Phrae - Temples, Tom Yum and Northern Thai Hospitality
Phrae is a gorgeous small city in northern Thailand. Not on the traditional tourist trail, Phrae has escaped the trappings of the larger northern cities and retained a character all of its own. Full of unique temples, fantastic night markets, incredible food and even some really cool “Ghost Pillars”, Phrae was an unexpected delight in our Thai adventures.
Check our guide to what to do, where to stay and the best things to eat in this amazing Thai town.
In this article:
Food - Where to eat in Phrae
What to do in Phrae
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Getting to Phrae - Where is it?
Phrae is a small city (large town by our reckoning) around two hundred kilometres (124 miles) south east from Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Up in the mountains it is a lovely drive and serves as a great gateway into the lesser travelled regions of north eastern Thailand.
The easiest way to get to Phrae is from the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. Buses run several times a day from Chiang Mai’s Bus Terminal 3 (located here), we used Greenbus who cover a lot of northern Thailand.
We booked our tickets in advance with 12go to make sure we got our seats.
You can also easily get to Phrae from Chiang Rai, Nan City or even further afield. If you are travelling away from the north, you can book buses between Phrae and Bangkok. Have a look at some of the options below:
The bus station in Phrae also serves quite a few of the very long distance routes, have a look at 12go to see more.
The bus stop in Phrae isn't very central and you will probably need to grab a ride to your accommodation. There were plenty of cheap taxis and songthaews parked and waiting at the bus stop.
If you are looking at flying there are domestic airports at Nan City and Chiang Rai, as well as the larger international airport at Chiang Mai.
Where to stay in Phrae - Accommodation choices
Phrae has a small but good selection of places to stay. We are on a backpacking budget and cannot recommend Come Moon Hotel enough.
Large stylish rooms with good air conditioning and a great shower all at a backpacker price. The lady who ran it (or at least was there when we were), was very friendly and helpful. We didn't share much language, her speaking only a little English and us even less Thai, but she was so hospitable and kind. We would definitely stay there again. Come Moon Hotel was set a little way out of the centre of town but was right next to the Saturday night market.
The hotel also has several very cute cats!
There are quite a few other choices for accommodation in Phrae, some a little more central than Come Moon Hotel. Have a look at our accommodation map below for all the available hotels, hostels and guesthouses in Phrae:
Zoom out using the - on the map to see all the options!
Be aware that due to Phrae’s fantastic Saturday night market that booking over the weekend is usually significantly more expensive. However, as you will find out if you read the rest of this blog, we definitely think the market is worth it!
Renting a Scooter in Phrae
Scooter rental is very simple in Phrae. Your Hotel / guest house / hostel will be able to sort you out. If you want to do it yourself there are several places in town you can rent from directly (just search “Phrae Scooter Rental” on Google Maps).
We paid 250 baht per day for our scooter, if we had rented for multiple days we would have probably got it a little cheaper.
We would definitely recommend renting a scooter to get to some of the sights outside of the town. Of course all the usual warnings apply to renting a scooter so get a helmet!
Coffee shops in Phrae - where to get your caffeine fix
We started one of our days with an excellent iced Americano in Café de Phaeris (located here). The café is in a beautiful building with a very chic interior. Also the (expensive) pastries looked amazing! There is a pretty upstairs seating area that, on Saturdays, is a great people watching post for the market!
Our go to coffee when in Phrae was Slope Coffee (located here).
This may be the coolest coffee shop of the adventure so far! Set in a sloping wooden house (hence the name) the café sprawls out into gardens and ramshackle wooden outbuildings. Everywhere you turn there are vintage toys and furniture. From stacks of original Nintendo consoles to micro machines and water pistols, every surface has a collection of interesting things to look at. The coffee was also fantastic with the iced lattes hitting the perfect spot on a hot day. There’s also a selection of cakes and treats for those with a sweet tooth.
Food - The best things to eat in Phrae
Thai Breakfast in Phrae
You can find a great Thai breakfast near the central fresh market. Down one of the streets bordering the market (around here), we found some delicious Khanom Jeen. White fermented rice noodles in a light curried broth. This variant was much lighter than the normal southern syle, with ground pork and a nearly clear soup. The noodles were very cheap at 15 baht per bowl, they were a fantastic start to the day!
Another great breakfast option you can find near the fresh market is a bowl of rice soup.
