things to do in buriram / surin /mukdahan area.

[dirtycash]

i might take a race up there. what is there to do in these areas, i need to know.

1. where to stay ( with wifi )

2. motorbike rental

3. what to do . local meeting places, bars, places like that. ( if anything )

[asdecas]

Learn Kymer.

[DILLIGAD]

Not many places to rent a bike. Trip advisor is a good source of info

[recom273]

I was up in Buriram last month, getting some work done on my bike. it's a great place - there is a buzz about the place, I don't think they speak Khmer, they speak Korat Thai.

There are loads of Khmer temples there, looked cool to visit.

There is a real expat scene - I was there with a local English guy, went to an Irish bar, not busy but friendly owner, jimmys sports bar, very good pub food, there is another - bamboo - didn't go there.

Locals seemed friendly enough, food was good - why not hire a car or big bike out of bangkok and travel about, the roads are all long and straight.

I stayed at the Siam boutique, was good for 600b.

Not too sure about the bike, but I would say ask in the bars, I would be surprised if there wasn't someone who had a little sideline.

Edited April 28, 2015 by recom273

[TheRascal]

I was up in Buriram last month, getting some work done on my bike. it's a great place - there is a buzz about the place, I don't think they speak Khmer

They do in some towns/villages. Not all.

[GordonP]

Finding a motorbike is hard, to the point that we have bought one to leave at the house. Check out Buriram Expats on Google. I have rented from them, not far from the bus station (if it hasn't moved to it's new site by the football stadium yet) and bikes in good nick, sometimes though they are all rented out.

[recom273]

I was up in Buriram last month, getting some work done on my bike. it's a great place - there is a buzz about the place, I don't think they speak Khmer

They do in some towns/villages. Not all.

I'm no expert mate - I was just chatting up the rather cute university student - hotel receptionist and that's what she told me.

[dirtycash]

ok , bike rentals out, might rent car if i go. what about places to stay ? i suppose anywhere in any of them cities are going to have small hotels and guesthouses around the bus stations.

[asdecas]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I was up in Buriram last month, getting some work done on my bike. it's a great place - there is a buzz about the place, I don't think they speak Khmer

They do in some towns/villages. Not all.

I'm no expert mate - I was just chatting up the rather cute university student - hotel receptionist and that's what she told me.

Many Kymer speakers in that part of Isaan, particularly in and around Surin - a legacy of the Killing Fields days.

[ThaiSquire]

Asdecas,

Suggest you study your history. Khmer speakers because of the Khmer Rouge??? Please. Khmer Kingdom ruled tha area centuries ago.

[khwaibah]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I was up in Buriram last month, getting some work done on my bike. it's a great place - there is a buzz about the place, I don't think they speak Khmer

They do in some towns/villages. Not all.

I'm no expert mate - I was just chatting up the rather cute university student - hotel receptionist and that's what she told me.

Many Kymer speakers in that part of Isaan, particularly in and around Surin - a legacy of the Killing Fields days.

Another Sin City Expert.

[xen]

Asdecas,

Suggest you study your history. Khmer speakers because of the Khmer Rouge??? Please. Khmer Kingdom ruled tha area centuries ago.

Some of the areas around Surin & Siskaret also speak Suway (my spelling so correct me if it is spelt wrong) which is another dialect altogether to Khemer . Also Issan Thai or Thai Lao is not spoken as much in this area .Seems to be in pockets and i would guess it dates back to when borders were arbitrary between Khemer Cambodia centuries ago . just my observations and what i have been told.

[Jip99]

ok , bike rentals out, might rent car if i go. what about places to stay ? i suppose anywhere in any of them cities are going to have small hotels and guesthouses around the bus stations.

http://www.buriramcarhire.com/ rent motorbikes

What is your accommodation budget etc - Have an Amari hotel next to the football stadium plus a wide choice of resorts to meet all price ranges.

[lostinisaan]

i might take a race up there. what is there to do in these areas, i need to know.

1. where to stay ( with wifi )

2. motorbike rental

3. what to do . local meeting places, bars, places like that. ( if anything )

First I thought you've got a big bike and "race it" to Buri Ram, but then I saw that you're looking for a place to rent a motorbike?

1. At a place with a pool. ( Google is your best friend)

2. Rent a bike with insurance and make sure who'll pay for any damages. that there's no headache if something would happen.

3. Write some threads on TVF. Go swimming. Try to find a place to hang out, where not only hookers are looking for new victims. ( It's low season, so most are at home now..) If I were you, I'd try to learn some Thai by talking to some locals.

If you can afford it to rent a bigger bike, make some tours and experience the Isaan pure. Use your own brain and don't believe all gossip what people ( foreigners, who might arrived there two days before) will for sure give you. Do some sport that your body produces adrenaline and you're good to go.

Finally don't race down, when you make your race up there.

