Nakhon Ratchasima Province
Three excavation pits with replica skeletons (the originals were damaged over time) and pottery left in situ from the 1991 excavations are on display in…
Must-see attractions in Northeastern Thailand
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…
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…
Buriram Province
Although this peaceful temple atop an extinct volcano has an ancient past, as evidenced by the 8th- or 9th-century Dvaravati sandstone boundary markers,…
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…
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)…
Nong Khai Province
Overlooking a lovely stretch of the Mekong, this vast forest temple is centred on a small cliff rising out of the river. It's respected by Thais because…
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…
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…
Chiang Khan
With the mountains making an attractive backdrop, this famous bend in the Mekong, and its small set of rapids, is a popular stop for visitors. You can…
Loei Province
The most highly revered stupa in Loei Province, this whitewashed Lao-style chedi stands 20m high and was built in 1560–63 on what was then the Thai–Lao…
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…
Nakhon Phanom Province
The Phu Thai town of Renu Nakhon, 15km northwest of That Phanom, hosts a 35m-tall pink-and-white chedi that closely resembles the pre-1941 That Phanom…
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…
Northeastern Thailand
This temple in the northwest quarter of town has a peaceful ambience. It's known for its 1200-year-old brick chedi from the Dvaravati period, which has an…
Khon Kaen Province
At this silk-weaving museum 1km west of town you can learn about the entire silk-making process and even take a turn at a loom. The main room is mostly a…
Northeastern Thailand
The centrepiece of this city-centre temple is a highly venerated Lao-style chedi said to date from AD 695 that enshrines holy relics of Phra Anan (Ananda)…
Northeastern Thailand
Displays at this well-executed museum focus on the province's Khmer ruins and Surin's three ethnic groups: Lao, Khmer and Suai, the region's renowned…
Northeastern Thailand
Among Thais, Mukdahan is most famous for this riverside market, which stretches along and under the promenade. Most Thai tour groups on their way to Laos…
Udon Thani Province
A 700m walk east of the Ban Chiang National Museum (turn left out of the museum and keep going), this is the largest of the burial grounds excavated in…
Nong Khai Province
Thirteen kilometres past the road to Wat Pha Tak Sua is an interesting cave that many locals believe is the home of a naga king. If you can speak Thai you…
Nakhon Phanom
Predating the town, Wak Okat is home to Phra Tiow and Phra Tiam, two sacred wooden Buddha images covered in gold that sit on the highest pedestal in the…
Loei Province
Built on a wooded hill just outside town, this gorgeous meditation temple features buildings made of unplastered laterite blocks. The massive bóht hosts a…
Nong Khai
This forest wát on the south side of town is a respected vipassana (insight meditation) centre on pleasant, tree-shaded grounds. Most of the extremely…
Northeastern Thailand
Khao Phra Wihan ('Preah Vihear' in Khmer) is a large Khmer temple ruin perched dramatically on a cliff 500m above the plains below. It's just over the…
Udon Thani Province
Wat Na Kha Taewwat pee was established by a wandering monk who found a hole from which bellowed the sound and smoke of a naga. He plugged the hole with a…
Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat)
When the abbot of Wat Phayap learned that blasting for a quarry in Saraburi Province was destroying a beautiful cave, he rescued pieces of it and…
Loei Province
This little museum, also known as 'Maloei Museum', is 5km north of town at Rajabhat University. The first gallery has an animatronic dinosaur (fossilised…
Khon Kaen
Spread over the vast grounds of this peaceful temple, 10km north of the city, are many beautiful monuments, including a 23m-tall white walking Buddha…
Khon Kaen
This collection of artefacts spans prehistoric times to the present. Highlights are Ban Chiang–era pottery and a beautiful Dvaravati bai săir·mah (temple…
Northeastern Thailand
Surin's gorgeous city pillar shrine, just west of Th Tanasarn, is a modern Khmer-style prang with copies of Phanom Rung's famous Narai Bandhomsindhu…
Nakhon Phanom
Aiming for the tour bus crowd, there's a tasteful shrine at the centre of this walled complex in Ban Na Chok village, but the fake mountain, souvenir…
Khao Yai National Park
The top-tier winery closest to the Khao Yai National Park entrance, which is 16km away, is home to Thailand's first female oneologist, Nikki Lohitnavy. It…
Northeastern Thailand
According to one of the many legends associated with it, this temple's 2m-tall Phra Chao Ong Luang Buddha image is older than the city itself and was…
Ubon Ratchathani
One of the main places in Thailand for making clay mortars – essential equipment in any Isan kitchen – lies on the eastern fringes of Ubon. While the…
Khao Yai National Park
One of the first wineries in Thailand (it corked its first bottle in 1998), PB Valley is 22.5km from the Khao Yai National Park gate. It's scenically set,…
Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat)
This large temple is of interest primarily for three holy Khmer sandstone sculptures that were unearthed here – Vishnu (Phra Narai in Thai) is the holiest…
Ubon Ratchathani
Walk behind this temple's typical modern bòht and you'll find its petite, century-old precursor. The murals of the Buddha's life story bear resemblance to…
Nakhon Phanom
This historic temple's bóht (ordination hall) has a lot of flair. It's surrounded by statues of têp (angels) and has a colourful triptych on the back wall…
Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat)
This little white building is a sort of museum to local heroine Thao Suranari, with a cool diorama and an even cooler sculpted mural of the famous battle…
