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.

Udon Thani

Udon Thani is one of my favorite cities in Thailand but then I admit I am biased for it was the first place I stayed in Thailand and is also where my daughter and grandchildren live.

Udon Thani is a province in the northeast of Thailand the city of Udon Thani is the capital of the province and it is the city I am writing about here.

Udon Thani or Udon as it is known locally is situated approximately 560 kilometers northeast of the capital Bangkok and close to the border with Laos at Nong Khai  56 kilometers north of Udon where it is possible to cross into Laos by way of the Friendship Bridge that crosses the Mekong River between Thailand and Laos.

There are a number of ways to get to Udon Thani from Bangkok. There are flights every day to Udon Thani from either Bangkok’s Don Muang airport with Nok Air (a subsidiary of Thai Air) or from Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi Airport with Thai Air or Air Asia flight times are one hour give or take a few minutes.

Trains leave Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong Station every day I would recommend either early morning if you want to see some of the countryside departing at 08.20 arriving in Udon Thani at 18.10 or the one that leaves in the evening 20.00 arriving in Udon Thani at 07.14 the evening train has either seats or sleeper I would recommend the sleeper personally. The latest prices I have at the moment are 1^st class sleeper 1,177 baht, 2^nd class air con sleeper upper 689 baht lower 759 baht (the lower ones are a bit wider), 2^nd class fan sleeper upper 469 baht lower 519 baht, 2^nd class seat air con 479 baht, 2^nd class seat fan 369 baht and 3^rd class seat 245 baht.

Air conditioned buses leave from Bangkok’s Morchit Northern Bus Terminal every day at various time and again are a good way to get to Udon journey time is around 9 hours and costs around 400 baht.

Udon Thani is not a tourist destination in the accepted sense of the word such as places like Phuket, Pattaya, or Koh Sumui it is a provincial town in rural Thailand the northeast otherwise known as Issan or Isaan the spelling seems to vary but they are one and the same.

There are a lot of good inexpensive hotels a shopping centre and of course some very good Thai and Issan restaurants. If you are looking for western food then Udon has that as well as bars catering more to the western visitor and ex pats anyone looking for KFC or McDonalds won’t be disappointed either.

Golf anyone; yes Udon also has some good golf courses if you are in need of a fix.

Udon Thani has attracted a lot of Ex-Pats in recent years which have contributed to the rise in the amount of bars catering to the western palate.

For the first time visitor if you are looking for the bright lights and nightlife to be found in the tourist resorts you will be disappointed so I would not recommend Udon to you.

If however you want to see Thailand as it really is then come to Udon meet the people forget KFC and McDonalds try some real Thai food it’s not all hot and spicy but it is tasty so give your taste buds a treat.

One thing you will notice is how much cheaper everything is compared to Bangkok or the tourist resorts.

The Reason for My First Visit to Thailand.

I was born in Ireland what seems like a long time ago now to an Irish Mother an English father and have a Welsh Grandfather on my father’s side. My father was in the Royal Navy at the time.

Shortly after I was born we went to live in Southampton England where I grew up and went to school though every year I would spend my six weeks summer holidays as well as occasionally Christmas and Easter as well in Ireland with my grandparents.

When I was at school we were encouraged to have pen pals in fact we were required to have at least one. This was before the Internet was even dreamt about. I had one French and one American pen pal.

After I left school I kept in touch with the American one, not a lot I suppose about 3 or 4 letters a year we always said one day we would meet up either he would come to England or I would go to America.

During The Vietnam War or The American War as the Vietnamese would say he was posted to Udon Thani Thailand with the USAF, so when he wrote to me and told me where he was and what it was like I decided to go to Thailand to meet him.

One of the reasons was because of the way he described Thailand to me another and I wanted to see for myself another was because after years of writing to him and becoming friends I wanted to meet him as soon as I could in case he didn’t survive the war.

That would have been either 1968 or 1969 and my first taste and start of my love affair Thailand.

I have been back most years ever since in fact I gave up my career and started to work for myself in order to take extended holidays in Thailand every year.

In those early years I only really saw Bangkok and Udon Thani where I now have a lot of friends as well as my daughter and two lovely grandchildren.

Both Udon Thani and Bangkok were very different in those days but nothing stands still and for the most part the changes have been positive.

Take Bangkok for example the new airport the skytrain and the underground railway systems are world class and have made getting around Bangkok so much easier and quicker in air conditioned comfort they are transport systems the Thai’s are justifiably proud of.