Rate these towns out of 10 please

[rhodie]

Nong Kai and Udon would be good. They are both great and close so you could visit both and spend more time in the 1 you prefer.

[Denim]

Unfortunately, up country towns are a bit like Thai temples , all pretty similar. I personally like Korat as it has the old city parts and the more modern parts. Not too far from Phimai or other ancient Khmer sites like Phnom Rung. Very good and large market similar to Chatuchak. Makes a good base to visit other nearby attractions.

 

Dont care for Khon Kaen much but lots of married expats there if you crave that kind of atmosphere.

[Lemsta69]

Just now, Sparktrader said:

Does Bangkok make u laugh?

yes mate I love this city, it keeps a smile on my dial. but also appreciate the boonies. which, by the way, are best explored with either a car or a bike. I've done a few such excursions and they're almost as good as cruising around Bangkok till roads late at night.

[jastheace]

9 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Thanks

 

Nk, kk, udon looks the go. Fly cm.

 

That was my gut.

 

 

sounds like a plan. IMO in the order of KK, UT, NK. then you can spend any spare days in NK, and get the grit of KK out of your hair.

[Sparktrader]

Ok top 3

Udon

Nong Khai

Chiang Mai

 

I got 20 nights.

[The Hammer2021]

2 minutes ago, rhodie said:

Nong Kai and Udon would be good. They are both great and close so you could visit both and spend more time in the 1 you prefer.

Nong Khai has a bar area called fight street, a great market, a fantastic  Riverside view of Laos and interesting places to visit in the surrounding area. It's a lovely well designed town influenced by French  design ideas inherited via Vietnamese immigrants

[KhunLA]

With 1 exception, have only played tourist, and not one to stay long, though multiple visits to most:

 

Ubon ... 5  OK, close to river, not too touristy/expat infected.

Mukdahan ... 5 ... river town, a plus, need to self entertain

That Phanom ... 8 nice river town, need to self entertain

Nakhon Phanom ... 8 Same as That ... stone's throw away. Laos close by (bridge)

Khon Kaen ... 4 ... been there numerous times, never warmed up to it.

Udon Thani ... Lived there 16 yrs, not entirely by choice, but good mix.  Best metro in crappy area to live, besides Krung Thep, for metro living.  Great food town, and diverse landscape on edge of plateau, if going out to peek out.  Most that live there, haven't a clue.  Horrible expat community ????

Nong Khai ... 9 for NE, nice river town, more to do than others, close to Chiang Khan & Vientianne.

Vientianne ... only visited, more than few times.  Love it, but, visa and inter Laos relationships would make for a huge problem living there

Phitsanulok ... too short of visit, nice natural area, but really can't say much

Sukhothai ... 7 old - rural ...  8 new - rural with some comforts

Lopburi ... NO - monkeys turn me off, never been more than 1 day ???

Khorat  ...  4 been more than a few times, never warmed up to it

Nakhon Sawan ... 7 liked it, and need to pop back in for visit, as long time ago

 

Education & hospitals, are only going to be available at the metros:

Udon Thani, KK, Korat, Ubon

 

Really not a fan of anywhere, living there, N of about Hua Hin, due to the air pollution half the year.  It's horrible too many months.  Even HH gets it.  We (PKK) get it for about 2 months, near AQI of 75-100

 

Go South if you can, you won't regret.  Damn hot though, as no real cool season.  OK overnight when rainy season, actually quite nice of late.  Days can & will be brutal at times.

Edited July 24, 2022 by KhunLA

[FrederikKitten]

BEST: Udon has nice lake in the middle of the city, stuff to do around city (parks, lakes with water attractions, water parks, temples, budhas on the top of hills.....) and even a farang oriented night life.

 

WORST: Chiang Mai, full of broke hipsters that are "working" over the internet, that don't have money to buy a ticket to go back home, so they sitting all day with 160 Bath cup of cofee at free wifi, deciding which of 5 top most popular budhist tattoos they will get, so they can pull it out back in states when they gonna be giving speak about their spiritual awakening they found here.

