Golden Triangle (สามเหลี่ยม ทองคำ Saam Liam Thong Kham) is an area in Chiang Rai province Northern Thailand. English name Golden Triangle comes from the feature that this area is the meeting place of three countries Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, but the local people are Sop Ruak, because this is where the Mekong River meets the Ruak River. There is a drug museum here.
overview
The Golden Triangle has become an area famous for the growth of opium, and the name comes from a US State Department memo on the opioid problem. These days, however, this place lives into the cultivation of tourists, and this is definitely Northern Thailand's biggest tourist trap.
The landscape is hilly, dividing the Ruak River into the (Mae Khong) Mekong River. These rivers form a natural boundary between the three countries of Laos (east of the Mekong), Myanmar (north of Ruak), and Thailand (west of Mae Khong).
Arrive
Most people seem to get here on a guided bus tour. For independent travelers, blue songthaews run through the Golden Triangle from Mae Sai (45 minutes, 40 baht) to Chiang Saen (15 minutes, 20 baht) and back every 20 minutes or so until around 15:00 . If you miss the last songthaew, the tuk-tuk and motorbike taxi drivers will charge around 70 baht for the 10 km trip from the Golden Triangle to Chiang Saen.
Go
Canoes or boats can be rented to see the scenery around the golden triangle from Sop Ruak along the Mekong River to Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong which takes around 40 minutes and an hour and a half respectively.
To watch
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Contact
Next point
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