Farang watering holes in Isaan

[pgardiner]

Will shortly be doing a trip around Isaan. I can only speak limited Thai so would be nice to know of different ex-pat places in the different towns. Would be grateful for any input as intend to visit most places

[angsta]

Udon - The Irish Clock and numerous beer bars set in two areas very close to each other. Day and Night is the name of one, the cow shed aka... is another. A few years ago the western food in the Clock was excellent and the pints of beer cheap. Loads of locals. Fuzzy kens is the 'pattaya themed' aka cheap day drinking alternative in the town.

Korat - The Beer Garden and Check Inn. For a town with lots of ex-pats these are the two main city center drinking spots. Lots of regulars. Check Inn has air con. Also The George and Dragon which is within walking distance. This place changed ownership a few yrs back and the old owner now runs the Check Inn.

Surin - Some English theme pub in the bus station, does a decent breakfast.

Buriram - Irish theme pub near the lakes. Friendly owner.

Khon Kaen - Has a strip of farang bars near the Pullman hotel but the best two farang bars are not on that strip but a few minutes away however the names escape me. One was owner by a scottish/kiwi guy. A few city center options. Decent place for a night or two.

Sakhon Nakhon - the only farang bar closed maybe 4 years ago, maybe another has opened. Quiet.

Ubon - Never been.

[Pib]

Ubon has dozens of farang watering holes!!! WAIT...STOP....I was just having a flash-back to my tour of duty at Ubon Air Base with the U.S. Air Force in the early '70s. Memories.

[Guitar God]

I can handle the Ubon part:

N-Joy bar and resturant N 15^. 14.045' E 104^. 50.247' (gps) Sapphasit road just west of Soi Phalochai 9 on the north side of Sapphasit. Great farang food.

T&C bar and resturant N 15^. 14.025' E 104^. 52.050' Phichitrangsan road just east of Phonphaen road on the north side of Phichitrangsan. Sign says "Good food, Cold beer". Good food, bigger than N-Joy

Wrong Way Cafe Phadaeng road just south of Sapphasit on the west side of Phadaeng road, doesn't open until 6 or so, haven't been there yet.

None of these are very big but you'll usually find a couple ex-pats there, the proprietors speak English.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Guitar God

[Morakot]

This one looks good!

[angsta]

Buriram - The Bamboo bar in the town near the night market and the club area/square. Yes they have 2 next to each other so to me that's Buriram clubland! Frequented by ex-pats and Engrish teachers

Khon Kaen - Sevens Corner bar is one of the places I was thinking of. It went Thai for a while but I am assured it is again English owned and is a decent place for a few coldies.

- My Bar This place WAS a beer bar with girls. Unsure what is going on there at the moment. Big place, 2 pool tables and sports on the big screen.

- No. 1 bar is tucked away near the back on KK Whittaya school and about 5 mins walk from Sevens and My Bar. Was decent. The scottish/kiwi owner I knew has retired .

All the KK bars are near the Pullman and walking distance from the AC bus station.

[Skint]

Prakhon chai, coffee corner

Prasat, staffords. There is also a few bars in vicinity.

The food at the well known expat place in surin not very good however friendly staff and farangs

[Ombra]

Are there any western places in Nakhon Phanom?

[Guitar God]

I'm surprised that nobody has said "western Nakhon Phanom"...

Can't help with Nakhon Phanom, haven't been there yet.

I'm not sure what links I can and cannot post here but if you're looking for other stuff to do, Google "Events and Festivals in Northeastern Region of Thailand" with the quotes and you'll get a calendar of Isaan events. The next one I saw that was interesting was the Nakhon Phanom rocket festival on May 10-12. They also have them in Khon Kaen and other cities.

If you're still here around 12 October you might be able to see the Naga fireballs shooting out of the Mekong river around Phon Phisai. If you're around 7 November there's Loi kraton in Chiang Mai, Ubon and other cites here.

[Ombra]

Thanks very much for the suggestions about Nakhon Phanom. As I expect to be there until December, I'll look at Google for events and festivals.

[Taggart]

I don't go to pubs and bars anywhere when visiting Thailand, but I always make one exception when visiting Khon Kaen, where I order a Dunkel in the lobby of the Rajah Pullman Hotel. The beer is brewed fresh on the premises in the hotel's Kronen Brauhaus and it never fails to impress me. By far, my favourite beer in Thailand.