[jastheace]

4 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Ok top 3

Udon

Nong Khai

Chiang Mai

 

I got 20 nights.

20 nights? bus from CM to udon but stop at a couple places on the way, sukothai, petchabun ( great scenery if that rocks yr boat) for example, last stop NK for sure, to relax. i've done many eastern and isaan provinces on a honda click, but riding for anything more than 8 hours is literally a pain in the a**e.

[KhunLA]

Just saw your other reply, 3-7days, as I thought you were considering living in one of them.

 

Where you coming from ?

 

and assume you have transport, as needed, to really explore, except for the metros.

[KIngsofisaan]

18 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

I dont want to visit 10 places. 

That's a shame since like others have said, what they like, you might absolutely hate.

 

I like Nong Kai, I can't remember the hotel I stayed in all the time, but the room had it's own lighted jacuzzi and it was cheap. Nice small town vibe and easy to get around. From Nong Kai you can easily get in to Vientienne Laos, which does have great river bars and massages right on the Mekong. Not sure what the Laos Visa cost these days (Maybe US $40)?

 

Khon Kaen these days is just to big and congested.

 

Mukdahan too boring

 

Udon Thani, I think many expats live there, but it is not for me.

 

Sukhothai main place to see all the temples, ruins, etc.

 

The fact is, there is really nothing that stands out in any of these locations. It is all what you make of them. A lot of places on your list are one and done type of places. Once you visit, cross them off the list type of places.

[Sparktrader]

30 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

With 1 exception, have only played tourist, and not one to stay long, though multiple visits to most:

 

Ubon ... 5  OK, close to river, not too touristy/expat infected.

Mukdahan ... 5 ... river town, a plus, need to self entertain

That Phanom ... 8 nice river town, need to self entertain

Nakhon Phanom ... 8 Same as That ... stone's throw away. Laos close by (bridge)

Khon Kaen ... 4 ... been there numerous times, never warmed up to it.

Udon Thani ... Lived there 16 yrs, not entirely by choice, but good mix.  Best metro in crappy area to live, besides Krung Thep, for metro living.  Great food town, and diverse landscape on edge of plateau, if going out to peek out.  Most that live there, haven't a clue.  Horrible expat community ????

Nong Khai ... 9 for NE, nice river town, more to do than others, close to Chiang Khan & Vientianne.

Vientianne ... only visited, more than few times.  Love it, but, visa and inter Laos relationships would make for a huge problem living there

Phitsanulok ... too short of visit, nice natural area, but really can't say much

Sukhothai ... 7 old - rural ...  8 new - rural with some comforts

Lopburi ... NO - monkeys turn me off, never been more than 1 day ???

Khorat  ...  4 been more than a few times, never warmed up to it

Nakhon Sawan ... 7 liked it, and need to pop back in for visit, as long time ago

 

Education & hospitals, are only going to be available at the metros:

Udon Thani, KK, Korat, Ubon

 

Really not a fan of anywhere, living there, N of about Hua Hin, due to the air pollution half the year.  It's horrible too many months.  Even HH gets it.  We (PKK) get it for about 2 months, near AQI of 75-100

 

Go South if you can, you won't regret.  Damn hot though, as no real cool season.  OK overnight when rainy season, actually quite nice of late.  Days can & will be brutal at times.

Ban Krut any good? 

[OneMoreFarang]

They are all up country. 

The answer is: 0   ???? 

[KhunLA]

7 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Ban Krut any good? 

Excellent.  Favorite Gulf beach when cooperating.   Same with Thung Wua Laen (16 kms N of Chumphon).  When I discovered these, and if surf cooperating, I stopped going to Phuket.

 

If Ban Krut had a Makro, we'd be living there.  Less than 1 hour S of us.  Hua Hin, just over 1 hr N of us.  Didn't finalize plan to live here / PKK till they opened a Makro ????

[Sparktrader]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Excellent.  Favorite Gulf beach when cooperating.   Same with Thung Wua Laen (16 kms N of Chumphon).  When I discovered these, and if surf cooperating, I stopped going to Phuket.

