cbuddha

Kantarawichai was the place but that river rings a bell too.Does it run past the white temple(not far from where i stayed) then right behind the Big C?

Yep, that's the Chi river.

I'd be interested in attending any get together in Sarakham arranged on this board (it seems to attract pretty happy/relaxed individuals; or maybe it's just the type of person this region appeals to...), and I even have a suggestion for venue: Since it's difficult to arrange for a group of strangers whose numbers are murky at best, how about one of the all-you-can-eat fried meat buffets (neua yang gowree - please forgive my attempts at Romanizing the Thai language) like "Ping" located close to the clock tower or any of the other ones on Khamrieng or SriSawat Road? Live music, set price for food, cheap drink, and beer-of-the-month girls... just a thought!

The only place I've seen it sold is at the Kiwi Cafe in Khon Kaen: http://www.kiwicafeshop.com/

There's a Google Maps entry for the location: LINK

• Further down Soi Srisawat (travelling away from Rajabhat), on the right side is a turn off for LAN MAI HOM (farangs sometimes pronounce it Ran My Home) which is a great multi-tiered restaurant/bar. Also not uncommon to find foreigners here.
  
• Even further down Soi Srisawat, around the cross street of soi 24 or 25, you can see a hand-painted sign on the corner (on the right side) for a restaurant called BROTHER'S. Nong, the owner, lived in Australia for a few years and speaks decent English, but is always in the kitchen. Excellent food here, perhaps a bit spicier than normal. Try a whole deep fried tabtim fish with some friends. For some reason, I've never seen a foreigner here aside from when I took a group of twenty the night before my wedding.
  

I wanted to make a couple amendments to my directions above.

- The cross street for LAN MAI HOM is soi 29.

- The cross street for BROTHER'S is soi 23 (not 24 or 25). Be aware as the hnad-painted sign on the corner of soi 23 and Sisawat road is falling down.

Regarding Ago, I am trying to work out if I have been there without ever registering what the name was. The place I am thinking of is on the Kamalasai road a few kilometres out of town. You would cross the river bridge, drive through the small entertainment area located near the now-closed Pantip karaoke bar, pass the new country and western-style bar on the left and then take a left turn a little before the turn for the fish sanctuary. This restaurant has a building on top of a slope and then steps down to some pontoons on the river. There is a rope strung across the river via which a raft can be pulled across, and a sand dredger is sometimes moored nearby.

That sounds like Ago or another restaurant nearby it. The determining factor is whether they had an ostrich corral out front or not. I never even knew the name Ago until this year; I always referred to it as "the ostrich place."

The country and western-style bar you refer to might be Tawan Dang (owned partially by Carabau who play there every once in a while; there's apparently a Tawan Dang in every province in Thailand).

now with Big C opened a couple days ago, how is the traffic flow near where you live? It has been hectic days with that and Loy Krathong.

The first few days were pretty bad - opening night for Big C was just a nightmare as there were cars parked on both sides of the highway 500 meters in both directions and groups of people running across the street like they tend to do here. The U-turn lane in front of Big C can get quite backed up at times, but there's really no alternative unless you want to drive all the way down to the next U-turn past the bridge, which is another dangerous chokepoint. The road in front of Big C needs to be wider, and I've heard they might just do this. Actually going to Big C at the moment is a huge stressor unless you go in the morning on a weekday. That should get better, though, after everybody within a 20 kilo radius has been there to have a look-see.

As a side note, SermThai department store has pulled out all the stops decorating for the holidays this year but it looked a lot less crowded than usual when I drove by this evening.

I'm located near the new University, b. kham reang and nearby there's a restaurant I patronise regularly, YokoThai. No foreigners there but decent nosh and friendly atmosphere.

We used to live in the Akkrachat housing development all the way down Khamriang past MSU. What's this Yokothai place located near? Is it on the main Khamriang strip?

Also, the client at BROTHER'S restaurant is middle class Thai; totally suitable for anybody to go to. They are open for lunch and dinner.

There's actually another pretty decent place on the river about half a kilo before the turnoff to Ago. It's on the stretch of road before it curves left, just before a walled-off temple. I don't recall the name of it but I think it was the only restaurant along that stretch. I don't think it had boats to eat on like Ago, but some of the fish dishes (the menu was fish-centric) were loaded with fresh veggies and herbs that were both unusual and very tasty. You might try it if Ago is too crowded someday.