Edited April 29, 2015 by lostinisaan

[DJH77]

ok , bike rentals out, might rent car if i go. what about places to stay ? i suppose anywhere in any of them cities are going to have small hotels and guesthouses around the bus stations.

Best place to stay in Mukdahan is the Mukdahan Manor. Great place with the best food in town. www.mukdahan-manor.com or book through Agoda.

[soihok]

A friend from the UK married a girl from Surin, she spoke both Thai and Khmer.

Her parents were originally Cambodian, tens of thousands escaped across the border into Thailand during the late 70's under the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge.

http://forcedmigration.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/book/export/html/26

Edited April 29, 2015 by soihok

[asdecas]

Asdecas,

Suggest you study your history. Khmer speakers because of the Khmer Rouge??? Please. Khmer Kingdom ruled tha area centuries ago.

You'd do well to study yours, old boy: the language of Cambodia is Khmer. One of the reasons there are so many Khmer speakers around that part of Isaan is because the fear of the Khmer Rouge drove them and their families to seek refuge from Kampuchia (as it was then named) in Thailand, in particular refugee camps close to the border.

From there many were assimilated into surrounding areas and never went back.

[louse1953]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I was up in Buriram last month, getting some work done on my bike. it's a great place - there is a buzz about the place, I don't think they speak Khmer

They do in some towns/villages. Not all.

I'm no expert mate - I was just chatting up the rather cute university student - hotel receptionist and that's what she told me.

Many Kymer speakers in that part of Isaan, particularly in and around Surin - a legacy of the Killing Fields days.

Thai is spoken everywhere.

[louse1953]

Asdecas,

Suggest you study your history. Khmer speakers because of the Khmer Rouge??? Please. Khmer Kingdom ruled tha area centuries ago.

You'd do well to study yours, old boy: the language of Cambodia is Khmer. One of the reasons there are so many Khmer speakers around that part of Isaan is because the fear of the Khmer Rouge drove them and their families to seek refuge from Kampuchia (as it was then named) in Thailand, in particular refugee camps close to the border.

From there many were assimilated into surrounding areas and never went back.

Well,you are both right,but asdecas more so.The Khmer spoken in Thailand is barely understood and vice versa by Cambodians,because the Khmer spoken by Thais is very old.

[xen]

Asdecas,

Suggest you study your history. Khmer speakers because of the Khmer Rouge??? Please. Khmer Kingdom ruled tha area centuries ago.

You'd do well to study yours, old boy: the language of Cambodia is Khmer. One of the reasons there are so many Khmer speakers around that part of Isaan is because the fear of the Khmer Rouge drove them and their families to seek refuge from Kampuchia (as it was then named) in Thailand, in particular refugee camps close to the border.

From there many were assimilated into surrounding areas and never went back.

Well,you are both right,but asdecas more so.The Khmer spoken in Thailand is barely understood and vice versa by Cambodians,because the Khmer spoken by Thais is very old.

What Louse1953 has written is also what i have been told and my in-laws who speak Suway trace their family many generations back past the the period of the killing fields in the 1970's. The area in Cambodia that Suway is spoken is just over the border from Siskaret. The whole bottom corner of Thailand was Khmer as evidenced by the Khmer ruins at Pai Mai and other locations , just as later on it was Lao . As i said previously said i think the borders between Cambodia and Thailand have altered many times over the past centuries and were flexible lines on the ground rather than a map.. In the village of my in-laws they all speak Thai and Suway. In Surin they speak Khmer and Thai and Siskaret they speak Thai, Suway and Lao and in Ubon they speak Thai and Lao , or so i am told as generalized rules ..

There may well be Cambodians who have escaped the Khmer Rouge and settled like there are Vietnamese from the Refugee Camps in some areas after the fall of Saigon , but the majority of Khmer or Suway speakers are much longer established than that and regard themselves as Thai without question.

Edited April 29, 2015 by xen

[Surin13]

In Buriram, Surin and Sisaket the Khmer language spoken is called Northern Khmer and most experts say it's a seperate language from Khmer spoken in Cambodia not just a dialect.

It's been spoken in these areas for hundreds of years and often mixed with Thai words when spoken.

It's the main language spoken in these provinces, although Thai is the offical language.

[Sandman77]

Clean the road!

Ask why the sideways for walk always broken in buriram and where the tax payers money is gone for fix it!

[Jip99]

A friend from the UK married a girl from Surin, she spoke both Thai and Khmer.

Her parents were originally Cambodian, tens of thousands escaped across the border into Thailand during the late 70's under the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge.

http://forcedmigration.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/book/export/html/26

I heard that the Thais pushed most of them back (hearsay only, I have no evidence for that).

Given that Prasat Hin Muang Tam, Phanom Rung and Phimai historical parks were built in the 11th and 12th centuries it is likely that the Khmer language has been around for sometime.

[khwaibah]

A friend from the UK married a girl from Surin, she spoke both Thai and Khmer.