 

If Ban Krut had a Makro, we'd be living there.  Less than 1 hour S of us.  Hua Hin, just over 1 hr N of us.  Didn't finalize plan to live here / PKK till they opened a Makro ????

Thung w had bad sandflies

 

I hope ban krut doesnt

[Sparktrader]

Pkk is nice. Maybe i go there too.

[Sparktrader]

Does PKK have cheap monthlt rentals for future reference?

[Sparktrader]

Is it possible to get a bus from phuket airport to surat at night?

[Hellfire]

Such a hard choice… Because all these places are located in Thailand…Cannot imagine a bad place in Thailand, they are all heaven-like.

[Sparktrader]

This could be done

 

Phuket 2n

Ban Krut 3n

PKK 4n

BKK 3n

Udon 3n

Nong Khai 5n

CM 2n

 

 

 

 

 

[steven100]

most of them are s_it holes ...    that's my rating

[Sparktrader]

3 minutes ago, steven100 said:

most of them are s_it holes ...    that's my rating

Oh well

[Sparktrader]

Or this

 

Phuket 2n

Udon 4n

That Phanom 3n

Nakhon Phanom 3n

Nong Khai 4n

CM  6n

 

3 riverside towns, bargirls in phuket n udon.

 

Knitting in CM.

 

 

[Sticky Rice Balls]

3 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Looking for helpful advice

i think you are in the wrong place   ????

[Sticky Rice Balls]

3 hours ago, KIngsofisaan said:

That's a shame since like others have said, what they like, you might absolutely hate.

 

I like Nong Kai, I can't remember the hotel I stayed in all the time, but the room had it's own lighted jacuzzi and it was cheap. Nice small town vibe and easy to get around. From Nong Kai you can easily get in to Vientienne Laos, which does have great river bars and massages right on the Mekong. Not sure what the Laos Visa cost these days (Maybe US $40)?

 

Khon Kaen these days is just to big and congested.

 

Mukdahan too boring

 

Udon Thani, I think many expats live there, but it is not for me.

 

Sukhothai main place to see all the temples, ruins, etc.

 

The fact is, there is really nothing that stands out in any of these locations. It is all what you make of them. A lot of places on your list are one and done type of places. Once you visit, cross them off the list type of places.

I liked NK too  spent a month there in a wooden house on mekong for 3000 bt

sleepy quiet town but i wasnt there to party...liked KK too....for more of a city vibe

[The Hammer2021]

4 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

yes mate I love this city, it keeps a smile on my dial. but also appreciate the boonies. which, by the way, are best explored with either a car or a bike. I've done a few such excursions and they're almost as good as cruising around Bangkok till roads late at night.

Bangkok used to brilliant- I loved it until the Junta messed it up, closed down the food stalls, shut the clubs  etc etc

But up till the military regime took over it was one of the greatest  cities in the world. Now there is only one decent cosmopolitan really 'Thai' city and its Pattaya.  The most beautiful town is Phuket old town

[FalangKino]

I keep seeing crazy news articles about stuff that goes on in udon thani.

 

I'm assuming udon thani is the Florida of Thailand. So, I will rate it a 5 out of 10.

[The Hammer2021]

Ubon rachathami? The wax candle festival town? The worst town in Issan

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, Sparktrader said:

Or this

 

Phuket 2n

Udon 4n

That Phanom 3n

Nakhon Phanom 3n

Nong Khai 4n

CM  6n

 

3 riverside towns, bargirls in phuket n udon.

 

Knitting in CM.

 

 

OK, so this is a holiday, single, no transport ?

Do you want nightlife, P4P, or extrovert enough to not need to pay ?

Where are you starting the adventure from ?

Edited July 24, 2022 by KhunLA

[1FinickyOne]

10 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

But im looking for opinions. I will average them. Like hotels. Avg score works.

 

 

what I have found w/places along the style of your list is that they are often better to live in than to visit. When you live there and know people and where to eat, it becomes a different thing than just riding through for a couple of days when you only experience the attractions... which are usually temples. 

 

Living there can bring you to the heart of a place, invisible to passersby...