Unsung Isaan

Sam Phan Bok

Immediately on returning from Burma (see previous blog), I began my current job—updating two chapters of The Rough Guide to Thailand (Northeast and Central Plains) for the new edition (October 2015). After plotting my route around the Northeast, I headed south from Chiang Mai to Khorat, then east to Ubon Ratchathani, and from there zig-zagged across the ‘elephant’s ear’ of Thailand, commonly known as Isaan. I spent a few weeks visiting every town, looking at lots of hotels and restaurants, as well as bus stations and hospitals, but I also found time to check out a few places that were previously not in the guide.

My favourite place, as a photographer who loves shooting nature abstracts, was Sam Phan Bok (Three Thousand Holes), a surreal section of the Mekong River bed where rock pools are exposed during the dry season (Nov-May). Check out the images in the gallery below.

Isaan is Thailand’s least-visited region and gets short shrift from most guidebooks. Yet it’s also a great place to travel, for a host of reasons, not least of which is that there are no other tourists around to spoil your enjoyment. Add to this the Khmer temples, the mysterious Mekong River, the fiery food, the quiet, country roads and the hospitable, generous people, and you’ve got the recipe for a memorable adventure.

Buddha images, Wat Khao Angkhan

Ancient sema stone, Wat Khao Angkhan

Khmer sanctuary, Prasat Ta Muean

Sandstone and laterite wall, Prasat Ta Muean Thom

Prasat Sikhoraphum

Apsara carving, Prasat Sikhoraphum

Khmer dancers at Prasat Sikhoraphum

Garden of Hell, Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai

Garden of Hell, Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai (1)

Lintel at Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai

Supanniga Home, Khon Kaen

Bamboo grove, Supanniga Home, Khon Kaen

Phi Ta Khon masks, Dan Sai

Mekong view, Mekong Villas

Dawn over the Mekong River

Lily pond

Islands in the Mekong River

Mekong sandbar

Sam Phan Bok (1)

Sam Phan Bok (2)

Sam Phan Bok (3)

Sam Phan Bok (4)

Sam Phan Bok (5)

Sam Phan Bok (6)