Chiangkhan.

Been out and about this last week and discovered this very interesting place, Chiangkhan. It is located about 50kms on from Loei. It is an almost traditional old style town with many houses made from wood on narrow streets .It is starting to become a popular tourist (Asian) destination so there is plentiful accommodation ranging from home stays to more comfortable guest house/ hotel establishments . Prices from, 300-2,000bht .It nestles right alongside the river Mekhong, with a walkway alongside and most accommodation and restaurants have a river view .There is a lot of history here so I have made a separate topic of it .Meanwhile a few photos to give a taster .






As you can see some houses are untouched , others beautifully restored . Cycles to rent everywhere at 50 bht a day .

We used to do getaways to there.Very nice lady ran the Chiangkahn Guesthouse,good food and quiet balcony looking down on the river.We would rent bicycles and ride around.Just East of town there is a large resort with a pool.It is next to the tourist bus spot when all the local things for sale,gigantic parking lot with a lot of stall markets.The river curves acutely below the parking lot and there is quite a large area with an inlet/outlet on the curve that pools up quietly outside the current where the locals swim.we had a lot of fun playing with them in that area.Nice big sandbar to relax on ,but no shade,so umbrellas are a recommendation!

The only thing negative,for me,was the last trip a couple of years ago,the gal running the above Guest house was taking a hiatus from cooking.The local food, we tried in Town,was very bland and tasteless to me,but they were packed with locals ,so it is a matter of what you like,I guess!

nkstan wrote:Just East of town there is a large resort with a pool.It is next to the tourist bus spot when all the local things for sale,gigantic parking lot with a lot of stall markets.The river curves acutely below the parking lot and there is quite a large area with an inlet/outlet on the curve that pools up quietly outside the current where the locals swim.we had a lot of fun playing with them in that area.Nice big sandbar to relax on ,but no shade,so umbrellas are a recommendation!

I guess you mean Gang Khut Koo Stan . Its an area that has a little souvenir market and is especially noted for the style of the coconut flesh cooked with herbs they make . We went and had barbecued river fish at the riverside stalls there . Delicious.They also rent the long tail boats by the hour , 800bht, but we didn't go as it was a very hot day .

Looks like a lovely little place TB. Taking off for a couple days next week so i think ill check it out. Thanks

A friend & I visited this town on the Mekong about 2 months ago on a cycling trip and found it hardly worth the time and money. It sort of reminded us of a mini "Disney" operation. Lots of renovated building all made to look new with lots of overpriced trinkets for sale. The accomodations ALONGSIDE THE RIVER were way overpriced as were the restaurants for what was offerred. Most of the accomodations are nothing more than a bare room with a mosquito net with an outside shared toilet. Room with a fan was extra extra extra as was an in room toilet, air con, tv, window screens etc (all in short supply). Prices for these places ranged from 800B & up. We only saw 2 small hotels located on the main street in town and both were full. We were told by management that rooms with typical hotel amenities would cost upwardss of 1,200B per night. We finally located a place 1 street back from the river which had air con, in-room toilet & shower, tv etc etc for 500B. The Thais we spoke with seemed to enjoy the town as it took them back to the old days of outdoor plumbing and a much simpler time. A typical Thai "resort" in the countryside offers much more for much less. Taking it one step further and hotels in BKK can be found with much more to offer for much less. For comparison purposes though consider that we stayed at a very nice hotel in Sri Chiang Mai right alongside the river with full amenities to include breakfast for 600B.

I believe the resort Parrot described is located several kms east of the town. My friend & I stopped there for breakfast as we were heading to Sri Chiang Mi. Beautiful scenery indeed which I recorded on my camera which was then subsequently stolen while my back was turned.

fdimike wrote:A friend & I visited this town on the Mekong about 2 months ago on a cycling trip and found it hardly worth the time and money. It sort of reminded us of a mini "Disney" operation. Lots of renovated building all made to look new with lots of overpriced trinkets for sale. The accomodations ALONGSIDE THE RIVER were way overpriced as were the restaurants for what was offerred. Most of the accomodations are nothing more than a bare room with a mosquito net with an outside shared toilet. Room with a fan was extra extra extra as was an in room toilet, air con, tv, window screens etc (all in short supply). Prices for these places ranged from 800B & up. We only saw 2 small hotels located on the main street in town and both were full. We were told by management that rooms with typical hotel amenities would cost upwardss of 1,200B per night. We finally located a place 1 street back from the river which had air con, in-room toilet & shower, tv etc etc for 500B. The Thais we spoke with seemed to enjoy the town as it took them back to the old days of outdoor plumbing and a much simpler time. A typical Thai "resort" in the countryside offers much more for much less. Taking it one step further and hotels in BKK can be found with much more to offer for much less. For comparison purposes though consider that we stayed at a very nice hotel in Sri Chiang Mai right alongside the river with full amenities to include breakfast for 600B.