[Cheeby Luva]

i dont associate with drug addicts so no pointers from me/

[thaibry]

I don't go to pubs and bars anywhere when visiting Thailand, but I always make one exception when visiting Khon Kaen, where I order a Dunkel in the lobby of the Rajah Pullman Hotel. The beer is brewed fresh on the premises in the hotel's Kronen Brauhaus and it never fails to impress me. By far, my favourite beer in Thailand.

I second that.

Nong Khai has quite a number of falang bars overlooking the river and in some you can get the best beer outside Thailand, beer Laos dark.

I have spent time travelling isaan and part of the fun is tracking down the falang bars, and most towns have one or two.

posted from my Samsung using Tapatalk 2.

[thaibry]

I don't go to pubs and bars anywhere when visiting Thailand, but I always make one exception when visiting Khon Kaen, where I order a Dunkel in the lobby of the Rajah Pullman Hotel. The beer is brewed fresh on the premises in the hotel's Kronen Brauhaus and it never fails to impress me. By far, my favourite beer in Thailand.

I second that.

Nong Khai has quite a number of falang bars overlooking the river and in some you can get the best beer outside Thailand, beer Laos dark.

I have spent time travelling isaan and part of the fun is tracking down the falang bars, and most towns have one or two.

posted from my Samsung using Tapatalk 2.

[thaibry]

I don't go to pubs and bars anywhere when visiting Thailand, but I always make one exception when visiting Khon Kaen, where I order a Dunkel in the lobby of the Rajah Pullman Hotel. The beer is brewed fresh on the premises in the hotel's Kronen Brauhaus and it never fails to impress me. By far, my favourite beer in Thailand.

I second that.

Nong Khai has quite a number of falang bars overlooking the river and in some you can get the best beer outside Thailand, beer Laos dark.

I have spent time travelling isaan and part of the fun is tracking down the falang bars, and most towns have one or two.

posted from my Samsung using Tapatalk 2.

[Cheeby Luva]

^^see what i mean^^

[Spaniel]

Thanks for posting the "ex-pat" watering holes. I'll be sure to give those places a miss on our next trip through the Issan area. I'm not anti-social but the last thing I want to do is sit in some bar listening to a bunch of drunks. But to each his own.

[Guitar God]

I've been to two of the three places in Ubon quite a few times to eat, stop in for a cold soft drink and chat with other native English speakers and I've never seen any drunks.

Thanks for posting the "ex-pat" watering holes. I'll be sure to give those places a miss on our next trip through the Issan area. I'm not anti-social but the last thing I want to do is sit in some bar listening to a bunch of drunks. But to each his own.

[whooshbang]

Thanks for the info, Heading to Ubon tomorrow so may well seek out a cold beer and some western grub.

[DILLIGAD]

With all this info, you could set up a website or FB page! Ooops!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[angsta]

Thanks for posting the "ex-pat" watering holes. I'll be sure to give those places a miss on our next trip through the Issan area. I'm not anti-social but the last thing I want to do is sit in some bar listening to a bunch of drunks. But to each his own.

When you live in Issan or in parts of Thailand that are not Bangkok, Samui, Phuket etc then it can be a nice change to eat farang food on the weekend and have a conversation with someone who's native tounge may be English, German or perhaps a Scandinavian dialect. Not everybody lives in areas where they can pop into the local 24 hour foodland or find a sunday roast a few miles down the road or an area where the local Tesco has 30 different types and numerous western style meat products.

This is a good thread for anyone travelling up country who fancies a break from somtan and laab moo for every meal.

Therefore if you don't have anything constructive to add I suggest you

[Spaniel]

Thanks for posting the "ex-pat" watering holes. I'll be sure to give those places a miss on our next trip through the Issan area. I'm not anti-social but the last thing I want to do is sit in some bar listening to a bunch of drunks. But to each his own.

When you live in Issan or in parts of Thailand that are not Bangkok, Samui, Phuket etc then it can be a nice change to eat farang food on the weekend and have a conversation with someone who's native tounge may be English, German or perhaps a Scandinavian dialect. Not everybody lives in areas where they can pop into the local 24 hour foodland or find a sunday roast a few miles down the road or an area where the local Tesco has 30 different types and numerous western style meat products.

This is a good thread for anyone travelling up country who fancies a break from somtan and laab moo for every meal.

Therefore if you don't have anything constructive to add I suggest you

Sorry you didn't like my reply. I think others will agree it's good to give those "ex-pat" hangouts a miss. I suspect you're exactly the type that I don't want to run into.

[angsta]

For those of the hard of reading.

Therefore if you don't have anything constructive to add I suggest you

You have nothing to contribute to this thread so move on, your negativity can be used elsewhere.

