White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

The White Temple, properly Wat Rong Khun, is Chiang Rai's most famous sight and one of the most unusual buildings in Thailand, a dazzling all-white contemporary art temple begun in 1997 by the Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat and still growing today. Unlike a historic temple, it is a privately owned artwork built as an offering, its brilliant whiteness symbolising the purity of the Buddha and its countless fragments of mirrored glass catching the sun to represent his radiant wisdom. Visitors approach across a dramatic bridge over a pit of hundreds of outreaching hands, an unsettling image of desire and suffering, before entering a hall whose murals famously blend Buddhist teaching with modern pop-culture imagery. The craftsmanship, from the filigree spires to the guardian figures, is extraordinary, and the whole complex is deliberately provocative and thought-provoking. It sits about thirteen kilometres south of the city. As a place of worship it asks for modest dress and quiet, respectful behaviour inside.