White Temple reopens with dancing, free tickets, but zero Chinese tourists

By THE NATION

 

 

Chiang Rai’s beautiful Wat Rong Khun, known among foreigners as the White Temple, opened its doors on Tuesday (June 16) under the “new normal”.

 

Thai dancers put up a performance, while “free” tickets were handed out to mark the reopening of the temple, which had closed on March 22 under measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

 

In line with the new normal, temple officials insured each visitor was screened and told to maintain social distancing.

 

Though most visitors were Thai, there were also foreigners who live in Thailand. However, this is the first time ever that there was not a single Chinese tourist.

 

Chalermchai Kositpipat, who owns the temple that he designed and built, was there in person to guide visitors and show them the improvements made to the temple’s design.

 

Although he said he was sorry for those who are suffering due to the outbreak, he admitted that the closure was beneficial for hm, because he got to renovate the areas that were normally too crowded for work to be done.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30389731?utm_source=category&utm_medium=internal_referral

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-06-16

 

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It is a little hard for Chinese tourists to be present when Thailand borders are closed.

I've been there twice.  I thought it was nice, but the Thai people I was with thought it was heaven on earth.. 

It's a wonderful place and has the most beautiful toilets on planet earth.

First time I went was before the horde had arrived in LOS and it was a very pleasant day, but second time after the horde  had invaded it was horrible trying to get around.

If never been, make the effort to do so. Well worth it.

14 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

the most beautiful toilets on planet earth

Are the cleaning ladies in there beautiful too?...So can decide on pee pee or poo poo.....no boom boom!

It is the one temple in Thailand that I want to see again.  Never had a big amount of

time when I was there the first time.

Geezer

22 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

It is the one temple in Thailand that I want to see again.  Never had a big amount of

time when I was there the first time.

Geezer

It is the one temple in Thailand I liked, but to be honest, seen one seen them all. I mean, how many temples can one see?this is not. A true temple but a tourist attraction.  One thing I did enjoy Was renting a moto, and going from the white temple to Kuhn Korn waterfall. Perhaps 20-30 minutes away. I'm from Canada, waterfalls are a dime a dozen, it was impressive, quite a hike though.

Its not a real Temple , its just built for show , its more like a theme park than a Temple

hahahahaha, wonder how the chinese that sh*t where ever they want will take this, great to see someone with principles banning the filthy chinese scum so they cannot ruin it for everyone else.

Last time I went they were charging 100 for Foreigners FREE for Thai there were thousands of Chinese couldn't move or see much and no Photos inside not sure why though

maybe because there's just some Marvel super hero paintings on the walls.
Owned by a Thai Artist not sure where the profits go him or the community and they sell Prints and T-Shirts of his work.
It's not really a temple more a work of Art or dare I say artificial Tourist attraction plenty else to see in Chang Rai though all FREE.
 

White Temple reopens with dancing, 

Dancing is not relevant for bring back tourists, but this is a nice trip and place to visit, almost one time.

Nice for a visit when its not so busy

It's not my cup of Darjeeling.

Last time I was there, we went early to miss the tour groups. By the time we finished and were leaving, 22 busses full of Chinese tour groups had all shown up around the same time. Ugh. 

Why aren't the black clothed visitors in the picture doing their social distancing?

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It's a wonderful place and has the most beautiful toilets on planet earth.

First time I went was before the horde had arrived in LOS and it was a very pleasant day, but second time after the horde  had invaded it was horrible trying to get around.

If never been, make the effort to do so. Well worth it.

As a former volunteer with the Tourist Police in Chiang Rai, if you are in the area, do go and visit whilst the Chinese tour parties are absent - it is fantastic and no doubt you will be able to get some excellent photos without Chinese tourists. There are also new gold decorated buildings within the complex. The founder, architect and builder of the complex is the same man who painted the "Tham Luang Cave Rescue" mural.

 

I doubt we'll see many Chinese this year, there is a second wave that's hitting Beijing at the moment.

Schools are closing, confinement is back, hundreds of commercial fights are cancelled, etc...

Let's wait and see.

Personally, I found Bahn Si Dum far more interesting and also far less crowded.

Since the chap who owns it "threw a track" over the behaviour of Chinese tourists a while back, I doubt that he will be too upset at their absence!