[whooshbang]

Was looking forward to getting my farang fix today when i arrived in Ubon. Whilst getting all tarted up to go out for a few cold ones a girl friend from Pattaya phoned to say hello..... glad she did because she reminded me that all the bars are closed for Buddhist Holiday

Had to settle for pizza, iced tea and pigeon english. (better than my pigeon thai believe)

I can wait another day no probs but i do miss a bit of banter and proper conversation and its only been 8 days since i have had either

[Guitar God]

The fact that you're not going to any of those places you're not interested in going to sounds like it works out good for everyone involved...

Thanks for posting the "ex-pat" watering holes. I'll be sure to give those places a miss on our next trip through the Issan area. I'm not anti-social but the last thing I want to do is sit in some bar listening to a bunch of drunks. But to each his own.

When you live in Issan or in parts of Thailand that are not Bangkok, Samui, Phuket etc then it can be a nice change to eat farang food on the weekend and have a conversation with someone who's native tounge may be English, German or perhaps a Scandinavian dialect. Not everybody lives in areas where they can pop into the local 24 hour foodland or find a sunday roast a few miles down the road or an area where the local Tesco has 30 different types and numerous western style meat products.

This is a good thread for anyone travelling up country who fancies a break from somtan and laab moo for every meal.

Therefore if you don't have anything constructive to add I suggest you

Sorry you didn't like my reply. I think others will agree it's good to give those "ex-pat" hangouts a miss. I suspect you're exactly the type that I don't want to run into.

[thaibry]

I have always found the falang establishments useful in finding local information. Where can I rent a house or car, places to avoid, where to eat etc. The incumbents are just as likely to have a pot of tea during the daytime and it is nice to have a break from slowed down pigeon English and to gossip with colloquialisms at normal speed.

I have never found any falang in Isaan that I would want to avoid in the future.

posted from my Samsung using Tapatalk 2.

[Spaniel]

I have always found the falang establishments useful in finding local information. Where can I rent a house or car, places to avoid, where to eat etc. The incumbents are just as likely to have a pot of tea during the daytime and it is nice to have a break from slowed down pigeon English and to gossip with colloquialisms at normal speed.

I have never found any falang in Isaan that I would want to avoid in the future.

posted from my Samsung using Tapatalk 2.

I agree with you. My complaint is with the places with the drunk expats.

[angsta]

I agree with you. My complaint is with the places with the drunk expats.

Thank the lord the morality police are alive and well and living in Thailand. Drunk ex-pats?? Who would have ever have thought it? I have never seen this anywhere in Thailand. Saying that I don't ever leave my house...ever. An awful state of affairs I am sure. Public drunkenness, from foreigners, on this planet??

[Royrex]

Udon - The Irish Clock and numerous beer bars set in two areas very close to each other. Day and Night is the name of one, the cow shed aka... is another. A few years ago the western food in the Clock was excellent and the pints of beer cheap. Loads of locals. Fuzzy kens is the 'pattaya themed' aka cheap day drinking alternative in the town.

Korat - The Beer Garden and Check Inn. For a town with lots of ex-pats these are the two main city center drinking spots. Lots of regulars. Check Inn has air con. Also The George and Dragon which is within walking distance. This place changed ownership a few yrs back and the old owner now runs the Check Inn.

Surin - Some English theme pub in the bus station, does a decent breakfast.

Buriram - Irish theme pub near the lakes. Friendly owner.

Khon Kaen - Has a strip of farang bars near the Pullman hotel but the best two farang bars are not on that strip but a few minutes away however the names escape me. One was owner by a scottish/kiwi guy. A few city center options. Decent place for a night or two.

Sakhon Nakhon - the only farang bar closed maybe 4 years ago, maybe another has opened. Quiet.

Ubon - Never been.

I would like to add the "cuckoo nest" in sisaket city , one block walking distance from train station. a mixture of teachers, retiree's, and middle ager's. I go for the food when i need a break from the village life. I like the selections of mexican food. they have many food nationalities. they also can arrang siteseeing tours and motorbike rentals. I have never seen a obnoxious drunk there (but then I only go 2-3 times a month)

Edited May 14, 2014 by Royrex

[glegolo]

Thanks for posting the "ex-pat" watering holes. I'll be sure to give those places a miss on our next trip through the Issan area. I'm not anti-social but the last thing I want to do is sit in some bar listening to a bunch of drunks. But to each his own.

-"I am not anti-social", hahahaha!!!! Yes my friend you are, and it is obvious...

Glegolo