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Thailand // The northeast: Isaan

Chiang Khan

Explore The northeast: Isaan

A road runs parallel to the Mekong for 630km, linking the fast-growing border town of Mukdahan with CHIANG KHAN, a friendly town 55km north of Loei, which happily hasn’t been entirely converted to concrete yet. Rows of shuttered wooden shophouses stretch out in a 2km ribbon parallel to the river, which for much of the year runs red with what locals call “the blood of the trees”: rampant deforestation on the Lao side causes the rust-coloured topsoil to erode into the river. The town has only two streets – the main through-route (Highway 211), also known as Thanon Sri Chiang Khan, and the quieter Thanon Chai Khong on the waterfront – with a line of sois connecting them, numbered from west to east. There’s a cool vibe to the place, with entrepreneurial young Thais setting up quirky new gift shops and guesthouses all the time and, away from all the kitsch, there are a few interesting sights to see. Arguably the most enjoyable thing you can do here is to join up with other travellers for a boat trip on the river.

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  • The magnificent Mekong

    The magnificent Mekong

    The Mekong is one of the great rivers of the world and the third longest in Asia, after the Yangtse and the Yellow rivers. From its source 4920m up on the east Tibetan plateau it roars down through China’s Yunnan province – where it’s known as Lancang Jiang, the “Turbulent River” – before snaking its way a little more peaceably between Burma and Laos, and then, by way of the so-called “Golden Triangle”, as the border between Thailand and Laos. After a brief shimmy into rural Laos via Luang Prabang, the river reappears in Isaan to form 750km of the border between Thailand and Laos. From Laos it crosses Cambodia and continues south to Vietnam, where it splinters into the many arms of the Mekong Delta before flowing into the South China Sea, 4184km from where its journey began.

  • Boat trips from Chiang Khan

    Boat trips from Chiang Khan

    Most guesthouses can arrange these tours, or variations of them, charging per boat.

    Downstream

    The journey to Pak Chom and back takes you through some of the most beautiful scenery on the Thai Mekong: hills and cliffs of all shapes and sizes advance and recede around the winding flow, and outside the rainy season, the rapids are dramatic without being dangerous (best Dec–April), and the shores and islands are enlivened by neat grids of market gardens. B3000/boat, around 6hr.

    Kaeng Kut Khu

    B1000/boat.

    Sunset on the Mekong

    The most basic of the boat trips, giving you the chance to see Chiang Khan from the water when the sunlight is at its best. B750/boat, lasts around 1hr.

    Upstream

    Upstream trips head west towards the lofty mountains of Khao Laem and Khao Ngu on the Thai side and Phu Lane and Phu Hat Song in Laos, gliding round a long, slow bend in the Mekong to the mouth of the Heuang River tributary, 20km from Chiang Khan. Stops can be arranged to share the fine views with Phra Yai, a 20m-tall golden Buddha standing on a hilltop at the confluence, and at Hat Sai Kaew, a sandy beach for swimming, fishing and picnicking. Best undertaken in the afternoon, returning at sunset. B1500/boat, around 3hr.