We ordered two bowls from the friendly lady here, who seemed both confused and happy to have two random farang at her shop. The menus were all in Thai so we just opted for the first option (we couldn't be bothered with getting our phones out and attempting Google translate). We got two hearty bowls of pork rice soup with sliced and ground pork, liver and intestines. Intestines aren't for everyone but the soup and cuts of meat were absolutely fantastic! Add in a soft boiled egg and you have an amazing bowl. Rich but somehow light, deep but comforting, the rice soup kept us full for a day of exploring.
Lunch and Dinner in Phrae
We grazed at the Sarm Wai evening market (located here) for our starters one evening. The market has loads of stalls offering takeaway foods. From curries and full meals for taking home, to small hand held snacks, there was plenty to choose from. We couldn't resist our traditional guilty Thai pleasure of market stall sushi (we know it's a terrible idea but we love it!).
Just remember Sarm Wai is an evening market not a night market, don’t get there too late or all the stalls will have sold out!
Our favourite places for dinner were all around the same intersection in the middle of town. In the evening, around a busy crossroads (located here), a swarm of delicious street stalls descended and set up camp. Tom yam, yentafo, duck noodles, stir frys of every description, whatever you fancy there will be something to tickle your tastebuds.
Street-side dining is one of the best things about Thailand!
We had two bowls of pork tom yam on our first night and it may have been our favourite tom yam of the trip! Topped with roast cha sui pork and tons of crunchy additions, this spicy sour soup was phenomenal. Make sure you add a little of the smoky roasted chilli flakes to supercharge your bowl!
There are not many things better than proper Thai Tom Yam Soup!
Another evening saw us devour a bowl of spicy noodles from the cart outside the Chinese shrine on the side of the crossroads (here). The menu listed our meal as “Spicy Noodles Large”, it was amazing. The soup had some of the juiciest, most delicious pork meatballs we have ever eaten. Not quite a tom yam soup, not quite a dumpling soup, it took the best of both worlds!
You know you want it.. We are hungry just remembering it!
Around the same roundabout are a string of restaurants open all day and serving a huge range of dishes.
We had a couple of great plates of pad krapow moo (stir fried pork and holy basil leaves) and, like the tom yam of the previous night, it was excellent!
We can also recommend checking out the Chinese style won ton noodle soup served at the restaurant here. The roast pork was especially yum!
We are obsessed with noodle soups and the places around the Phrae crossroads were some of the cheapest, most generous and most delicious we have encountered.
Another great option for food in Phrae are the weekend night markets, speaking of which:
Phrae Saturday Night Market
Every Saturday the people of Phrae close the long temple strewn road in the east of town and open the community run night market. This was one of our favourite night markets in Thailand so far, and we have been to a lot!
John had to be reminded that he didn’t actually own a CD player…
There was none of the copy-paste imported tat stalls, no two stalls sold the same thing. Instead there were lots of collectables, local crafts, vintage items and clothes for sale. Do you need an old set of Thai lounge classics on Vinyl? How about some action hero toys from the 80’s? It was great fun to browse all the different stalls.
There was also a ton of food on offer at the market!
We grazed our way through deep fried pork belly slices as well as sour fermented sausage and market stall sushi (again we just cannot resist). If you wanted full meals you could buy them there and eat them at a communal picnic area in the middle of the market. Also all the bars, coffee shops and restaurants had opened and spilled out into the market.
You could buy dinner from the market, take a seat and grab drinks from the neighbouring restaurants and bars, it was a great idea!
If you can time it right, definitely try and visit Phrae on a Saturday. The market is unique, charming and a real treat to explore.
Phrae Sunday Night Market
After the excitement of the Saturday market we were expecting a simple affair for Sunday. We made our way to our favourite crossroads for dinner but quickly spotted signs of another market. In the park next to a section of the old City Wall (opposite the 7-11) the Sunday market was in full swing. A small stage had a local band playing to an enthusiastic audience and a throng of stalls crowded the small open space. Being our third market in three days, a few of the stalls were now familiar to us. We enjoyed our fried pork again but this time managed to stop ourselves from ordering more market sushi. You could pick up meals to take away, lots of rice and curries, or eat them nearby. It was a proper local night market and like the previous two, completely charming.
The market is on Sundays from the late afternoon here.
