Mukdahan Advice Wanted (go visit/see what, eat where, how to day-trip to Laos?)

[Bredbury Blue]

This week I have to drive the family to Sakon Nakhon for a monk ordination and we’re travelling back to Bangkok via a couple of nights in Mukdahan.

Couple of questions for you Mukdahan residents:

1. Two days in Mukdahan, what should we go visit/see? On our trip we’ll be going to see Phimai, That Phanom and Phanom Rung just to give you an idea of what we like.

2. I have Thai Re-entry Visa, wife and kids have IDs and Thai Passports. If we want to cross the river to Laos for a few hours shopping trip, how does that work? What’s worth seeing/doing in Suvannakhet in a few hours?

3. Can you recommend anywhere good to eat (Local or Western food, but preferably Isaan or Laos food)?

Thanks

[Bredbury Blue]

Anybody?

[kevc]

Don't live there but was there in April to renew my visa, nice hotel on the riverside is The Riverfront Hotel cost us 800 baht per night and looked out across to Loas. Nice shopping around the promenade area and your right outside the underground market but beware come dusk everything and I mean everything closes down much to the wife's disappointment. Done a little shopping and went for a rest fixing to do some more and have a nice meal in the evening never seen a ace change so fast, prices are good though we bought two lounger chairs sell for 1500 baht each in Thai Watsadu got them for 480 baht each.

Don't bother with Savannakhet absolutely nothing two do and your wife won't enjoy the shopping only Singapore Market there and was more expensive than Mukdahan add onto that your 1500 baht Loas visa and much better idea to stay Thai side.

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[DILLIGAD]

Don't live there but was there in April to renew my visa, nice hotel on the riverside is The Riverfront Hotel cost us 800 baht per night and looked out across to Loas. Nice shopping around the promenade area and your right outside the underground market but beware come dusk everything and I mean everything closes down much to the wife's disappointment. Done a little shopping and went for a rest fixing to do some more and have a nice meal in the evening never seen a ace change so fast, prices are good though we bought two lounger chairs sell for 1500 baht each in Thai Watsadu got them for 480 baht each.

Don't bother with Savannakhet absolutely nothing two do and your wife won't enjoy the shopping only Singapore Market there and was more expensive than Mukdahan add onto that your 1500 baht Loas visa and much better idea to stay Thai side.

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Agree with above about a 2hr trip to Laos.

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[Bredbury Blue]

Thanks for that guys, very useful/helpful, especially the advice on the trip across the river. We booked the Riverfront last week for this weekend and looking forward to it. Two nights ago stayed in Dusit Khorat (will now always stay there instead of SimaThani). Currently in Sawang Daen Din for brother in law to be a monk. Tomorrowfoff. to Mukdahan

[CTO]

I'm in Sawang now, Mukdahan is a nice city, I quite like it, riverfront is the way to go.

There is a historic museum on the South of the town, it's inside a weird looking tower, quite interesting and good information about the history

[triffid]

Thanks for that guys, very useful/helpful, especially the advice on the trip across the river. We booked the Riverfront last week for this weekend and looking forward to it. Two nights ago stayed in Dusit Khorat (will now always stay there instead of SimaThani). Currently in Sawang Daen Din for brother in law to be a monk. Tomorrowfoff. to Mukdahan

Looks like I may be going through some of the same places BB. Would appreciate any info you pick up on the way. (I've already noted Dusit, Korat - in the town centre, I presume - room rate?). Please comment on accommodation you took at or near Phimai and Phanom Rung. I shall book at the Mukdahan Riverfront too.

[Bredbury Blue]

Back in BKK after our 6 day trip to Sakon Nakhon and Mukdahan provinces. Thanks once again to all your contributions.

Triffid –

From BKK to Sakon Nakhon at around 10hr drive, is just too far for my 2 kids to cope, so we always break the trip. Usually we would drive as far as Khon Kaen (about 6hrs) and stay in the brilliant Sofitel KK (used to be one of the best hotel bargains in Thailand for what you get for the cheap Isaan price you pay – I assume it is still the same). This trip however we were setting off after school, so we broke our journey in Khorat and did the longer leg the next day. We have always stayed at the Sima Thani Khorat which is very good but now we know the Dusit Khorat is a little bit better. We booked directly with the hotel (it seemed as cheap or cheaper than booking.com etc) Twin room Bed and Breakfast Package at Baht 1979 per room.