I believe the resort Parrot described is located several kms east of the town. My friend & I stopped there for breakfast as we were heading to Sri Chiang Mi. Beautiful scenery indeed which I recorded on my camera which was then subsequently stolen while my back was turned.

Guess you don't rate it then Mike ? I know your problem . No bagels there .

Truebrit
There are many nice places to visit in Thailand all very reasonably priced. We found this place to be way overpriced for what was there much in the same way Phuket has become. The same river sights were available elswhere at nowhere near the cost ie Si Chiang Mai. It seemed to us the locals were just trying to exploit the Thai tourists who seem to feel the quaint village was worth the visit and way overpriced accomodations and food. A local Thai friend who also visited this village felt pretty much the same. To top it all NO bagels!!!

fdimike wrote:Truebrit
There are many nice places to visit in Thailand all very reasonably priced. We found this place to be way overpriced for what was there much in the same way Phuket has become. The same river sights were available elswhere at nowhere near the cost ie Si Chiang Mai. It seemed to us the locals were just trying to exploit the Thai tourists who seem to feel the quaint village was worth the visit and way overpriced accomodations and food. A local Thai friend who also visited this village felt pretty much the same. To top it all NO bagels!!!

Surprised that your main concern was the price Mike. There are many places in the world , not just Thailand, that are expensive by comparison to others, but I still like to visit them , at least once, anyway. Monte Carlo comes to mind, went there had a great time, wouldn't have missed it for anything, but so damn expensive, wouldn't go back.I did point out that accommodation was available for all tastes in Chiangkhan from 300_2,000bht. Yes you can get a better room for your money in say , Udon, but I was not there, I was in Chiangkhan .I do realise however that normally us Brits have a different sense of history to our American friends .

truebrit wrote: "I do realise however that normally us Brits have a different sense of history to our American friends."


mai khao jai

Shado wrote:truebrit wrote: "I do realise however that normally us Brits have a different sense of history to our American friends."


mai khao jai

Hi Shado. The fact you don't understand verifies my point but as explaining will take this thread way off topic I am going to start, possibly a debate on the differences on an appropriate forum .

Ron

You missed my point completely. I was not concerned about the price. What concerned me was what you were getting for your money. We checked out a number of different places along the main street as well as in several side streets. The vast majority of accomodations were home stay with NO amenities what so ever unless you consider the cracks in the walls and floor to be attractive. There were very few places offerring anything resembling the price being asked. As far as we were concerned what was being sold to the Thai tourists was a dose of nostalgia. This was the way grandma & grandpa lived long ago. I was not really interested in that aspect of Thai culture so saw no value in laying out that kind of money. Additionally, there was nothing special about the town itself to include the restaurants. One could have seen the same types of houses and shops in most any Mekong River town for much less money. The Thai friend I mentioned who visited the town with several freinds also felt the same way. I think the best way to end this is by simply saying to each his own.

I repeat that the one exception is the resort described by Parrot but that is several kms outside the town.

There is one waterfront, northern part of town, one of the last guesthouse, LoogMai, rather nice, has webpage I believe. One large room and couple smaller. One en-suite, others shared, and very clean and comfortable no matter which one use. Nice sitting area and gracious host. Stayed at one, forget the name, will have to check and see if I have information someplace, but after nightfall, the place filled up with flying bugs, and so annoying we left w/half refund, and have badmouthed them on a couple forums. Costing them much more than their scamming profit on me.

Like the town, food options are a bit limited, though on the way to Nong Khai, a stream that dumps into the Mekong, has vendors along it with many BBQ food options. Very comfortable for munching and suds if you enjoy such.

truebrit,

Thank you for your response pointing out your perspective on the differences between the sense history, on the British & American History thread. However I still don't understand your original post. I will quote you again; "Yes you can get a better room for your money in say , Udon, but I was not there, I was in Chiangkhan .I do realise however that normally us Brits have a different sense of history to our American friends."

What does your visit to Chiangkhan have to do with a different sense of history? I'm just trying to understand the meaning of your statement.