The Mysterious Black House of Chiang Rai, Chiang Rai, Thailand

When my friend and I were in Chiang Rai, we first visited the White Temple and were advised by our private tour guide to visit the Black House to get the “heaven and hell experience,” as she puts it.

We were well aware of the mystical appearance of the White Temple from dozens of photos we saw online but had absolutely no expectations as we pulled up to the Black House, also known asBaan Dam. The first thing you notice is this large temple-like wooden structure in a rustic green setting. But it wasn’t a temple, it’s a huge wooden building with long tables covered with animal skins and chairs made of animal bones. It felt like we stumbled onto a Game of Thrones set. The vibe was dark, mysterious and animalistic all at the same time.

The Black House is the brainchild and almost 40-year project of an internationally-renowned Chiang Rai artist named Thawan Duchanee who sadly passed away in 2014 at the age of 74. I read that he lived across the way from the Black House and would often pop by to work on his art. After checking out the largest structure, we went to the back and found even more structures and monuments (around 40 in total) in a very natural setting. Most of them are traditional buildings but there are random modern structures with unique designs scattered about too. Unlike the White Temple, the Black House isn’t considered a place of worship even though some of the structures resemble temples. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).