After living in Chiang Rai for about 3 years I finally made it to the White Temple, or the Chapel of Wat Rong Khun.

This amazing structure is about 20km south of Chiang Rai, visible from the highway, and well worth the drive. Parking is available and admission is free.

The White Temple was designed by local Chiang Rai artist Mr. Chaloemchai Khositphiphat, famous for his artwork both in Thailand and abroad.

The entire complex includes nine buildings, each one making it’s own statement, and building began in 1977. Work is expected to take 50-60 years.

To discover more about this wonderful site, and it’s creator, please visit Mr. Chalermchai Khositpipat’s website

If you ever find yourself in Chiang Rai, visiting the White Temple is a “must do”.

Following are some images of the White Temple :

Make sure you actually go inside the temple and check out the mural on the end (front) wall inside. It is quite different to anything I have ever seen inside a temple. Very hard to explain what it is like.

We recently added bamboo ornamental rice containers to our range of handcrafted home decor products. They were traditionally used to store sticky rice, a staple food for Thai people.

These beautiful and versatile containers are created by hand weaving strips of bamboo into the basic shape of the finished product, which is then “plastered” with a blend of teak sawdust and resin, sanded, and finally hand painted. ( The lids are made in the same manner. )

They are surprisingly light considering how sturdy their construction. The lids simply push on, and are held in place by knotting the carry cord.

Our bamboo rice containers are available in a wide range of shapes, sizes, colors and designs, and look great around the home or office. The designs include traditional Buddha images, floral motifs, banana leaf and lotus leaf styles, and the beautiful “Lanna” language scripts.

Sizes range from the tiny ones you see on dining room tables, used as toothpick holders etc, to the large “urn” shapes which can reach six feet in height.

Their many uses include storage vessels for such things as coffee, tea, sugar, salt etc, or just about anything you can think of. Becoming very popular in restaurants as both condiment holders or simply as decor.

Of the many varied bamboo products on the market today, these very useful “rice containers” are my favorite.

The bamboo rice containers displayed on our website are sold on a retail basis, but if you would like a wholesale price please contact us at sales@lannacharm.com for more details. We offer up to 50% discount on orders of 10 items or more !

We also have a range of bamboo candle holders !

We recently added some beautiful mango wood products, vases, bangles and candle holders, to our ever growing
range of home decor accessories.

Mango wood vases are my personal favorite, there seems to be an unlimited range of sizes, styles, shapes, designs and colors on show.

Simply beautiful.

We thought visitors may like an insight into the production of these amazing works of art. They begin as a log brought in from the mango plantations, are rough shaped on a very basic lathe, then are kiln dried and finally turned into the amazing creations that the north of Thailand is famous for.

The carving of patterns, painting, sanding and staining is all done by hand. They really are handcrafted works of art.

The products listed on our website are for the retail buyer, but everything we sell is also available to the wholesale buyer, with attractive prices offered for orders of 10 or more items. Please feel free to contact us for details regarding wholesale prices and shipping rates for larger orders.

Following are some of the photos I took while touring one of the many mango wood products “factories” to be found in the Chiang Mai area, as well as some examples of the finished products.






























The finished product !

If you would like to browse through our range of mango wood vases and candle holders please visit our Mango Wood Products collection.

This is a sneak preview of our new range of hemp and cotton “Chiang Mai” handbags. We are using hand painted hemp fabric, as well as beautiful batik cotton for the outer covering, and very stylish and practical polished timber handles. We will release more images as they become available.

”Chiang Mai” Handcrafted Handbag, in batik cotton


”Chiang Mai” Handcrafted Handbag, in hand painted hemp fabric


”Chiang Mai” Handcrafted Handbag, in hand painted hemp fabric~