Located next to Mae Hong Son market, Wat Hua Wiang is a temple with a large compound featuring a large Burmese-style bronze Buddha image as its focal point. The compound also features a two-storey building with a multi-tiered tower and although the temple’s buildings are a bit dilapidated, this adds to its appeal. In addition, the temple is quite lively as it houses quite a few monks. This is a nice temple to visit.



Details:

The temple is open daily and admission is free (although donations are suggested).



How to get there:

Wat Hua Wiang is near the airport and is accessible by Tuk-Tuk and Songtaew and is available by bus from Mae Hong Son.

Wat Pho Chai is located in the south-east of Nong Khai. The temple is famed for a large bronze-Buddha with a solid gold head decorated with precious stones (rubies). The temple building houses a number of wooden carvings and murals. The murals depict the history of the image – originally from Laos. The Buddha image was shipped across the Mekong and fell into the water during a storm where it sat for 25 years. It was salvaged and spent some years in another Thai temple before being moved to Wat Pho Chai. The image is the focal point of a procession around Nong Khai during the annual Songkran Festival.



Details:
The temple is open daily and admission is free (although a donation is suggested).



How to get there:
Wat Pho Chai Temple is easily accessible on foot – it is next to the main bus terminal on Praeserm Road in Mae Hong Son.

The Pai River originates in the Thanon Thongchai and Daen Lao mountains and is 180 kilometers in length. The river runs through a number of provinces in Mae Hong Son and because of swift flowing waters during Thailand’s rainy season, it has become a destination of choice for white water rafters. Rafting takes place throughout the length of the river, and most tours are half- or full day. As it is the only route into Mae Hong Son’s main wildlife sanctuary, rafting the river offers a pretty unique experience.


The full length of the river offers around fifteen sets of rapids passing waterfalls (the Suza Waterfall is of particular interest) and hot springs. Tours can be organized from guesthouses and hotels in and around Mae Hong Son, but they can also be booked in advance through agencies. Typical tours start at Pai River Pier. Some tours stop at Kairang Padawang Kekongdu – a village inhabited by long-neck women on the Thai-Burmese border. Trips to the Thai- Myanmar often leave from Ban Huai Dua or Tambon Pha Bong. Trips are often combined with elephant riding.



Details:

The rainy season (mid-May to mid-October) is probably the best time of year to go rafting on the Pai. Trips to the Burmese border are often not possible because of fighting between the Burmese government and Shan armies.

Burmese-style Wat Pha That Doi Kong Moo is located around 1,500 meters up Doi Kong Moo hill. The temple is famous for its view of the valley it overlooks. In the morning visitors can look out over mists and fog that accumulate in the valley below. This is one of the ‘iconic’ views of Thailand you often see on postcards and it is a genuine spectacle. If you visit the temple later in the day you will have a clear view of Mae Hong Son town, which does not quite have the same impact.


The temple itself is quite impressive, its two ‘chedis’ containing the remains of monks from Myanmar. Behind the two chedis is a large ‘wiharn’ and further up the hill you can see a large standing Buddha attached to the temple. A trip to this temple is usually combined with trips to two other temples - Wat Phra Non and Wat Muo Taw – both in relatively close proximity. This is definitely somewhere to visit in the morning if you can.



Details: Admission to the temple is free but donations are suggested. In late October see a local festival where people in the area visit the temple in order to make merit by bringing food for monks who are in retreat.



How to get there: The journey to Wat Pha That Doi Kong Moo takes about 4 hours from Mae Hong Son and back. The tours available from the town are probably the best way to approach this hill trip. Otherwise Sangtaew will take you to the hill from the town and you have to walk up to the temple. You can rent motorcycles and cars to drive you to the top of the hill if you don’t want to walk.

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Poi Sang Long Procession

This is in fact the celebration of novice ordination which the Thai Yai tribe people hold to be a highly meritorious occasion. Traditionally, the candidate-novice, his head cleanly shaven and wrapped with head-cloth in the Burmese style, will don a prince-like garment and put on valuable jewels and gems, and ride a horse or be carried over the shoulders of a man to the city shrine. On the ordination eve, a procession of offerings and other necessary personal belongings will be paraded through the town streets and then placed at the monastery where the ordination will take place the next day. It is usually held during March-May before the Buddhist Rain Retreat period.



Chong Phara Procession

The Chong Phara in the Thai Yai dialect means a castle made of wood, covered with colourful perforated papers and decorated with fruits, flags and lamps. It is placed in the courtyard of a house or a monastery as a gesture to welcome the Lord Buddha on his return from giving sermons to his mother in heaven, according to traditional belief. Other activities to celebrate the occasion include dances where performers are dressed in animal costumes. The rite is held during the post rain retreat season from the full-moon day of the 11th Lunar month (around October) to the waxing moon night of the same month.



Bua Tong Blossom Festival

Each year in November, the hillsides of Khun Yuam and Mae Sariang districts are filled with a host of golden Bua Tong Blooms. As gay as a daisy and almost as large as a sunflower, the Bua Tong only blossoms for a month. At Doi Mae U-Kho, the blossoms appear profusely. Finally, the golden blooms become part of the scene. Some specialists have classified these Bua Tong as weeds and because of this, they may be cleared to make way for cash crops. Fortunately a group of researchers have discovered the flower's insect-repellent properties. And perhaps that is why the Bua Tong, a symbol of Mae Hong Son, is still preserved on the hillsides.



Loi Krathong Festival

Loi Krathong Festival is held on the full moon night in the month of November every year. Villagers make "krathongs" to float in rivers. At Nong Chong Kham, various entertainments and a contest of large krathongs are held near the central pond. Lamps and candles are lit all around the area. Moreover, at Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu, there is a ceremony of releasing candle-lit krathongs bound with balloons to the sky (known as "Loi Krathong Sawan").


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