Don't Tell Papa is still there but hasn't been open in months.

Boom Steak (Kamlieng near MSU) - Average Thai steakhouse that many westerners visit.

Monkey Steak - was nearby but now closed. Has it moved somewhere else?

The Lounge restaurant (think this is right) at Taksila apartments near new Big C. Several western style menu items.

[You're probably thinking of the Living Room. The proprietor's name is Tip, and she speaks English well.]

Si Muang Steakhouse - Upmarket Thai steakhouse. Right turn off Borabue road near College of Nursing

[The only place I've seen in Isan that serves steamed cauliflower as a side. They can do a true medium rare.]

Speaking of steakhouses, there's also one on the same block as the Living Room, mentioned above, that offers an item I haven't seen anywhere else - Australian beef patties.

Jaan Nuan restaurant - Probably the best Thai restaurant in City and popular with University staff - Borabue Road on left.

[And just 100 meters down the street on the same side is another great restaurant called "Marine". Try the spicy seafood soup called potak. Even better than tom yum goong in my opinion.]

KFC - Serm Thai and Big C.

Foreign-owned restaurant on new MSU Road but forgotten name.

[Chawala, perhaps? Owned and managed by a friendly Dutch/Thai couple. The husband's name is Hans. ]

All the bars I know are Thai-style establishments but interested in suggestions.

• I second Sarge's recommendation of MEDSAI, a restaurant located on the opposite corner of Wat Srisawat on Soi Srisawat. It is frequented by foreigners teaching at Rajabhat and other nearby schools.
  
• Further down Soi Srisawat (travelling away from Rajabhat), on the right side is a turn off for LAN MAI HOM (farangs sometimes pronounce it Ran My Home) which is a great multi-tiered restaurant/bar. Also not uncommon to find foreigners here.
  
• Even further down Soi Srisawat, around the cross street of soi 24 or 25, you can see a hand-painted sign on the corner (on the right side) for a restaurant called BROTHER'S. Nong, the owner, lived in Australia for a few years and speaks decent English, but is always in the kitchen. Excellent food here, perhaps a bit spicier than normal. Try a whole deep fried tabtim fish with some friends. For some reason, I've never seen a foreigner here aside from when I took a group of twenty the night before my wedding.
  
• If you cross the street from Wat Srisawat to MEDSAI and continue down the road, then turn left when you hit the canal, you will see the sign for BOSTON T on the left side within a kilometer or so. (Just a quick warning - my colleague got his bag stolen there a couple months ago. He was sitting and having a beer when an arm appeared around the wall he was sitting next to and took his bag off the chair. The thief ran off to a waiting motorbike and that was that. I doubt it would happen again in the same place, but be aware when you go out. As a farang, you are a target. Actually, the same thing happened at MEDSAI to a Thai lady's purse last month so I guess the lesson is for everybody to be aware.)
  
• On what's called the bypass, past AMAZON PARK but before the cross street to Borabue on the right hand side is the Sarakham branch of Cabbages and Condoms. Having never been to the one in Bangkok, I can't compare them, but the food and prices here are slightly upscale for Isan. The food and atmosphere are good - it's just that the restaurant seems out of place... It looks like a place for rich people in the middle of nowhere. It's especially interesting to go there for lunch (they have a reasonable lunch menu) when the workers from the factory on the back of the property (this is their main business, not the restaurant) come on break for lunch and crowd the stalls of somtam/gaiyan vendors set up in front.
  
• Regarding bars, The Living Room, mentioned above, makes the best cocktails in town (not much competition, really, since other "cocktail bars" are serving up Hale Blue Boy syrup/vodka/soda-type abortions). It's nice to be able to order a Manhattan, even if it's a bit too pretentious for my Archa palate these days. There are no farang bars, thank god. Plenty of those in Khon Kaen, as mentioned by others. The fun places to go are the live houses - AMAZON PARK (on the bypass), TAWAN DAENG (on the road to Ago from the clock tower), KAEW KAEN (opposite the side of the city hospital, on the other side of the canal). Also, this being Isan, the molam stars from this region often tour and play at the unlikeliest of venues. Both Jintara and Chawiwan Damnoen have performed on fold-up stages at local markets in the past couple months.
  
