My exploration of Loei province started in the small mountain hamlet of Phu Ruea. From there, I proceeded to Chiang Khan, a sleepy town situated on the banks of the Mekong River. Chiang Khan has loads of ambiance with its many old wooden buildings, teak houses and Laotian-Thai style temples.

There is a special aura about this town – sort of reminds of old town Xingping in China - as it captures the essence of Thailand of days gone by. As evidenced by the popularity of Chiang Khan with Thai tourists – mostly from Bangkok - it is fast becoming “the hippest” tourist town in Northern Thailand.

Chiang Khan has often been compared to Pai, a small tourist mecca located in the mountains of Mae Hong Son Province. The difference is that Pai caters primarily to a young Western tourist crowd, many of whom are backpackers on the cheap; while Chiang Khan feels like ‘Thailand’, and for now, the tourists are predominantly Thai.

Walking along the main drag, which runs parallel to the Mekong River, I observed numerous guesthouses, chic boutiques and cafes - many of them housed in old wooden and teak buildings. In particular, there are numerous small coffee shops in the tourist zone. Thai people – especially young Thai people - just love to hang out at coffee ships.

Many camera toting tourists (and HiSo Thai girls) from Bangkok paraded down the streets, taking pictures of the old houses and shopping at one of the many cute gift shops. Fortunately, I did not see any Starbucks or KFC outlets. From what I could see, the bar scene has not yet contaminated Chiang Khan – so the town is fairly quiet at night.

There is an abundance of small guesthouses, hostels and homestays- many of them with just a handful of rooms. The room rates in general run from 250 baht – 900 baht or higher depending on the location of the hostel and the size of the rooms. The riverfront hostels command a higher price than those hostels that are 3-4 blocks away.

Unfortunately my visit to Chiang Khan coincided with one of the most popular holiday weekends of the year – the King’s Birthday, a national holiday. As a result, the town was booked solid and I was only able to get a small closet of a room in a guesthouse located about ¼ mile from the main drag, albeit for only one night. Due to the unavailability of rooms, I was forced to relocate to another town/village along the Mekong River for the remainder of my stay in Loei Province. Next - the Adventure continues in Pak Chom….

Chiang Khan is located about 50 kilometers north of the city of Loei. By songtaew, the trip takes about one hour.

I have traveled to some fairly obscure and off the beaten path places in Northern Thailand, none more so than Uttaradit. Unknown to most Westerners, Uttaradit is a very pleasant and laid-back city with a very rich and interesting history as well as many beautiful places in the countryside.

Spared from excesses of tourism, Uttaradit offers the visitor a genuine
opportunity to experience Thai life and culture. Because the tourism infrastructure is somewhat rudimentary, finding a knowledgeable tour guide who speaks decent English can be a real challenge, although recruiting a capable driver for touring is relatively easy.

Visiting Uttaradit for the first time, I had the manager of my hotel set me up with a driver so I could tour and explore the area at my leisure. While I was able to take in the “Highlights of Uttaradit”, my experience would have been 200% better if the driver had some facility with English. Needless to say, an English-speaking driver/tour guide is a real luxury in this region of Thailand.

Highlights included the very impressive Sirikit Dam and Reservoir (located about 1 hour outside the city), the largest earthen dam in Thailand as well as nearby Lab Lae, an historic village surrounded by gardens and temples – sort of a throwback to the Thailand of olden days. Entering Lab Lae District – only 7 Km from the city of Uttaradit - there is a beautiful golden archway above the road. The crafts complex and the local museum at Lab Lae were very well done, and the gals who worked there were gracious enough to pose for series of very unique pictures.

In addition to Sirikit Dam and Lab Lae, we also stopped at the Uttaradit Municipality Museum. Inside were many detailed and colorful paintings and murals which depicted Uttaradit during the 18th and early 19th century when the city was very important trading center and the site of many important battles between the Kingdom of Siam and the Burmese.

Standing in front of nearby city hall, is a very unique monument of Phraya Phichai , a fearless Siamese general from Uttaradit province who fought valiantly against the hated Burmese in latter half of the 18th century. Because of his heroic deeds in battle, he earned the nickname of the Thai Superman.

NAN is a special place. After a years absence, I revisited Nan this past November. I have been to so many cities in Thailand but none can compare to Nan in terms of its natural beauty and charm. I guess you could say that I love NAN - it is by far my favorite city in Thailand.

Located in Northern Thailand in the area known as the Golden Triangle, Nan is a small city of no more than 40,000 inhabitants. Lying in a valley surrounded by mountains, not too many travelers are aware of Nan as it is still somewhat off the beaten track.

The personality of NAN is shaped by the long and winding Nan River which cuts through the valley as it flows from north to south. East of the river is Laos. Nan’s indigenous culture is very strong and deeply rooted. The city is as old as the Sukhothai Kingdom and surrounding countryside is home to various hilltribe peoples – Yao, Hmong, Khamu and the very primitive Mlabri.

As I remarked in an earlier post, Nan – with its tree lined streets, rural country roads and old wooden houses - brought back memories of Turlock, a small sleepy river town located in California’s San Joaquin Valley circa the 1950’s. Riding a bicycle around NAN, along the river or into the surrounding countryside – so lush and green - is such a pleasurable experience.

So far Nan has been spared the ravages of mass tourism, but I see signs of more tourism development. A new first class hotel – the Nan Boutique Hotel – opened up not too long ago, and from what I understand there are plans for more hotels like this in the near future. Of course, several new upscale guesthouses have also appeared on the scene in the last year.

In addition - since my visit in November 2008, at least 3-4 fairly upscale coffee shops have opened their doors for business. This is usually an indicator that tourism on the rise. Walking around town, I definitely encountered more Thai tourists (and only a handful of farangs) - most of them were from Bangkok.

While I stayed at Nan Boutique Hotel this past November, there was a tour group from Bangkok who checked in on the same day as me. They occupied most of the hotel rooms, however they stayed there for only one night, which is somewhat typical of Thai tourists.

Nan would definitely benefit from an increase in Tourism but only if the development is carefully planned and controlled so as not to disrupt the lifestyle and traditional culture of the area.

With the cessation of direct air service from Bangkok on PB Air, Nan is still difficult to get to; however there is now direct air service from Chiang Mai on SGA airlines, albeit the planes are prop-jets. Still….