PhilR wrote: Loei is only about 80 miles away i believe.

And the rest Phil. Takes nearly 2 hours by car.
If your planning to live there, hope you like Issan food. Very few Western food outlets.

According to google maps, UT to Loei is about 150km, or 93 miles.

collingwood wrote:Phil R
If you are in Loei the Krung Thai bank have a display board of houses and land for sale. I think they are properties the bank has foreclosed on but not certain about that. ....
....... Word of mouth seems to work quite well here.

Yes, think you're correct about the foreclosing.

Phil, yes something I never, perhaps, mentioned to you, but many banks do have these notice boards, but I'm not certain of the 'value for money'. Personally, I cannot imagine the banks would offer too many real bargains,but I,hopefully, stand to be corrected.
Word of mouth ...... That's some understatement. Blimey, one has only to break wind and the whole district is gossiping about it!
Seriously, if there's a property for sale/rent, then word gets about quickly locally.

Thanks coillingwood the information about Krung Thai Bank in Loei, i'll certainly visit there this September. As for the two hour drive to Udon, i do like Issan food Galee, within reason of course! But like here, i could do the weekly 'big shop' in Udon as i do here maybe? So, 93 miles, quite a way but if i remember a pretty good road between the two!?

As for local knowledge Brian. As you know when at the Loei Palace before, i asked about a rental car, and i'm sure a car of a mate of the receptionist appeared, fronted by his girlfriend who could speak English! So i'm sure that local asking will pay dividends there. And, i think because property is so uncommercialised still, hopefully the prices will stay low, which suits me just fine!

Little bit of caution required when buying from the Banks.
Make sure that the property is actually physically empty before you buy & change all locks on moving in!!
The road Loei/Udon is pretty good, but I guess 2 hours each way is a fair estimate of the time it will take.

Great thread and pics BeerMonkey!
Can you tell me if the pool is heated at the Palace Hotel or is it ice cold like most of them in the Isan?
I'm planning a trip to Phu Rua in the coming weeks with the family and looking for a place to sleep.

Sorry to revive and old thread...

It is unheated so you will probably have it to yourselves.

You may want to opt to stay in Phu Rua, I checked trip advisor, and the ChiangKhan thread (a couple of posts down) and got some recent info on visitng and staying in the area.