Click here to add your reply. Just finished my tour of Isan and IMO and I have travelled in the south of Isan many times if you want to enjoy this lovely part of Thailand stick to the towns on the railway line from Korat. Tat Phanom is a complete waste of time unless you want to be blessed with the Thais at the Wat.
Anything North of that is a waste of time. Warning, stay away from Udon unless you are a sex tourist. This must be the ugliest town in Isan. Rows and rows of girlie bars and over-priced dirty hotels. Udon is really big, you just gotta find your way. Sex tourists are almost everywhere you go, just got to learn how to avoid them.
Udon can be really good if you are willing to do the effort to check out the local places. Anyway, my opinion. Haven't been to buriram but one of my friends has and says it's really amazing. Love the small villages all the way on the right against the mekong, so quiet and nice jungle treks not that any of these are promoted, you just have to find it out yourself and catch you a local guide. Location: Belgium.
What I CAN see are a lot of tacky farang bars. I know places like Surin have Karaoke but it's not in your face like here. Ubon is far nicer place than this. Udon is a copy of Sukhumvit soi 4. I suppose it saves the girls travelling all the way to Bangkok but this has to be the most tacky city in Isan. Sayadian That Phanom has the oldest Chedi in Thailand. It's a beautiful and well maintained temple, and has a nice little museum in the back of it. Waste of time? You're kidding me right? I've been back to that temple five times.
It's also a charming little town and the river area is pleasant, if small. NKP is a waste of time? The Ho Chi Minh museum is small but interesting, the area around the Vietnamese clock tower has some excellent restaraunts and nightlife. NKP is a cool little city with a very friendly vibe. How much time did you spend there? In Udon Thani obviously the site at Ban Chiang isn't very interesting to you And while I agree that some people are interested in the ancient archeology that you pointed out, some couldn't care less about that, in which case other areas might be far more interesting to them.
