fred2028

Thanks everyone for your replies! This is super helpful. As a result of your suggestions, I think I will modify my plans to focus on a few provinces specifically and exploring those areas deeper, rather than spreading myself out trying to hit the entire Isaan area. I also hear the concern that Isaan can be a lot of the same and not enough to fill 4 weeks - my plan is to spend as much time as needed in Isaan and the remainder in BKK. I will do some more research, but right now I might fly in to Udon, rent a car, and stick to the Udon, Loei, Khon Kaen, and Nong Khai areas.

I'm hoping to spend ~4 weeks in Isaan for my next Thailand trip and am curious on what the best way to logistically explore the area is. Cities on my list are Udon, Ubon, Korat, Khon Kaen, Roi Et, and Nong Khai. I've been to Udon Thani and understand to really see Isaan, I need to leave the cities and explore the villages. I plan to get an IDL and rent a car for this purpose. I looked up a ~4 week rental on Budget and Hertz and the quotes are in the range of 35,000 THB ... yikes. Is the recommendation to use transit (fly, bus, train) to go between the cities, use the cities as hubs, and rent a car to leave the cities? Please also comment if you think I should add other areas to my itinerary or skip over some of the cities listed.