Dear readers,
I was reading your blog to see if there is much written about public transport in Isaan… Last year I visited Thailand and did the usual “route” BKK – Chiang Mai by public transport. To get where you want to go by public transport in Isan, you apparently have to do a lot of puzzles or take a trip to a larger city to get from there to the "smaller" town/village. Or eg to Bueng Kan, not easy either…
Something else; while I was reading, I saw in a response from Hans Gielen on May 26, 2013 at 11:54 that he lives in the Isan and that he had visited the bloggers of Thailandblog.nl two years ago (actually already 3 years ago). invited to stay with him for a few nights for free… And that no one had responded.
Now, I do want to respond 🙂 my mother and I are traveling to Thailand again in November of this year and our travel route is not yet fixed (partly because I do not immediately find the easy connections with public transport) so I would agree with Mr. Gielen want to get in touch to see if his offer still applies 😉
Thank you in advance! Oh and if you have any tips for public transport in Isan, I'd love to hear them 🙂 because I realize that there is probably transport to everywhere, but it's just not always on the Internet or in the Lonely PLAnet or the Rough Guide…
Greetings
Britta (and her mom 🙂 )
What you write is correct, traveling by public transport in the Isan means first going to a city and then into the region. But that also applies in the Netherlands.
From Bangkok, almost every major city in Isan can be reached by bus. There are good rail connections to Nongkhai and Ubon Ratchathani and you can also fly a few routes.
You can also take a bus from Chiang Mai and from other major cities to places in the Isan such as Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Ubon R, Mahasarakham, Buriram, well, you name them, Kalasin, Yasothon, Loei, it's all there if you visit the bus station in the big cities. A transfer is often necessary.
But after that…..
Let me first advise you to buy a map and you do that in this country and better in the Isan itself.
The map of Northeastern Thailand is/was available from the company Thinknet, scale 1:550.000 and that means that a cm on the map is 5,5 km. PN Map is also a well-known name in this country.
In the Isan city you look for the bus station and there you look for the plate with your destination on it. Or to the record that comes close to your destination. And that record is, as you go deeper into the country, not always in English.
Being able to read Thai, ask questions in Thai, have a Thai with you or get a Thai on the phone who can communicate with you and the people at the busses is essential. That becomes even more urgent if you are dropped off somewhere and have to continue with songthaew (the pickup with a roof and two rows of seats) or a tuktuk. Don't count on knowledge of English everywhere and there are areas where the older people don't even speak Thai but Isan or Laotian.
But if you plan to travel from city to city in the Isan, you will find that transport, you have large and often air-conditioned buses, there are probably English speaking people in it. If you don't have a plan yet, it might be nice to take Loei as a start and then travel the entire Mehkong by bus to Ubon R. You will automatically arrive in Buengkan, Thailand's newest provincial capital.
Good luck. It's a nice plan and you see a different part of Thailand than the beaten track. And if you come to Nongkhai, message me in time ([email protected]) then you get my phone number for a cup of coffee or lunch. Stay, I don't have room for that, unfortunately, but Nongkhai has many decent hotels in the price range between 600 and 1.000 baht..
Have a good trip.
In Isaan you have many bus stations with transfers so you can go to smaller places ( I speak on arrival during the day ) . If you then arrive in a much smaller place, you will – usually – again have a motorcycle taxi on 2 or 3 wheels that will take you where you want to be. People also often want to take you with a car or moped for a fee. I agree with Erik that you should know where you get off and where the continuation goes (so with a different - local bus or taxi to your final destination). I often have it written down in Thai and that helps . In Isaan – and especially the smaller towns – there are very few people who speak – well – English. In any case, translation computers are useful in Isaan; but of course the places are not mentioned there. Hopned to have helped you with this.
Hello Britta,
I don't know how long you want to stay in the Isaan?
A good acquaintance of mine has a homestay in Isaan.
Maybe you can arrange something with him.
This is his site: http://www.wanwisahomestay.com/
His name is Hans.
Have you ever visited him .. he can tell you a lot, and show you about the Isaan.
Have been coming to the Isaan for 14 years.. also have a home there (not for rent)
happy Holidays
there's a dead-simple answer, for the mainstream tourist spots: that old-fashioned travel guide has details on "how to get there".
In general, the star system applies: from the capital of a chaingwat=province you can reach every Amphoe=district city, from there less transport to the villages. EVERY chiangwat has a diekt bus on BKK, which you can also use for the places he has to pass anyway.
Traveled through part of Isan with the lonely planet, from Udon Thani to Ubon Ratchathani along the Mekong. Went fine, not sure how far off the beaten track you want, but buses go between all medium-sized towns. Have fun.
From Bangkok you can go directly to Buengkan. The bus runs Korath, KhonKean, UdonThani, Nongkhai and then Buengkan. If you have a ticket, you can get off wherever you want along the way.
Thanks for the question and all the responses to it.
I can now prepare a little better.
Because I plan to go that way too.
At Mo Chit bus station in Bangkok you can book tickets for Bueng Kan.
My wife is from there and her family lives nearby. There are several bus lines. We usually take VIP tickets on night bus to Bueng Kan. (better to order a day before in high season) With food and breakfast between 600 Baht. Large chairs and legs up with large TV. Depart around 18.00:05.00 PM and arrive at Bueng Kan around XNUMX:XNUMX AM.
Lots of fun.
Best regards,
Karn & Hans
Hello, I myself live part of the year in the Isaan in the province of Buriram. I usually go by bus from Bus Terminal at Kamphaeng Phut 2 near Chatuchak market. There you have to ask for the bus to the place in Isan you want to go, such as Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) or Buriram or Surin or any other medium-sized place on the route. Study in advance where you want to go, an alternative is the train or a taxi. The taxi is the fastest but costs about €100 or about 4000 ThB. if you don't get dropped off. Good luck!
Hello Britta (and Mum). We live at Phanom Phrai, just like from Yasothon city. Since Hans is no longer heard from, we do have a small room with bathroom available for a few days. 🙂 Small village without bars, shops, etc, so dependent on each other's (cozy) company. Understand from the forum that I am not supposed to provide email, but that you can get it through them. In any case, we wish you a pleasant holiday in Isaan.