Nightlife in Phrae
In the evening, if you are looking for a beer or something stronger head to Kham Lue street (here). This street houses several of the towns temples and also plays host to the Saturday night market, it is also home to a few fun bars and pubs. There is the Nomad Craft Beer Bar and cafe on the eastern end of the road and there are two live music Thai-beer-hall-style bars in the middle (around here). All the bars share the towns eclectic style and are welcoming and good fun. For a more posh drink (they had bouncers and everything!) check out ท่าช้างแพร่ near the bus station.
Things to see and do in Phrae
The temples of Phrae
Phrae has many famous and beautiful temples. We took a day and explored a few on foot. These are just some of the amazing temples you can find in Phrae:
Wat Phra Non
Probably the friendliest start to any temple tour we have had, Wat Phra Non is home to a famous sleeping Buddha. The statue is gleaming gold, over nine metres long and has inlaid mother of pearl eyes! The temple (when we were there at least) was also home to a very friendly and helpful attendant. We came into the beautiful main temple hall and he immediately gave us some honey drinks and turned the fans on. In a mix of English, Thai and the international sign language of pointing he explained how the specific Buddha in the temple was of particular strength and importance. He took photos of and for us and even gave us bottles of iced water when we left. We love Thai hospitality!
Wat Phong Sunan - the temple of the tortoise
A stunning temple with a reclining Buddha, ornate white spiked shrine, golden chedi and perhaps most striking, gigantic golden tortoise! It was not like any temple we have been in so far, and we have been in quite a few! The temple grounds go back over 500 years and are full of statues and amazing images of the Buddha. Inside the main hall the walls are covered in amazing colourful artwork, showing Thai festivals and scenes from Buddhist scripture.
Must….resist…Terry…Pratchett…reference…
Wat Luang
With a huge white chedi / stupa this gorgeous temple sits close by to Wat Phong Sunan. The temple site is one of the oldest in town (although the buildings have been renovated / replaced during their history). We visited on a sunny day in June and the temple was setting up for a formal event so we couldn't get to the small museum on site, but it was still a lovely temple with some fantastic traditional wooden houses in the grounds.
Wat Si Chum
Down an incredibly pretty street lined with flowers and butterfly filled houses, this smaller temple houses a historical brick stupa. Next to the old stupa was a small raised wooden building, its outside intricately painted in Buddhist scenes. With a pack of small dogs and a friendly little old lady as our only companions, it felt like stepping back in time.
City Pillar Shrine - Lak Mueang
A city pillar is meant to be the “soul of the city”, the spiritual heart where the city's guardian spirit resides. Phrae’s City pillar is housed in a pointed red, gold and white shrine. It is also (again when we visited) entirely surrounded by small tiger statues!
The City Pillar looks especially lovely at sunset!
Phrae’s Museums
The Khum Vongburi Museum aka The Pink House
The Pink House is aptly named. A mix of Thai and European architectural influences, the beautiful teak mansion has been painted a soft shade of pastel pink. Inside is a fascinating collection of family heirlooms, old radios, furniture and historical documents. We spent a happy half hour wandering around through the lovely rooms. Set in gardens and surrounded by jasmine trees, the museum is a perfect refuge on a hot day.
Naming it the Pink House didn’t take much imagination!
Tickets: Entry to the museum is 30 baht per person.
Opening times: The Pink House is open from 9am to 4pm daily.
Khum Chao Luang
Home of the last “Kings of Phrae” this imposing mansion houses restored period rooms, stunning historic outfits and artefacts from the last rulers life. There are displays of elephant logging equipment, historic photographs and lots of trinkets to find. We especially liked the tiny crystal ornaments in the upstairs bedrooms, they looked like extremely bling dolls house furniture!
The basement of the museum is easy to miss but definitely worth a little inspection. The basement functioned as holding cells and prison for accused and convicted criminals.
Ever wished you didn’t translate something?
The empty rooms are low ceilinged and very eerie. This sense of eeriness was massively worsened when we used Google Translate on some of the pictures which explained some truly horrific torture devices….Lets just say spiky elephant football and leave it at that!
Tickets: Entrance to Khum Chao Luang is free but donations are appreciated!
Opening times: Khum Chao Luang is open everyday between 8:30am and 4:30pm.
In both museums there were a few translated displays but you did need Google translate on a lot of the exhibits in order to know what it was you were looking at! If you want to sort out your international mobile data in advance check out Airalo for an eSIM!
