Thailand > Chiang Rai > Chiang Saen District > The Golden Triangle

“The triangle spot are the borders of Thailand, Myammar and Laos converge. The Golden Triangle.”

The golden triangle is 8 kilometres north of Chaing Saen, this riverside area marks the spot where the borders of Thailand, Myammar and Laos converge.

This is the cross-roads of the three-land borders. The Ruak River bordering Thailand and Myanmar runs into the Mekong River from Laos creating the well known Golden Triangle. In the old days drug traffickers secretly met to barter off opium with gold nuggets. Today it is a bustling tourist destination where visitors come to enjoy the rising sun emerging from the misty seas of fog.

For an aerial glimpse of the Golden Triangle, you need to climb uphill to Doi Chiang Miang by the Mekong River where Wat Phra That Doi Pu Khao once stood. Only a pile of bricks remains to mark the site, but it provides a look-out point to catch "the big picture" of the Golden Triangle.

Most people seem to come here on guided bus tours.

For independent travellers, blue songthaews run through the Golden Triangle from Mae Sai (45 min, 40 baht) toChiang Saen (15 min, 20 baht) and back again every 20 minutes or so until around 15:00. If you miss the last songthaew, you will be at the mercy of the tuk-tuk and motorcycle taxi drivers that will charge around 70 baht for the 10km trip from the Golden Triangle to Chiang Saen.