re the only person who knows the password. It is one of the simplest ways you can stay safe while travelling.
I always say that if you can afford travel, you can afford to protect your online information.

My Favourite VPN
I’ve used a lot of different VPNs over my years of travel and hated most of them. VPNs are notorious for slowing down your internet speed. I would get frustrated at how slow my internet was and then would turn off my VPN and put myself at risk.
That all changed when I started using NordVPN. It is consistently ranked the fastest VPN on the market, and that’s why I love it so much. I never notice a slow down in my internet speed.
I use my phone a lot when I travel, and I’ve never been tempted to turn off my NordVPN because of internet lagging.
It even works perfectly with my esim.
I’ve been using NordVPN for over 5 years and have no plans of ever stopping. It’s the VPN I make all my friends and family sign up for when they travel as well.
You can protect up to six devices with a single subscription, so you can easily protect all your devices with one account.
The best part is that a two-year subscription costs less per month than a single Starbuck’s latte.
You really have no excuse not to install a VPN on your devices and keep your online data and information protected and safe.

NordVPN
Get the fastest and most reliable VPN on the market and keep your data secure while travelling.
Conclusion
Visiting the Blue Temple Chiang Rai is a must do activity in Northern Thailand. It’s one of the most beautiful temples in all of Thailand, free to enter, and easy to get to.
It’s well worth arranging a little bit of extra time in Chiang Rai and adding the Blue Temple to your itinerary. You’ll probably regret it if you don’t!
I put up an Instagram poll after my trip to Chiang Rai asking people if they thought the White Temple or the Blue Temple was more beautiful.
The overwhelming majority of people voted for the Blue Temple. I still can’t decide which one I liked better, but if the poll is any indication, the Blue Temple can’t be missed when in Thailand!