We didn’t stay in Phimai (have done donkeys years ago) but just stopped off for an hour to show it to the kids. Phimai is only 50km from Khorat so by choice I would stay in Khorat and not Phimai.

The wife is from about Phang Khon district of Sakon Nakhon. Normally we’ve stayed in Sakon Nakhon but hotels aren’t great there (we’ve tried 2 of them before) so we wanted to stay closer her village. Searches for hotels in Phang Khon district didn’t bring up much in Google (we did see some hotels though as we were driving around) and as I’d found Chuanthanapanya Resort hotel in Sawang Daen Din (next town to wife’s’ town of Phang Khon) which looked reasonable, we stayed there. I don’t know the exact cost – they wanted cash so the wife sorted out the bill, but it was about baht 800 per room (no breakfast). It’s a very nice resort, about 1km from the town centre of Sawang Daen Din. It’s worth a stay. They have lots of little wooden bungalows which look nice and have parking adjacent. We however were in a brick building (2 rooms up / 2 rooms down) next to the small river that runs between resort and Bansuan Swetkamol restaurant next door. It was adequate for our stay (kids were a bit spooked by the tree that grows in the bathroom of one room and goes out the ceiling, so it was 1 parent & kid per room. Next door, and what really made it for us (we were out most of the days in the wife’s village) is the restaurant next door. We presume resort and restaurant are owned by the same owner (?), there is a small bridge over the small river between them, the restaurant next door was brilliant…we ate there 2 nights…sit in one of the salas.

We travelled via a stop off at Wat Phra That Choeng Chum Worawihan in Sakon Nakhon and Wat Phra That Phanom in That Phanom to Mukdahan. We stayed in the Riverfront Hotel in Mukdahan, think it was about Baht 690 per room. It is very conveniently located right on the river front (unlike the other big hotels), right opposite the entrance to the underground IndoChina hotel, there’s a nice coffee shop right next door to the hotel called Dara Coffee Corner. Rooms are fine. We has connecting rooms which unfortunately are right opposite the lift, the hotel is one of those designed without soundproofing foremost in the designer’s mind, so we didn’t need a wake call at 7am onwards as people move around shouting in the corridor! The breakfast was very poor as well – food was typical fare which was adequate, it was just so badly organised by the bald Thai geezer who runs around telling his staff what to do but ultimately achieves nothing. So the hotel is ok but noise and breakfast weren’t great. Coming out of the hotel, turn to the right (downriver), walk along and you’ll find 3 or 4 restaurants in easy walking distance. Be aware that by around 8pm they are closing – we wanted to go in the first restaurant (Vietnamese food) but it was closing. We tried the 2nd one called ‘Wine Wild Why?’ which my kids liked, and we tried the 3^rd one (don’t recall its name) which was ok…food was cheap in Muk.

We visited the famous Mukdahan tower (well worth the entrance fee – baht 30 I think I paid). We went up to Phu Manarom / Khao Manarom viewpoint at the wat on a hill overlooking Mukdahan (about 10 minutes drive from Mukdahan tower. Highlight was the hilly Phu Pha Thoep National Park , also known as Mukdahan National Park, which has some beautiful landscapes and is scattered with unusual mushroom-shaped rock formations – kids loved it. We went back in to Mukdahan and found the road that hogs the river along the bank to the bridge (the road goes underneath the bridge) for some close up snaps of the bridge.

We decided not to visit Phanom Rung (been before…stay in khorat and day-trip it) but drove via Yasathon to the route 2 road just north of Phimai and on to Khao Yai to break our journey at Balios (used to be Juldis Hotel) which is very nice. This road was fine for driving.

Interestingly outside the Riverfront Hotel in Mukdahan was a minibus from Tak, and I got talking to an Aussie who was over from Mae Sot in the minibus…seems problems in getting visas in Mae Sot so it is easier/better to do the 9hr journey from western border with Myanmar to the eastern border with Laos.

Hope you enjoy your trip. It’s really beautiful up in the north-east at the moment, very wet and green with all the rice planting going on. Enjoy.

[CTO]

The resort you mention you stayed at is very popular, I often tell people to book as companies book it out for seminars etc.

The restaurant is part of it, the bingalows are about 150 baht cheaper than the two rooms side by side with the tree grow in in them, I like those rooms but always choose a bungalow.

Glad you had a good trip