The Ghost Pillars of Phrae - Phae Meuang Phii Forest Park
A short twenty odd minute scooter ride from Phrae town (or at least our hotel) lies the Phae Meuang Phii Forest Park and the mysterious Ghost Pillars of Phrae. A barren Mars-like canyon surrounded by forests. We scooted up there one morning and thought it was well worth the trip.
We arrived at the car park and hopped off our tiny little scooter (it had performed admirably with us two non-tiny people aboard). There was a small exhibition centre, a souvenir stand, restaurant and a visitor enquiry desk but nearly no other visitors when we visited.
Setting off the forest path towards the pillars we passed selfie spots and information signs explaining the importance of trees in preventing erosion and how the formation ahead is an example of what happens when the trees are removed. After a brief backwards jog when John realised the scooter keys were still in the ignition back in the car park we came to the valley of the Ghost Pillars.
It is beautifully bizzare!
Sometimes known as the ‘Grand Canyon of Thailand’, the scenery really is strange. Set in the midst of green forest, a scar of ochre rock and dirt forms a small steep sided canyon. Calling it the ‘Grand Canyon’ might be exaggerating it a little but it is very impressive. Sprouting out from the valley floor are the famous Ghost Pillars; towering yellowed stacks of stone, isolated survivors of the erosion that had gouged out the formation all around.
We wandered around the rim of the canyon and then down through the floor, snapping photos at viewpoints and the occasional especially dramatic rock. It is not a large site but well worth the short drive from town.
Some of the pillars are pretty tall!
If you are visiting make sure you take the short nature trail back to the car park rather than just retracing your steps. When we visited it was completely deserted except for us and some very colourful caterpillars.
Tickets: Entrance to the Ghost Pillars is free.
Facilities: There are toilets as well as food and drink available near the car park.
Opening times: The Ghost Pillars are open all the time but the visitor centre and facilities may close in the afternoon. We spent maybe a little over an hour at the site.
National Parks, waterfalls and viewpoints
The weather stopped us on our visit but, if you have a scooter make sure you check out the mountains and national parks surrounding Phrae. The area has lots of viewpoints, nature preserves and waterfalls a short drive from town!
Phrae ancient city walls
Phrae was once ringed with a large defensive wall and you can still see this in long stretches all across the town. Most portions of the wall are open to the public and some have been adapted into parks and gardens. There is a very nice stretch to stroll down along the river, near the central 7-11 and Sunday night market. You can find the location here. There is also some cool street art to spot on the opposite bank of the river.
If you are staying at or near Come Moon Hotel, there is a large section you can walk along the top of at the nearby roundabout. You can find this section of the walls here.
After Phrae - Where to go next?
Phrae could easily be part of a northern Thai loop. It is easily connected to Nan City, the pretty town of Pua and Chiang Rai. You could come from Chiang Mai, go to Chaing Rai then move on to Phayao, go across to Pua, down to Nan City and then to Phrae before heading to Lampang and then back to Chiang Mai or take a train / bus back to Bangkok. Alternatively you could use Phrae as a stop off when going further east to Issan or even all the way to Laos.
On this trip (as we had already been to Chaing Rai and Lampang) we visited Phrae, Nan City and had a day trip up to Pua. This was a fantastic trip and, like all the best trips, left us with the feeling that we need to come back and spend much more time in this corner of Thailand.
Phrae town - Our thoughts
Sometimes the simplest things are the best, we loved just walking around Phrae! It is a lovely town that is full of little corners and surprises. We would just be wandering through a park and a gaggle of people, all dressed in gold and burgundy traditional clothing would pass us on the way to a dance practice. We would stop in for a coffee and someone would just pick up an acoustic guitar and start singing.
We visited Phrae in the low season at the start of the rainy months. It did rain and we did have some grey skies, but it didn't stop us enjoying ourselves. In the rainy months you just have to be prepared with raincoats and umbrellas and be more willing to dive into a nearby coffee shop to avoid a downpour. The rainy season also has the advantages of cheaper accommodation and much less tourists to share the sites with!
Phrae was a fantastic small town, completely different from the larger northern Thai cities. It really felt like a different Thailand, one far removed from elephant pants, booze buckets and full moon parties but full of warmth, genuine people and, of course, amazing food.
We loved it
Thanks for reading!
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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