Abstract:
The objectives of this research were: to find temples and important religious places that are Budhism tourist attractions in Chiang Rai Province, to study the model and process of Buddhism based tourism development in Chiang Rai Province , to study Budhism tourism routes in Chiang Rai Province, and to study the factors influ-encing Buddhism tourism behaviors in Chiang Rai Province. The population consisted of Budhism tourist attractions in Chiang Rai Province by Explanatory Survey Research and Quality Research. The results of this research were as follows: the temples and important religiousplaces that are Budhism tourist attractions in Chiang Rai Province included 1,282 tem-ples, The temples according to registration data comprised 1,011 temples, the monastictemporary residences consisted of 196 residences, the meditation centers in Chiang Rai Province included 17 centers, and the deserted temples comprised 142 temples. Re-garding the model and process of Buddhism based tourism in Chiang Rai Province, theywere divided into four groups as follows; 1) groups of temples that were the historicaland Buddhism learning sites, 2) groups of temples that had a tourism oriented theol-ogy emphasizing the Buddhist art, 3) groups of temples that had the activities focusedon faiths, beliefs, and culture and traditions, and 4) groups of temples focused on the meditation and religious activities. Referring to the Budhism tourism routes in Chiang Rai Province, they were found that automobiles (or cars) were mainly used for travellingin four separate directions. According to the factors that influenced Buddhism tourismbehaviors in Chiang Rai, they included reputation, advertising, motivation, and stimulationto be attractive to visit, cheap price, and beautiful places.