Nakhon Ratchasima Province
Prasat Phimai is one of the most impressive Khmer ruins in Thailand, both in its grand scale and its intricate details. Though built as a Mahayana…
Must-see attractions in Northeastern Thailand
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Nakhon Ratchasima Province
Cool and lush, Khao Yai National Park is an easy escape into the primordial jungle. The 2168-sq-km park, part of a Unesco World Heritage site, spans five…
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Northeastern Thailand
With its network of rickety staircases and walkways built in, on and around a giant sandstone outcrop, Wat Phu Thok is one of the region’s wonders. The…
Udon Thani Province
You'll see pictures of the Red Lotus Sea (really, it's a pink water-lily lake) all over Udon as it's now one of Isan's top attractions, but few Westerners…
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Nong Khai
One of Thailand’s most enigmatic attractions, Sala Kaew Ku can't fail to impress. Built over 20 years by Luang Pu Boun Leua Sourirat, a mystic who died in…
Northeastern Thailand
Wat Pa Non Sawan is home to hundreds of colourful sculptures ranging from merely peculiar to ‘what the…?!’ Whether it’s the immense dragons, waving…
Northeastern Thailand
Officially it’s Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaeo, but these days nearly everyone calls it Wat Lan Khuat, the ‘Million Bottle Temple’. In 1982 the abbot dreamt…
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Northeastern Thailand
You may find the village of Ban Tha Sawang, 8km west of Surin along Rte 4026, a fascinating stop, even if you're not particularly turned on by weaving…
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Khon Kaen Province
Unheralded Nam Nao National Park is one of Thailand's most wildlife-rich parks, although its remote location means it never gets busy. Good visibility and…
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Udon Thani Province
Steeped in mythical intrigue and peppered with bizarre rock formations, Phu Phrabat Historical Park is one of the region’s highlights. The formations are…
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Khao Yai National Park
Nam Tok Haew Narok ('Hell Gorge Waterfall') is in the far south of Khao Yai National Park, 23km from the visitors centre. Its three levels combine to form…
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Northeastern Thailand
The most atmospheric of Surin's Khmer ruins is a series of three sites in the forest on the Cambodian border known collectively as Prasat Ta Meuan. They…
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Northeastern Thailand
A rather sinister myth surrounds this ‘Small Sticky-Rice Basket Stupa’, a brick-and-stucco chedi dating from the late Ayuthaya period, 5km outside town…
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Northeastern Thailand
Residents of Ban Si Than can’t leave their work behind when they sleep: this is a pillow-making village. All around the village (and most others…
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Nong Khai
Luang Po Phra Sai, a large Lan Xang–era Buddha image awash with gold, bronze and precious stones, sits at the hub of Nong Khai's holiest temple. The head…
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Northeastern Thailand
Built in the 12th century, Sikhoraphum features five brick prang (Hindi/Khmer-style stupas), two of which still hold their tops (these were later modified…
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Udon Thani
The Udon Sunshine Orchid Farm, just northwest of town, earned fame for producing the first orchid-based perfume. It has since developed a hybrid of…
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Ubon Ratchathani
This temple, also known as Wat Sa Prasan Suk, stands out from other temples in many ways. Most famously, the bòht sits on a boat: a ceramic-encrusted…
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Northeastern Thailand
Thirty kilometres west of Si Saket via Rte 226 in Amphoe Uthumphon Phisai, Prasat Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai, built as a shrine to Shiva, features four 11th…
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Ubon Ratchathani
English is the primary language of Wat Pa Nanachat, a Western-oriented temple opened in 1975 by Ajahn Chah specifically for non-Thais. There's nothing…
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Khon Kaen Province
The core attraction of Nam Phong National Park and the nearest nature reserve to Khon Kaen city, the Hin Chang Si ('Elephant-Rubbing Rock') area is full…
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Ubon Ratchathani
Peaceful Wat Nong Pa Phong, founded by the venerable Ajahn Chah, who was born here, is known across Thailand for its quiet discipline and the complete…
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Northeastern Thailand
Wat Ahong Silawat, 20km west of the capital along Rte 212, is built amid ruddy boulders at a river bend known as Sàdeu Námkong (the Mekong River’s Navel)…
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Udon Thani Province
With brightly painted statuary that's even more bizarre than Nong Khai's Sala Kaew Ku, this wát is a perfect add-on to Phu Phrabat if you have your own…
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Northeastern Thailand
That Khang Khao Noi, the ‘Small Sticky-Rice Basket Stupa’, is one of the best-known icons of Yasothon. The famous stupa southeast of town on the Ubon…
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Ubon Ratchathani
This spectacular, gleaming gold-and-white chedi is sure to dazzle. It loosely resembles the Mahabodhi stupa in Bodhgaya, India (where the Buddha reached…
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Khon Kaen Province
Enclosed excavation sites, including one with a partial skeleton of Siamotyrannus isanensis, an early ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex, can be reached on…
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Udon Thani
During 1928 and 1929, Ho Chi Minh used the jungle around Nong Hang village as one of his bases to train soldiers and rally Isan's sizeable Vietnamese…
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Nakhon Ratchasima Province
One of the biggest and best museums in Isan, the Phimai National Museum is well worth a visit. Situated on the banks of Sa Kwan, a 12th-century Khmer…
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Nong Khai
The ‘Stupa in the Middle of the River’ (sometimes called Phra That Nong Khai) is a ruined Lao-style chedi submerged in the middle of the river and can…
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Udon Thani Province
This excellent museum, developed with some assistance from the Smithsonian Institution, exhibits a wealth of pottery from all Ban Chiang periods, plus…
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Northeastern Thailand
The first thing most people notice about this old temple, which dates from the late Ayuthaya era, is the unusual four-storey stupa at the back, but the…
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Northeastern Thailand
The 11th-century Prasat Ban Phluang, 33km south of Surin, is just a solitary sandstone prang (Hindi/Khmer-style stupa) without its top, but the wonderful…
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Nakhon Ratchasima Province
Right in the centre of the main moat, this is the most significant of Muang Sema's ruins, after Wat Dhammachakra Semaram. Labelled as Monument 1 on the…
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Northeastern Thailand
The most endearing neighbourhood in Yasothon is Ban Singha Tha, a collection of quiet residential streets just below Wat Mahathat. It has several classic…
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Ubon Ratchathani
Also known as Wat Pa Yai, the 'Large Forest Temple' (from long ago when Ubon was just a small town and this area lay beyond the city limits), this is one…
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Nakhon Ratchasima Province
Locally known as Wat Phra Norn ('Temple of the Reclining Buddha'), this temple is significant for housing a 1300-year-old, 13.3m-long reclining Buddha…
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Northeastern Thailand
Tree-shaded, nicely landscaped and criss-crossed by pathways, this island park and its pretty lake are the focal point of Roi Et and attract picnickers,…
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Khon Kaen Province
The 12th-century Prasat Puay Noi is the largest and most interesting Khmer ruin in northern Isan. About the size of Buriram’s Prasat Meuang Tam but far…
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Ubon Ratchathani
The bòht at this important temple was built to resemble Bangkok's Wat Benchamabophit, but it's the 7cm-tall topaz Buddha inside that most Thais come to…
