Tha Li district - Loei province

[mike2011]

I dont know whether to ask here or in the Isaan or another forum. So please bare with me.

I m thinking of going to Tha Li district. I sounds like a nice area on the river. I know the river from Chiang Khan southward and I do not like CK anymore. Too much Pai stile headaches.

So far i just found the usual border infos on Tha Li but very little on the place itself. General info and especially such on small hotels or guesthouses is most welcome. Finally, any danger that the BKK songkran crowd is still in the area after the 16th?

Thanks!

[lopburi3]

Tha Li District is really agricultural and the tiny town of about one gas station is well back from the river. Do not know what is available for lodging but do not believe there will much actually within that District. Up in the mountings of Phu Ruea is where most hotels are located.

[mrjohn]

The Tha Li area is very beautiful and well worth a visit.

I drove through there on the way back from the Dan Sai Festival a few years ago and earmarked it for future trip.

The road down from the mountains to the river is quite stunning, especially in the rice planting season.

I agree with Lopburi that you are unlikely to find many “proper” hotels outside Phu Ruea.

But I always find that there are plenty of cheap and cheerful places to stay all over Thailand, especially if you have your own transport.

You are unlikely to encounter any Bangkoknees now that the holiday is over

[Tomtomtom69]

I've traveled through there once about this time last year driving my Lao registered car across from the Lao side to Thailand. Tha Li is the border crossing to Nam Hueang, near Kaenthao in Saiyabuli province of Laos and the vast majority of visitors traveling through Tha Li are either on their way to Laos or coming back from Laos. It is a very quiet border crossing though - although I saw a couple of Thais crossing into Laos, some in their Thai-registered cars, at the time I crossed, I don't recall sighting a single other Lao car or person crossing into Thailand and I never saw another Lao car all the way to Mae Sot, my destination later that same day.

I stayed in Kaenthao on the Lao side, about 6-7km from the border crossing. Accommodation was basic, about 200 Baht a night with a double bed, fan room, hot water and TV with a couple of Thai and Lao channels but no wifi or breakfast. I was in a rush in the morning so skipped a proper breakfast (there was nothing much in Kaenthao for breakfast though I did have a good dinner there the night before) thus ended up buying some snacks and didn't have a proper meal until I reached Phitsanulok around lunch time that day.

Similar hotels are likely available on the Thai side in the Tha Li area, but you'd need to be able to read Thai, so look for the words "Rong raem" or "Hawng wang hai chao" or similar in Thai. Otherwise, Phu Reua and Loei have better accommodation and many options as does Chiang Khan, which you don't seem to like.

Anyway, have a look around and I'm sure you'll find some kind of resort accommodation nearby. Originally, I was planning on staying near Tha Li myself but didn't make the border crossing which closes at 6?pm as I only arrived in Kaenthao around 7pm. Therefore next morning there was no reason for me to look for accommodation on the Thai side.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Tomtomtom69

[mike2011]

Thanks for the info. I wont need a proper hotel, just a fan room without bed bugs. One of my reasons to check out the area is rattan. I recall reading here on the forum in some old post that there are rattan makers in the district. What I have seen so far did not blow me off me feet and I thought a closer look at Tha Li might be worthwhile - aside from a relaxed place. Nice that BKK-crowd is gone. Any intelligence on the great unwashed? Did they make their way from Khao San road to Tha Li? That would be nasty.

I assume that there are local buses from Loei as Tha Li belongs to the province. My plan is to take one of the buses from Udon to, say, Philok. Get off the bus at the intersection to Tha Li and wait for the small fan bus. It sounds reasonable to me but is based on theory and not reality. Anyone knows about such a bus? If not there should be a songtaew down to the river. Anyhow all sounds like good fun and complicated travel arrangements and sparse accomodation usually protect a place from being infested.