Her parents were originally Cambodian, tens of thousands escaped across the border into Thailand during the late 70's under the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge.

http://forcedmigration.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/book/export/html/26

I heard that the Thais pushed most of them back (hearsay only, I have no evidence for that).

Given that Prasat Hin Muang Tam, Phanom Rung and Phimai historical parks were built in the 11th and 12th centuries it is likely that the Khmer language has been around for sometime.

Amazing how all these instant Thai expert are made.

[mango66]

this is land no-where-

so you can do there no-thing

hang around and enjoy

[coobah666]

you could go to any bar that has farangs and talk about what the local language is ???????

[lostinisaan]

A friend from the UK married a girl from Surin, she spoke both Thai and Khmer.

Her parents were originally Cambodian, tens of thousands escaped across the border into Thailand during the late 70's under the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge.

http://forcedmigration.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/book/export/html/26

I heard that the Thais pushed most of them back (hearsay only, I have no evidence for that).

Given that Prasat Hin Muang Tam, Phanom Rung and Phimai historical parks were built in the 11th and 12th centuries it is likely that the Khmer language has been around for sometime.

"Hearsay" from a website:

Northern Khmer Speakers in the Thai State

Khmer speakers in Thailand inhabit the southern stretch of ‘Isan’ (north-east

Thailand), a high plateau spanning the provinces of Surin, Buriram and Srisaket. In

the south of these provinces lie the Dangrek mountains; covered with dense forest, the

mountains drop precipitously on their southern escarpment into the Cambodian state.

Although rugged, there are passes that in the past facilitated transportation and trade

between upland and lowland (Cambodian) Khmers.

https://khamerlogue.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/thailand%E2%80%99s-khmer-as-%E2%80%98invisible-minority%E2%80%99language-ethnicity-and-cultural-politics/

[soihok]

Cheers.

Touchy lot eh?

I was only giving the experience of my friends family, who escaped the terror.

Anyway, back on topic.

Buriram has a great International Motor Racing Circuit, there are quite a few events on there around the year.

Nice one Buriram!

http://www.bric.co.th/

[fgmr]

Asdecas,

Suggest you study your history. Khmer speakers because of the Khmer Rouge??? Please. Khmer Kingdom ruled tha area centuries ago.

You'd do well to study yours, old boy: the language of Cambodia is Khmer. One of the reasons there are so many Khmer speakers around that part of Isaan is because the fear of the Khmer Rouge drove them and their families to seek refuge from Kampuchia (as it was then named) in Thailand, in particular refugee camps close to the border.

From there many were assimilated into surrounding areas and never went back.

Asdecas,

Stop squirming.

If you are so well informed regarding Thai history you should know that many Cambodians were enslaved and transported to Korat and neighboring areas because of the shortage of labour. This happened often and over a long period. Long before the Khmer Rouge were even thought of; these slaves worked the soil, lived in secure hamlets, owned nothing were isolated from the rest of the population and as a result maintained the language of their forbears. When slavery was abolished many of these hamlets became Bans. Emancipated families stayed, still working the land but gradually becoming tenants and some even buying the land.

I happen to live a few miles south of Surin in a village that has a Primary School. Many children start school with little understanding of Thai, as all the adults address them in Khmer. Many families have been here since the 1930's.

You are correct regarding the exodus and refugee camps. But this only augmented the use of Khmer, it was not the root cause.

Perhaps we can all now get back to the original post regarding what to do etc.,

[khwaibah]

Asdecas,

Suggest you study your history. Khmer speakers because of the Khmer Rouge??? Please. Khmer Kingdom ruled tha area centuries ago.

You'd do well to study yours, old boy: the language of Cambodia is Khmer. One of the reasons there are so many Khmer speakers around that part of Isaan is because the fear of the Khmer Rouge drove them and their families to seek refuge from Kampuchia (as it was then named) in Thailand, in particular refugee camps close to the border.

From there many were assimilated into surrounding areas and never went back.

Asdecas,

Stop squirming.

If you are so well informed regarding Thai history you should know that many Cambodians were enslaved and transported to Korat and neighboring areas because of the shortage of labour. This happened often and over a long period. Long before the Khmer Rouge were even thought of; these slaves worked the soil, lived in secure hamlets, owned nothing were isolated from the rest of the population and as a result maintained the language of their forbears. When slavery was abolished many of these hamlets became Bans. Emancipated families stayed, still working the land but gradually becoming tenants and some even buying the land.

I happen to live a few miles south of Surin in a village that has a Primary School. Many children start school with little understanding of Thai, as all the adults address them in Khmer. Many families have been here since the 1930's.

You are correct regarding the exodus and refugee camps. But this only augmented the use of Khmer, it was not the root cause.

Perhaps we can all now get back to the original post regarding what to do etc.,

Marry an isaan girl and become an instant Sin City Bar Stool Expert.