vertigo4u Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 hi to all my friend and me will soon rent a car and hit the road to isan from pattaya first we will stop over in korat we want to explore all isan where in isan can we expect to eat farang food and where to stay in all cities? we would not mind to meet up with other farangs to exchange ideas and opinions about their life in isan! any suggestions, idea or tip will be appreciated cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 well, you stop at McDonalds .... Isaan is a big place, most cities have a few places worth stopping, other than that you might consider just stopping at Carre4 or Lotus Tesco and watch for folks other than that there is google Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farma Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 other than that there is google Or the Issan forum. Plenty of info in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toptuan Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 where in isan can we expect to eat farang food... Your best bet is not to get more than 50km from Pattaya, so you can hurriedly return for a quick fix as needed. and where to stay in all cities? Are you kidding? ALL the cities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizen33 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 (edited) where in isan can we expect to eat farang food... Your best bet is not to get more than 50km from Pattaya, so you can hurriedly return for a quick fix as needed. and where to stay in all cities? Are you kidding? ALL the cities? Just a few starters: Roi Et - White Elephant Buriram - Bamboo Bar Surin - Farang Connection Udon - many in central area Nong Khai - several in centre Khon Kaen - many in area near Sofitel Mahasarakham - Boom Steak or The Lounge (Kamlieng) Ubon - Wrong Way Bar or Swing Party House See the Isaan forum for more options. Most cities have either a western-owned bar/restaurant or a KFC or a Thai steak bar that sells french fries. Edited September 30, 2008 by citizen33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 The first thing you may want to do is buy a road atlas and then buy a lonely planet guide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizen33 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 The first thing you may want to do is buy a road atlas and then buy a lonely planet guide The forum is much better than the Lonely Planet Guide. In my opinion it is hopeless for Isaan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I live in Korat, check out Koratmap.com Has all the information about hotels to stay, places to eat etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 The first thing you may want to do is buy a road atlas and then buy a lonely planet guide The forum is much better than the Lonely Planet Guide. In my opinion it is hopeless for Isaan. I agree! The forums are MUCH better then you are in a car and in a village you don't know! After all, all you have to do is find an internet shop that actually has decent service, then post a vague question, then wait for someone to reply asking for clarification, then post a reply, then wait on another reply, then ask for more detail and wait again! Who would possibly want to have a reliable guidebook and a road atlas in your car! The forums are awesome --- but they are just not as useful when you are out on the road .. a map and a good guidebook are obvious answers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geroc Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Issan is big and you have to eat Issan food ! "Farang restaurants" are Pizza Hut or Mc Donald... Beurk ! I'm not sure you'll meet farangs there ! You can chat with farangs on internet, then meet them in Issan, eating a delicious nua lab. There are no many farangs in Issan. Some in Khorat, some in Khon Kean, some in Udon. Going to Khorat, you can stop for 2 days in the national Park of Khao Yai. It's a really beautiful place. You can rent a bungalow in the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizen33 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 (edited) The first thing you may want to do is buy a road atlas and then buy a lonely planet guide The forum is much better than the Lonely Planet Guide. In my opinion it is hopeless for Isaan. I agree! The forums are MUCH better then you are in a car and in a village you don't know! After all, all you have to do is find an internet shop that actually has decent service, then post a vague question, then wait for someone to reply asking for clarification, then post a reply, then wait on another reply, then ask for more detail and wait again! Who would possibly want to have a reliable guidebook and a road atlas in your car! The forums are awesome --- but they are just not as useful when you are out on the road .. a map and a good guidebook are obvious answers My immediate response to this is there is a guy who has never done it! The road map we can agree on but the guides in my experience are invariably out of date, show little firsthand knowledge of Isaan or fail to even discuss the town in Isaan you are visiting. If you had actually used the forums relating to Isaan you would quickly find that they have sections on things like accommodation, eating and entertainment. There is also the search button. You then use weird technology like printers and note books to make an itinerary and a list of hotels, bars and restaurants you might want to use. A search on a particular named town in Isaan in this forum is a good start. But just to spell it out for those who really do not know, or shoot from the hip without bothering to find out, the forum will quickly direct you to other forums that contain the required information under organised headings. These include the forum somebody kindly posted above for Khorat. Also Udonmap.com, Surinmap.com and Roietmap.com. Then there is Khonkaen.com, Khoratfarang and others. Look at Lonely Planet and tell me if it contains anything even vaguely comparable. Edited September 30, 2008 by citizen33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertigo4u Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 