Khon Kaen Thailand Guide

Most Khmer temples in Thailand sit on hills or in forests. Prasat Pueai Noi sits in a rice field. Coming down the road from Khon Kaen city, the first thing you see is the silhouette of three red-brick towers rising out of the flat green plain — no hill, no forest, just towers, sky and paddy. It is startling, and it is the reason this small sanctuary is worth a half-day of your time. Pueai Noi is the largest Khmer sanctuary in upper Isan. It was built in the 11th century, in the reign of King Suryavarman I, as a Hindu shrine to Shiva, and it predates the great Khmer works at Phimai and Phanom Rung by a century. Today the towers stand restored, quiet and almost empty. You will probably have it to yourself. The three towers The sanctuary is a classic Khmer layout on a small scale: three brick towers (prang) on a single laterite platform, facing east, with a sandstone door frame and a library building to the side. The central tower is the tallest, about 12 metres, and the three are join...

Khon Kaen calls itself Thailand's dinosaur capital, and Phu Wiang is where that claim began. In 1976 a uranium survey team working in these horseshoe-shaped mountains, about 85 kilometres northwest of Khon Kaen city, picked up a strange fossilised knee bone. French specialists confirmed what nobody expected: it belonged to a huge long-necked sauropod dinosaur, the first ever found in Thailand. The mountains are now Phu Wiang National Park — some 325 square kilometres of dry forest, red sandstone and open-air excavation sites — paired with the Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum in the valley below. Together they make the best family day trip in the province. A Whole New Dinosaur Family The finds kept coming. Palaeontologists named the sauropod Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae , honouring Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Then came Siamotyrannus isanensis , an early relative of Tyrannosaurus from about 130 million years ago, and Siamosaurus , a fish-eating spinosaur identified first from teeth f...

Long before Khon Kaen had a university or a shopping mall, it had dinosaurs. In the 1970s, a geologist surveying the Phu Wiang mountains west of the city found a piece of fossilised bone that turned out to belong to a new species of dinosaur — and in the decades since, Phu Wiang has become the most important dinosaur site in Thailand. The Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum is the perfect day trip for families, fossil fans, and anyone who wants to see Isan's deep past come alive. Phu Wiang National Park protects 380 square kilometres of forested mountains, cliffs, and waterfalls, with the dinosaur museum at its centre. The fossils found here are 100 to 130 million years old, from the early Cretaceous, when this part of Thailand was a river plain roamed by giant sauropods and fierce predators. Today you can see their bones, walk their trails, and even stand in the very place where the bones were dug from the rock. Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum. Photo: Wikimedia Commons — view the file on Wikimedi...

If you only climb one thing in Khon Kaen, make it this. On the southern edge of the city centre, beside the big lake of Bueng Kaen Nakhon, Wat Nong Wang (also spelled Wat Nong Waeng) holds Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon — a nine-storey pagoda, 80 metres tall on a 50-metre square base, that is unlike any other stupa in Thailand. It is part temple, part museum, part viewing tower, and a complete introduction to Isan in a single building. A Temple as Old as the City Wat Nong Wang was founded in 1789, the same era Khon Kaen itself was established, and it later became a royal temple. The great pagoda is much newer: it was built to celebrate both the Golden Jubilee of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the 200th anniversary of Khon Kaen, and inaugurated in 1996. The nine floors honour Rama IX, and the design mixes Dvaravati and Indochina styles, its tapering shape modelled in part on Phra That Kham Kaen, the province's older sacred stupa, with a spire shaped like an Isan fishnet. Photo: Newsabra,...

Khon Kaen is one of the easiest cities in Isan to reach — it sits on Thailand's main northeastern rail line, on the Friendship Highway (Mittraphap Road) from Bangkok, and has an airport with frequent flights from the capital. Once you arrive, the city itself is compact and friendly to navigate, with songthaews, tuk-tuks, app-based rides, and plenty of rental options for day trips into dinosaur country. Here is how it all works in practice. Flying to Khon Kaen Khon Kaen Airport (KKC) lies about 12 kilometres west of the city centre, a drive of typically 15-20 minutes. Several airlines operate multiple flights a day from Bangkok's Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports, with a flight time of about one hour. One-way fares are typically 900-1,800 baht booked a few weeks ahead, and lower promotions appear regularly; last-minute holiday fares can double, so book early for Songkran and long weekends. The airport is modern and compact — you will be from gate to kerb in minutes. From ...

If you only do one thing properly in Khon Kaen, eat. This is a university city in the heart of Isan, which means two things: people here take northeastern Thai food seriously, and thousands of students keep prices low and standards honest. You will find fiery som tam, charcoal-grilled chicken, handmade sausages, lake fish, Vietnamese-influenced breakfasts, and night markets where dinner is also the evening's entertainment. Bring an appetite, a little cash, and a willingness to point at what looks good. The Isan Classics to Order First Start with the dishes Khon Kaen does best. Gai yang is chicken marinated and grilled over charcoal until the skin crisps and the meat stays juicy — eaten with sticky rice and a chilli dipping sauce called jaew. Som tam here is usually som tam Lao style, with fermented fish sauce (pla ra), so it is deeper and funkier than the Bangkok version; if that sounds like a step too far, ask for som tam Thai, and always state your chilli level honestly — one...