The vast mountain vistas and neighbouring with Myanmar and Laos with nothing but the Mekong identifying its borders, Thailand’s Golden Triangle area has had a notorious past. Its trading routes and papaver plantations for delivering opium thrived enormously in the past with limited control and local hill tribes both reaping the financial benefits as well fell victim to the addictive side effects of its use. Under the watchful eye for the Late HRH The Princess Mother, the tide turned and instilling royal-sponsored projects to eradicate the growing presence of drug lords and opium traders revitalized the region with new sources of income, particularly from sustainable agriculture and handicraft. A memento in the form of an interactive information centre and museum has been erected nearby the Golden Triangle area, where visitors have the opportunity to watch, learn and explore all that interlinked the region with the drug trade. A visit to the Hall of Opium brings visitors closer to a black page in Thailand’s history books, but one that has to be told.
Guests are welcomed by your English speaking guide for this half day tour at your Chiang Rai hotel. The drive brings you north of the city towards Thailand’s Golden Triangle area; although we will not include a visit to this highly-popular area the point where Laos’, Myanmar’s and Thailand’s borders convene  but move towards a 40-acres piece of land that lies within the vicinity. The Hall of Opium is a large museum and interactive information centre (totalling 5,600 square meters), purposely built to provide a fascinating insight into opium prohibition, crime and conflict and the detrimental consequences of the use of narcotics. Accompanied by your guide, you will take a multimedia journey of the cultivation of primarily opium that dates back to more than 5,000 years.
This walking tour guides visitors from the first records of opium cultivation to the peak of its existence and the measures taken over the past decades. The chronological story starts with the history of the Golden Triangle, the origin of opium, the opium war, opium warlords, drug smugglers, opium effects, the battle against opium and poppy growing, to rehabilitation of living conditions of the people who live in the central of the Golden Triangle, the former worldwide infamous drug trading zone, ending with displays and videos about the haunting insight of the destructive power of substance abuse. Both entertaining as educational, the Hall of Opium has placed itself as a guiding light for those unaware of the detrimental effects it had on the people. Besides the work done by the Royal Family, numerous Non-government agencies and individuals have contributed to this success.
With this eye-opener fresh in your memory, we head back to Chiang Rai and your booked hotel.