The first thing you may want to do is buy a road atlas and then buy a lonely planet guide thanks for your advice - both I have already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartempion Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Food: moo kata (korean bbq everywhere, less than 100 baht) Now how do you expect us to provide you lodging addresses in ALL the Isaan towns? Whe're not the Loneley planet here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaigene2 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Issan is big and you have to eat Issan food ! "Farang restaurants" are Pizza Hut or Mc Donald... Beurk ! I'm not sure you'll meet farangs there ! Geroc has some other good points in his post - but I would just differ slightly by saying I think you WILL meet farangs and their wives/kids in McDonalds and Pizza Hut, as well as the other places mentioned like Carrefour and Tesco-Lotus or Big C. If you make a friendly approach, I'm sure they'd be happy to speak with you - maybe they'll even invite you home for a stay or a meal as it can get lonely in those places for a farang (my wife is from Issan - but we don't live there - and I always feel it's a bit of a 'sentence' to go there even for a week or so, but I do love her family and friends...they are good people). It gets boring real fast.. As for the other places, if you're thinking about 'entertainment' there are places for that in the bigger cities like Khon Kaen - Korat's a bit of a pokey/market town in my opinion. Ubon is a nice place, again a bit slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsurin Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) mistake look below...... Edited October 2, 2008 by johnsurin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsurin Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 No farangs, Korat Pokey?, boring places, nothing to do, no farang food. What an utter load of drivel!!! As mentioned by citizen33 there are loads of farang places in Issan and loads of farangs. There are plenty of things to do in most of the places mentioned and plenty of night time entertainment. You will love your time travelling through Issan and I'm sure you will meet plenty of farangs. As mentioned by other posters just check out the Issan forum and try posting in there and ask some questions, I'm sure you'll get plenty of replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 we want to explore all isanBig place - what do you want to see? Rice fields, caves, rivers, shopping, straw huts?I might suggest having a selection of target places to visit based on your research then compile a route that takes you around these places but allows you to explore other things as you find them, waterfalls and national boarders took me off my various trips. With that partly in mind, although the main routes between Issan cities are passable in regular sedan cars, you might consider using a 4WD pickup, more space inside for the road trip and if you need 4WD you have it. where in isan can we expect to eat farang food and where to stay in all cities?Most cities will have something that you might recognize as fast food, drive around some farang focused places will have signs in English/German etc. Best to stay in hotels or similar, home stays are possible and likely if your friend is either Thai or you have 'other' friends with you Almost every gas station will have food availible cheaply. we would not mind to meet up with other farangs to exchange ideas and opinions about their life in isan!Hmmmm.... Expat spotting in Issan - I think that is a different thread completely, I would suggest there are functional farang that you may encounter and converse with, and there are the other sort that have moved to the wilds of rural Thailand to be away from other people - best avoided. The latter are of the 'only farang in the village' type discussed elsewhere. any suggestions, idea or tip will be appreciatedBuy mozzie zapping bug racquets and bug spray, take the means to make coffee or tea with you. A laptop, camera and music were important to me during my years of exploring Issan. While looking at web sites print off hotels and resorts that look interesting, including maps and telephone numbers. Take music (CD/MP3) for the car.Trawl through this and similar forums to see what the folk upcountry are missing in term of food or newspapers, carrying a few with you might aid barter for repay for a few beers or a meal. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soic Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I feel that johnsurin is absolutely correct. There are hundreds, if not thousands of expats scattered about the isaan. I live in one of the smallest villages in Buri-ram province and we alone have about 50 living around here. One of the quickest spots to at least see some expats frequently are the city or village market. Then you can look about the village with a restaurant, internet or coffee shop with an english name. Some of the expats are somewhat stand-offish, but not absolute hermits. Traveling the isaan is a great way to see Thailand and it's culture. I'd reccomend that they take a lady or thai friend with them to help with translations, also, they need to carry their female entertainment with them, the ladies won't be falling all over them in the small villages. They can be met and found, but there wouldn't be the bar girls everywhere, like in Bangkok or Pattaya. The isaan is not the place to go looking to party... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isaanbrit Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Of course begs the question - why go to Isaan for ferang food. Trust me, it's definately better in Bangkok!!! If you live there then it's neccessary of course but if your just passing through, why not eat isaan / Thai food??? Citizen 33 - very impressed with your knowledge of Isaan restaurant, I've been to them all! (I lived there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bergen Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 For Ubon - Take a look at ubonmap.com / weloveubon.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now