Originally Posted by
urbanblacksheep
Stay in Chiang Rai and visit Chiang Mai. Find tours that will drive you up the hills and you can see the "fog sea". No beaches so you don't need to worry. Chaing Mai is a smaller congested version of BKK.
That's a rather pessimistic and, I suspect, minority opinion. Chiang Rai is a standard-issue Thai country town with the usual smattering of temples, markets and such; not unpleasant, but not particularly exciting, and pretty far from an oasis of sylvan charm. Chiang Mai is Thailand's 2nd largest city, so it's got a much better range of hotels, restaurants, markets etc, and as the former capital of the Lanna kingdom, it has larger and more interesting temples, its own cuisine, etc.