"Isaan, unknown Thailand " a Northeastern Thailand Travel Page by vtveen

Everybody knows Bangkok, the islands in the south of Thailand or Chiang Mai in north of the country. But Isaan in the northeast is more or less unknown and we didn’t see many tourists during our auto tour through a part of this province.

Isaan is easy accessible from Bangkok either by train or plane to Khon Kaen or Udon Thani. We took the night train to Khon Kaen and started in this ‘silk capital’ of Isaan; mostly because there was an office of Budget on the airport to pick up our car.

It was very easy to drive in this part of Thailand and we felt free to make some side trips and to discover rural parts of this province. Cities like Khon Kaen, Nong Khai and Loei are still rather quiet and offer common Thai life, without the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.
To be honest most of the scenery is not spectacular, except the national parks around Loei, where we visited Phu Rua National Park. This part of Isaan has also the most important winery of the country: ‘Chateau de Loei”.

It is possible to make a loop drive through Isaan, along the Mekong River and back to Nong Khai, but we continued to Phitsanulok - just across the border of Isaan - and I have added one tip about the Buddha Image Factory in this town.