• There are new places sprouting up all the time. I live in the new development between the bypass and the new MSU hotel that's being built. Within a kilometer of my house in both directions new places have opened and shut down and opened again in just the past year, including DON'T TELL PAPA (possibly the best name for a bar I've ever heard - opened by TV actors from Bangkok and bankrupt in less than 6 months), NASA (located right next to DTP and again, what a name!), Lighthouse (excellent air conditioned space for hot nights and comfy sofas)
  
• Mahasarakham really does kick ass. Just wanted to say that.
  

If anyone needs better directions to somewhere or is interested in meeting up sometime, let me know here or via private message. I'm usually busy playing with our six month old boy, but it's nice to get out sometimes.

Just wondering if there are any other lonely souls out there in the area of Mahasarakam who may fancy a get together in a language we all understand properly and perhaps indulge in a beer or three......

To finally address the original post, I think this is a great idea. Most of the people I know work at universities, and we're starting up with classes again this/next week, but things should settle down again soon. Anybody who wants to go for beers in Maha Sarakham sometime in the indefinite future, please PM me with contact info. I'll invite a couple friends along so you have someone to talk to after my eighth tequila shot (just kidding, we finished the bottle last time).

Meanwhile, you might be interested in checking out Boston Tea, a foreign-owned cafe that also serves food/beer, across the street from the canal (Rajabhat-end, not downtown-end). There are also some restaurants frequented by farang but it's hard to start up conversations at those kinds of places.

mmhhh interesting stats, maybe you can publish the link to that article, if is still active after 3 and half years. As an aside I did notice a lot of Swiss guys involved with local lasses, kind of married with kids, built house for them while they work and live in Switzerland, visiting the muban twice a year. I've seen this only in Isaan, nowhere else in Thailand, certainly not on this scale. I've always wondered why they only got focussed on this region

If you google "Thailand's Swiss village", the first hit is a BBC article from 2004 about Baan Jarn Swiss, an entire community raised by wealthy Swiss in Roi Et province, next to Mahasarakham. Their claim to fame is luxurious houses in the middle of nowhere, and rumors about entrance to certain places by appointment only and poor families going there to sell their daughters (for further sale). Some of the researchers at MSU claim to have actually seen girls for sale in nearby villages.

Unspeakably sad.

On the other hand, I'm sure most Swiss living in Isan are not involved with this sort of thing and I've had beers with many of them.

Mahasasarakham Province has over 1,200 foreigners living within the province. Only about 50 are involved with the university.

I was just wondering does this University teach Thai to foreigners ?

My wife teaches at Mahasarakham University (MSU) and she says they may still be offering short-term Thai language courses at the Dept. of Thai and Oriental Languages, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences. Their contact info is at the bottom of their homepage (if you can't find it, I can PM it to you).

I guess there may be around 30 foreigners employed by MSU full-time as either teachers or researchers, but not all of them are westerners.

I teach at Rajabhat Mahasarakham University (RMU) and there are around ten foreigners working there. We don't offer official Thai language courses for foreigners, but you can easily find private tutelage.

There are many more foreign teachers at various primary and high schools in Mahasarakham and its surrounding areas; they apparently call this area the "Takasila," or educational center of Isan.

Is anybody else having trouble connecting to MetaFilter?

I noticed this around the end of March when there was trouble viewing YouTube vids as well.

I'm on a TTT adsl connection up in Isan, using Open DNS.

I can connect by ways that cannot be discussed here, so it's no big deal, but I'm curious to hear if others have trouble connecting as well.

Thanks in advance!

My mother-in-law got her late model Honda City completely resprayed last year by claiming the original paint on the bonnet and roof was damaged by the sun. She had the first class insurance (I'm not sure which company) and her policy did not increase significantly this year.

... My question is there a telecom branch there (like True or whatever) where one can walk in, purchase a plan and a modem. Take it back home, plug it in and register online?

There's a TT&T office between the "samyaek" and "hayaek" (three-way intersection and five-way intersection, respectively) downtown that basically fits that description except it may take a while (days or weeks) for them to hook you up. If you happen to live in the Akkrachat-Thanee neighborhood near MSU, there's a neighborhood kid who can hook you up with a 512/256k DSL line through a company called TPR3 for a lot cheaper, though.