What to Wear to the Chiang Rai Temples
The dress code at the White Temple, the Blue Temple and Huay Pla Kang: shoulders and knees covered, shoes off in the main hall, the sarong you can borrow at Wat Rong Khun, and dressing for a cool-season morning.
Cover your shoulders and your knees, and take your shoes off before you enter a temple’s main hall: that is what the tours visiting the Chiang Rai temples ask, and one outfit does for all three. Long trousers or a long skirt and a top that covers the shoulders meet what most of them ask; one asks for arms covered too. At the White Temple you can borrow a sarong free, as its creator Chalermchai Kositpipat was reported saying in November 2025. MONKEY TRAVEL ASIA’s Chiang Mai: Chiang Rai White, Blue and Red Temples and Karen Tribe, from US$29 on promotion, usually US$49 a person (checked November 2026), asks its passengers to dress modestly for the day.
A place cost US$34.06, or US$41.15 with the temples’ tickets, on 26 November 2026, 20 January 2027 and 24 March 2027 (checked November 2026).
What the tours ask you to wear
No temple page we could read sets out the rule in English, so here is what the operators who take people there every day tell their passengers:
| Tour | What it asks |
|---|---|
| From Chiang Mai: Chiang Rai Temples & Long Neck Village Tour (CHIANG MAI DAY TRIP) | Respectful behaviour and dress; shoulders and knees covered, shoes off before entering the main chapel |
| Chiang Mai: White, Blue, and Red Temples Tour (CHIANG MAI DAY TRIP) | The same: shoulders and knees covered, shoes off in the main chapel |
| ChiangMai:White/Blue/Red Temples, Karen Tribe & Lalitta Cafe (TripGuru Thailand) | Clothes that cover your arms and legs |
| Chiang Mai: Chiang Rai White, Blue and Red Temples and Karen Tribe (MONKEY TRAVEL ASIA by Ask Discovery) | Respect local customs and dress modestly at the temples |
| One Day Tour Chiang Rai(White Temple , Blue Temple, Black House) Private Tour (AP Good@travel) | A T-shirt with short sleeves and long trousers is fine |
From each tour’s listing, checked November 2026.
The strictest of these, TripGuru Thailand's day, asks for arms and legs covered; the others settle for shoulders and knees. Dressing to the stricter rule covers all of them.
Check dates for the three temples
The sarong at the White Temple
When Wat Rong Khun raised its fee for foreign visitors to 200 baht from 1 January 2026, Chalermchai Kositpipat, the artist who created the temple, also said visitors can borrow a sarong free of charge, as the Chiang Rai site nakornchiangrainews.com reported on 7 November 2025. So shorts need not end the visit there. The White Temple has the fee in full.
Shoes, bags and the hall
Shoes come off before the main hall at each temple, so slip-ons save time on a day with three stops. On MONKEY TRAVEL ASIA’s coach, backpacks and large bags are not allowed at all; bring a small bag or a pocket for cash, since the White Temple’s fee is paid in baht if you did not book the tickets option.
Cool mornings, warm afternoons
From November to January, Chiang Rai’s average lows are 17.9, 14.7 and 13.8 C, and its average highs 29.6, 27.8 and 28.6 C (Thai Meteorological Department, 1991-2020 averages). Long sleeves that you can roll up, and long trousers that breathe, cover both ends of the day and the temples’ rule. Add sunscreen and a hat for the afternoon at Huay Pla Kang, on its hill.
The Blue Temple and the 3 temples tour cover the rest of the day.
More from Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai Tours with Open Dates
Temple visits and other days out round Chiang Rai with live availability. Pickup, inclusions and cancellation terms show on each tour before you pay.
Dressed for Three Temples in One Day
MONKEY TRAVEL ASIA's guided day from Chiang Mai to Wat Rong Khun, Wat Rong Suea Ten and Huay Pla Kang: one outfit covers all three.
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