It is a wide, shallow, and slow-moving river. There is about 600 metres (2,000 ft) of small-scale whitewater halfway between the towns of Tha Ton and Chiang Rai.
For several kilometres downriver from Chiang Rai, the river becomes a lake, until it reaches the irrigation dam near Wiang Chai.
The Kok River is a tributary of the Mekong River, with its mouth at Sop Kok in Chiang Saen District, opposite the Lao border.[1]
Phahonyothin Road crosses this river near Chiang Rai City. Altogether, there are five bridges crossing the Kok River near Chiang Rai city.
Tributaries
The main tributaries of the Kok River are the Fang and the Lao River, the latter having its source in the Phi Pan Nam Range.[2]
Dams
There is a small dam with 11 gates which provides irrigation for rice fields east of Chiang Rai. The dam is 11 kilometres (7 mi) east of the Hwy 1 bridge. It turns the river into a lake, several miles long, for eight months of the year. Additionally, there is a dam planned on the Burmese side of where the river flows into Thailand, about 32 kilometres (20 mi) upstream from the border.
Top Gear
In October 2013 the cast and crew of the British television show Top Gear constructed a bridge over the Kok as part of their Burma Special.[3][4] The bridge was originally planned to be built over the River Kwai, but the River Fang which flows into the Kok was chosen "accidentally". The show aired in two parts on 9 March 2014 and 16 March 2014.
Following production of the episode, the bridge was taken down, despite the producers and crew wanting it to stay in use for the locals.
