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The most people who visit Thailand do visit the south for the beaches (Phuket, Krabi & Koh Samui) and the North (or I should say the North West) for the culture (Chiang Mai, Pai and Chiang Rai). Some other people for other reasons visit the Eastern Seaboard (Pattaya) or Bangkok. It seems like most people do not know that there is also a very beautiful and rich of culture North East of Thailand, also called the Isaan. It is the biggest area of Thailand with the most inhabitants. But it is also the worst economically developed area of Thailand. Roughly it consists of the city's Khorat (Nakhon Ratchasima), Khon Khaen, Udon Thani, Nong Khai and to the other side Buriram, Surin, Si Saket and Ubon Ratchathani.

It's another Thailand and actually the people feel more connected with Laos than with central Thailand (Bangkok). The majority of the people speak Lao (or also called Isaan) and some people in the area of Buriram and Surin speak Khmer. Most people here are simple rice farmers with a very low income. All these things together makes it a big culture and economy gap between the Isaan people and the other people of Thailand. Staying in Bangkok or the Eastern Seaboard you will meet many Isaan people. When the work on the rice fields is done they come to the big city to make money. Many of the taxi drivers, waiters and constructions site workers and so on are Isaan people. And most of them are very friendly and warm people. But many tourists of course will be encountered by the greedy unfriendly people who will try to rip them off. It will happen everywhere, not only in Thailand, but also in your own home country. During my life here in Thailand I started to discover the beauty of the Isaan and until now I favored the "south" part of the Isaan. Let's say from the line Khorat, Buriram, Surin, Si Saket and Ubon Ratchathani (Ubon). This part of the Isaan is historically influenced by the Khmer, as can be seen by the many Khmer temples. The Khmer word for temple is Prasat and there are many "Prasats" to be found in this area. Well actually not only in this area but also more into central Thailand as you can see in Ayutthaya and Sukhothai where the basic architecture is also Khmer. This makes you sometimes wonder if there really is an old Thai history. But that's another story.

As a friend of ours was here on holiday with his Thai girlfriend she wanted to visit her family in Surin and my girlfriend wanted to attend a wedding in her place of birth. So the plans of a holiday trip of a week were quickly made. We decided that we would use this trip to also visit the Prasat Hin Phanom Rung near Buriram, the Prasat Phra Vihar near Si Saket (actually just in Cambodia) and make a visit to an old friend who is living in Surin.

To Prasat Hin Phanom Rung

So we left Chonburi via motorway 7 to continue in the direction of Chachonsao where we found a new route to Sa Keo. In this way you are actually going around the mountains of Khao Yai National Park. You do totally pass Bangkok & Saraburi and the Lam Taklong water reservoir just before Khorat. Khorat is not only the name of a city but also the name of the biggest province (Chanwat) of Thailand. It is one of the biggest cities of the Isaan with its blender mix of old Thai culture and Western comfort. In my opinion Khorat thanks its economical development to the time of the Second Indo China War (also called the Vietnam War). In this time the USA rented (for a lot of money) a few airports (Udon, Khorat and Utapao) in Thailand to fight their war in Vietnam and other nearby countries (Laos, Burma and Cambodia). And along came a lot of young soldiers with US$ to spent on Rest & Recreation (also called Sex & Toxication). They stayed for about 15 years and some of them never made it back home. Missing In Action? So, sometimes in the Isaan you will still find lost American "Vietnam combatants", most of them happily living together with their (new) Thai family. Well, we were supposed to enter Prasat Hin Phanom Rung from the south but the road that we chose had no short-cut to it. So we had to make a small detour to the highway Khorat-Buriram (route 24). And it was a good detour because in this way we had a great lunch with fresh BBQ chicken while sitting along one of the huge "lakes" near Buriram. In Thailand a changed plan is never a ruined plan!

After our lunch we drove to our first goal of our tour the Prasat Hin Phanom Rung. The ruins of the old Khmer temple are found on top of a mountain overlooking the first part of the plateau of Buriram to one side and in the far distance Cambodia. In my personal opinion it is one of the most beautiful and best restored Khmer temples of Thailand. And it's relaxing to be there as there are not many other tourists who come there. Well maybe only not today, because it was a holiday or something like that and it was crowded by Thai tourists. From the parking lot you can walk straight up to the entrance of the ruins (and yes you have to pay entrance fee now) and walk all the way to the other side of it. And at some points it's a quite strenuous walk because you will have to climb some old stone stairs. But it's worth it and amazing how people could have built such a huge temple without the help of all the tools we have now. A visit takes at least 2-hours.

After our visit here we drove to Surin to find out that our old friend was not at home, so we continued to the home town of the girlfriend of my friend. I said 'Surin" but actually it's still just in Chanwat Surin but almost in Si Saket. We arrived late in the evening and fell a sleep early. But not our host, who started to have a drink of Sato (rice wine) with her family. As our host had some business to take care of the next day (and some Sato to get rid of) my friend, my girlfriend and I made a day-tour to the Prasat Phra Vihar.

