Chiang Rai Cinemas

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Chiang Rai Cinemas Trip Entry: January 23rd to February 1st.

Chiang Rai is one of the most popular destinations for Thailand and one of the most popular for in-bound tourism. Some of the most famous places in Chiang Rai is the most talked about Golden Triangle and the market at the Burmese boarder. This trip took me to the most northern part of Thailand to explore the cinemas up there. To reach the destination requires 12 hours of solid driving and one days rest stop. This trip is more towards family vacation and business rather than just excursion and exploration. Below are informational links for more information about the destination:

1) http://chiangrai.sawadee.com/
2) http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiang_Rai
3) http://www.tourismthailand.org/destination-guide/chiangrai-57-1-1.html

The trip to Chiang Rai:

The trip to Chiang Rai is different from the rest of the trips because it is also a family vacation so I included the last stop in Chiang Mai. Because it takes about 12 hours to drive up to Chiang Rai, we took a one day stop in Uttradit at the local hotel. On the way to Uttaradit, we took the opportunity to explore some local temples at Phitsanulok, which is a province on the way to Uttradit. And to my surprise on the way out of Phitsanulok, we drove by a local Tesco Lotus supermarket chain that has a cinema complex, Major Cineplex. However, at this particular location they would only have shown movies for the local people and not focused on other markets. Upon reaching our Uttradit destination we stopped by a village that mends authentic Thai swords for souvenirs or for use in historical films based on Thai sword fighting. These swords are called Kra-Bi Nam Pri, Kra-bi is sword and Nam-Pri is the name of the material used to construct the sword. The name of this local village is called Thong-san-tan. After a nights stop at Uttaradit we head up to Chaing Rai, however we took the scenic route which takes four hours instead of the usual three if we go by the main road.

The journey up to Chiang Rai was quite adventurous, because we went through Lamphang, Lamphun and the mountain side up to Chaing Rai instead of a nice flat road. When we reached our destination, we checked in to a local resort near by the airport called Teak Garden Villa and SPA. In my opinion, this was one of the nicest resort we stayed. During our stay in Chaing Rai we visited numerous locations such as The Golden Triangle, the Burmese Boarder market, Doi Tung and Doi Mae Salong.
Out of the most beautiful mountains in Chaing Rai is Doi Mae Salong, which is also the location of natural tea source for most of South East Asian teas as well as those exported to China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The Cinema:

After being in Chiang Rai for a couple of days, you will find that it is quite a laid back place with not much activity going on. However, there also is a place where you can watch the latest movies too. The location is in Big C supermarket, which is about 10-15 minuets away from the hotel we were staying so its quite convenient. The name of the cinema is called Thana Cineplex which is also wide spread compared to Major Cineplex, however they are geared more towards local customers. But with a destination like Chiang Rai, they should always keep an open mind.

Because Chiang Rai is an up-country destination which is not so developed structurally and economically, you wouldn't expect much luxury standards as you would in Bangkok. However the theater was quite adequate and comfortable for the level of standards. Like in most up-country destinations, the theater is adequate for the local market. The lobby is small, with updated movie posters and a small concierge center. There are no chairs or lounges to sit and wait for the show time so you have to go outside and shop around while you wait. The inside of the theater was a normal standard seating stage, even though it is an up-country movie theater it is still very clean and comfortable like you would expect to see in movie theaters in Thailand.

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Photos

Thong San Tan Village
Destination in Uttaradit. Should be a place of interest for beautiful Thai Swords.

A Marble crafted Thai Sword.
from Thong-San-Than Village