Nong Khai

Nong Khai is a province in the northeast of Thailand the town of Nong Khai is the capital of the province and it is the town I am writing about here.

Nong Khai is located 56 kilometers north of Udon Thani and 616 kilometers northeast of Bangkok on the banks of the Mekong River separating Thailand from Laos.

Two kilometers outside Nong Khai is the Friendship Bridge that joins Thailand and Laos and from there it is only 20 kilometers to the capital of Laos Vientiane. For anyone wishing to extend their stay in Thailand there is a Thai Embassy in Vientiane that issues visas for Thailand.

There are ferries at Nong Khai that regularly cross the Mekong River to and from Laos that are used by the locals. I would not advise using them the only official crossing is at the Friendship Bridge where full Immigration and customs facilities are available.

Nong Khai itself is a relatively small quiet laid back sort of town though it does get a lot of visitors both Thai and Western that like to visit the markets and restaurants adjacent to the new promenade where you can eat good inexpensive food especially the fresh fish while gazing across the river into Laos. (Westerners are most often referred to by the Thai’s as “Falang” or “Farang” )

The nearest airport to Nong Khai is Udon Thani with regular daily flights to and from Bangkok, the train and buses are other options that continue  on from Udon Thani see my Udon Thani blog for more details.

One attraction well worth visiting is Sala Kaew Ku also known as Wat Khaek it is a park full of massive bizarre statues from Thai Buddhist and Hindu ideology as well as part human part animal statues. Another attraction is Wat Pho Chai, famous for its large seated Buddha.