To "Prasat Khao Phra Vihar"

We started our day-tour to drive to the city Si Saket to have a decent breakfast, but that was also in Si Saket and not so easy to find. Luckily for my friend we did find a good cup of espresso for him. After breakfast we drove straight on to our goal, the "Prasat Khao Phra Vihar" that is sited on the Phanom Dong Rak mountain inside Cambodia where it borders with Thailand at Pha Moh E-Dang (about 97-km from Ubon). The "Prasat Khao Phra Vihar" is a huge temple complex of about almost 1-km long. The topmost temple is on the edge of the cliff overseeing Cambodia at about 657-meter above sea level. Be aware of the fact that the only road leading to this ruin in Cambodia is on Thai soil and that the Thai government was so clever to make a National Park of that area. So in that way they can ask every falang a 200-thb entrance fee (for Thais 20thb and students 10thb). And that for a 5-km long road leading only to the dead-end walking track to the ruins. A shame on the Thai government!

The road ends at a big parking lot with some tourist shops and some very simple but good restaurants. From here on you have to start walking. First over a piece of "no-man's land" (please do not leave the trail as there could still be unexploded ordnance "made in the USA" that was happily given to anyone who was against communism). Before entering this road you have to identify yourself to a Thai check-point and pay 10thb for the photo-copy that they make from your ID. After a 1-km walk you enter a kind of small valley on Cambodian soil. Here again are the Cambodians who try to make money from the tourists with their border-market where you can sell cheap (and mostly fake) cigarettes and whiskey. And just before you start your climb up to the ruins you have to pay an entrance fee again. This time 200-thb for falang and 50thb for Thai. Again I told them that they are thieves and mafia, and that I hope that they may rot in hell.

The ruins itself consists of 7 levels which you have to climb all the way up to the top of the mountain. The main temple at the top is in reasonable condition and in the middle (inside) is even a small real temple with a real monk. Here of course you can buy flowers and incense to make merit. After having seen many temples you realize that this temple is actually not so impressive but the view from the top is really magnificent. Looking backward you overlook the 6 previous levels of the ruins with behind it Thailand. Looking forward and sideward you are overlooking Cambodia. Walking back one of the many post-card selling girl is still following us and at a moment that I am alone and in a quite area she offers much more than only post-cards. But my answer is short and simple, "You see that lovely girl there; she will kill me for that!"

Giving the location you can understand that this ancient Khmer temple has been and still is the reason for arguments between Thailand and Cambodia. It was once under the jurisdiction of Thailand (but since when and why has not been told by the Thai government) but since 1962 it is Cambodian soil under a ruling of the World Court. But the road to it is Thai soil. All these problems resulted in the fact that at some point the entrance to it was blocked by the Cambodian army. Or it had been closed by the Thai army. So when you want to visit it check before going. In my personal opinion it is together with the "Prasat Hin Phanom Rung" the most beautiful and impressive Khmer temples in Thailand (not from Cambodia because that would be the world famous Angkor Wat).

We walked all the way back and I was thinking, "In China they would have people to carry you" and we had lunch at one of the restaurants at the parking lot. From here our journey back to the village that we left this morning started by taking a new route almost along the Cambodian border. This was for me one of the most surprising parts of the trip. The area here is full of mountains, beautiful forest, rivers and of course waterfalls. And it was not even the rainy season. We did visit one waterfall where there was not much water, but I can imagine that if there would be more water it must be a very nice place to have a picnic with your family. It became late already when we did arrive again in Si Saket and we decided to have a decent dinner in one of the many local country-western style Thai restaurants. A table full of delicious Thai food was served together with a good bottle of Seang Som. A pleasant day with a pleasant ending. Late in the evening we arrived back "home" where our host was trying to get totally drunk (in which she succeeded).

The next day our trip to the place of birth of my girlfriend started early in the morning. And even if Satuk is not far from where we started it took us until lunch time to get there. It's a place in the middle of nowhere, but then really nowhere! Born here means of a disadvantage of 10-years. No shops, no schools, no roads, no public water. Thank you Thai government! The preparations for the marriage had started, but the real marriage would take place the next day. So we said hello to all, had a drink and drove "back" to Surin city again to finally meet our friend there. We did stay at the Majestic Surin, at that time a brand new hotel. Although Surin in not a big city, there is good nightlife in the centre of town. So after dinner the boys had a "boy's night out" at the local pubs and bars. And my friend was lucky because a drunk Thai gay fell in love with him. In the meanwhile I was enjoying the view of the young female yuppies of Surin.

The next day we drove in direction of Kao Yai to stay overnight in one of the many beautiful resorts that are built on the mountains there. The resort was full with a big group of students from Buriram. And many of them tried their English skills with us the two only falang in the resort. In the evening we did sit on our veranda overlooking the valley and drinking our "home made" sato.

The next day we tried to make a short-cut trough Kao Yai to Sa Keo but somewhere in the middle the road was gone (already for 3 years). But in that way did find a very beautiful "nam tok" (waterfall) where we had a refreshing stop on this hot day. But as the road was gone we had to make a about 100-km route around Kao Yai to get to Sa Keo.

So it took us a long way driving before arriving home sweet home at Chonburi.

-Chang Noi-