King Mangrai Monument

Don't build a day around this one. It's a compact roadside shrine at a busy junction in central Chiang Rai, and twenty or thirty minutes covers it. But if you're passing, stop. The gilded statue of King Mangrai, the 13th-century founder of both Chiang Rai and the Lan Na kingdom, sits on an ornate pedestal with white horses and elephants ranged around him, all turned the same way. That detail is what people remember. Behind the king, a large golden backdrop catches the light and does most of the work in photographs.

What lifts it above a piece of civic sculpture is that people actually use it. Locals stop to leave flowers, light incense and ask for protection, and the grounds are kept in good order. Come early in the morning and you'll see that happening rather than just reading about it. Go midday and it's a monument in traffic.