Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat)

Nakhorn Ratchasima is a big, busy city with little in the way of major sights, but one that for many travelers serves as the gateway to Isan. Khorat (โคราช), as most people call the city, has a strong sense of regional identity (people call themselves kon koh·râht instead of kon ee·săhn) and is at its best in its quieter nooks, such as inside the eastern side of the historic moat, where local life goes on in a fairly traditional way and you are more likely to run into a metre-long monitor lizard than another traveler.