Indochina's Gate

Overview

Plah Kluk Ka-min Photo - Mukdahan, Thailand

Quote:

If you are a fan of relaxed riverside locations, then Mukdahan is heaven for you. The Mekong River is especially wide and slow flowing here; adding to the general calmness of the zone. Its presence assures a fresh supply of fishes to the market; and more specifically to the night market – where apparently the entire town dines. The sixty-five meters high Mukdahan Tower with its circular viewpoint at the top is at the southern part of the town and offers very green views of the surrounding area.Quick Tips: The city is slowly building itself as a regional centre, thus all the essentials are available there. The night market is an exceptional place to eat: it offers many Laotian foods and fruits...Read More

If you are a fan of relaxed riverside locations, then Mukdahan is heaven for you. The Mekong River is especially wide and slow flowing here; adding to the general calmness of the zone. Its presence assures a fresh supply of fishes to the market; and more specifically to the night market – where apparently the entire town dines. The sixty-five meters high Mukdahan Tower with its circular viewpoint at the top is at the southern part of the town and offers very green views of the surrounding area.

Quick Tips:

The city is slowly building itself as a regional centre, thus all the essentials are available there. The night market is an exceptional place to eat: it offers many Laotian foods and fruits, including things like rarmood, which usually is only seen fresh across the border. Taking advantage from the near Mekong, you should look for an extra-fresh Plah Kluk Ka-min: a fresh fish coated with a paste of garlic, turmeric and salt and stuffed with leaves before being grilled.

One block away from the river, at the connection of the market with the main axial road and the fountain, is placed the only Seven Eleven in the town in a nice semicircular corner.

Best Way To Get Around:

Mukdahan is well connected to the rest of the country. A good way of arriving is with a night bus from Bangkok, which will save you a night at a hotel. All the main cities in Isan have buses to Mukdahan: Ubon, Korat, Udon and Khon Kaen are just a few hours away. Due to this facts, Mukdahan is you r perfect base while exploring Isan, an excellent alternative to the over-toured towns along highway 2, which connects Bangkok with Vientiane in Laos. Since Laos is a long and relatively narrow country, it makes sense to cross the border here and then advance to the north: otherwise you will be making loops. If you are planning to cross to Laos the Thai Immigration Office is by the northern side of the Indochina Market.

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Mondays and Thursdays are for That Phanom

Attraction

The Main Road Photo - That Phanom, Thailand

Quote:

Mondays and Thursdays are the perfect days for making a day trip from Mukdahan to That Phanom, since these are the market days. That Phanom is an important pilgrimage centre for Thais and it hosts downscaled replicas of some Vientiane’s monuments. LocationBetween Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan, and along the Mekong River, the town of That Phanom is usually overlooked by travelers in ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 20, 2007

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Indochina’s Market

Attraction

Indochina Market Photo - Mukdahan, Thailand

Quote:

A casual look at a map or a quick pass through the city is not enough to tell why Mukdahan is different from the other towns along the Thai Mekong. The first clue appears only after taking a glimpse across the Mekong River, which reveals a little town half hidden among the endless greenery of the Laotian side: Savannakhet is the main river port in landlocked Laos.Yet, the quest is incomplete; the importance of Mukdahan cannot be seen by eye, since it is not related ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 20, 2007

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The Town of Mukdahan

Attraction

Quote:

Thailand was spared the long years of colonialism experienced by Indochina; for Thailand the French colonies east of the Mekong meant new trade opportunities. The town Mukdahan became one of the main traffic points.Mukdahan’s strategic location along the Mekong transformed this eye-catching and relaxed town into one of the main crossing points into Indochina and the home to one of the best Indochina Markets in Thailand.MekongRoughly a mile wide, ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 20, 2007

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South of Mukdahan

Story/Tip

Boat Restaurants Photo - Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand

Quote:

Mukdahan is the perfect base for exploring Isaan, especially for visiting the Mekong River area; south from the city are some of the most beautiful spots along the way. Unfortunately this area is not well covered by buses or travel agencies: to travel along road 2148 you will need a good Thai friend with a private car. Renting a car in one of Isaan main cities and doi...Read More

Mukdahan is the perfect base for exploring Isaan, especially for visiting the Mekong River area; south from the city are some of the most beautiful spots along the way. Unfortunately this area is not well covered by buses or travel agencies: to travel along road 2148 you will need a good Thai friend with a private car. Renting a car in one of Isaan main cities and doing it independently is also an option, but a less fun one. Thais are very friendly; don’t be shy and you would be surprised from the results. Road 2148 is a relatively new one, running along the riverside towards Khong Chiam. The greenery along the way is captivating and among it there are two stops worth mentioning.

The first is the boat restaurants in the town of Khong Chiam. There the Mun River meets the mighty Mekong after having crossed much of Isaan. The Thai culture being cradled along rivers, they feel doubly comfortable here, and the locals took advantage of the situation by placing a few restaurant boats along the Mun banks. The restaurants specialize in traditional delicacies, which are served in classical dishes, unlike in many of their counterparts elsewhere. A local companion to help you with the formalities is recommended but not essential. The food, especially the ones based on aquatic ingredients, is always fresh and tasty. The boats provide a very suitable environment to enjoy your meal; they offer shade but do not have walls, letting the lazy river breeze to refresh you. For Thailand, the dishes are relatively expensive but not exceedingly so. Try the Tom Yam Kung in a traditional heater or the giant river shrimps.

The second point of special interest is further south and is called Chong Mek, which is the only land border-cross between Thailand and Laos, and is located a bit north from the triple border with Cambodia. The place is peculiar for being more accessible from Laos than from Thailand. This is quite a strong statement: in Thailand there is a twelve-lanes highway connecting any two villages and VIP buses using them, while Laos hardly has tiny roads connecting its major cities and decrepit old buses carrying enough bananas on their roofs to bend them in. Yet, in Laos one bus from Pakse, a bridge over the Mekong River and a forty kilometres way do the trick, while in Thailand the way to Chong Mek is a very secondary one and most Thai people look at this area as the local equivalent to Russian Siberia. Low green hills, a classical green-roofed Laotian structure hosting the immigration authorities and a quite large market in the Laotian side with a small "duty free", all of them catering to the Thai visitors, summarize the place.
If you are not crossing any deeper, you do not need to deal with the Laotian authorities, just drop a five Bahts coin (12 cents) at the Thai immigration stall by the border, pick up the receipt and you can cross legally, no stamp will be added to your passport. A basic restaurant serves Laotian coffee and other local delicacies and around it is a huge market. Many Thais come here specifically to buy birds, and I was surprised to see owls and other endangered species for sale there. Another unusual product for sale is the Betel Nut; its users, usually old women, are easily recognizable since the chewing of the nut causes a reaction that turns the teeth and gums into a deep red color and from time to time they spit "blood". The use is very uncommon these days and seeing it in a market in the quantities seen in Chong Mek is rare and added some spice to the visit.

You can do easily this trip in one long day and finish it either by returning to Mukdahan or by continuing to Ubon – the Emerald Triangle’s main city. The last term is relatively new and denotes the triple border between Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Why Emerald? The first glimpse of the lush green area would provide the answer.
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Mukdahan Journals

Indochina's Gate

Indochina's Gate

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Mondays and Thursdays are for That Phanom

Indochina’s Market

The Town of Mukdahan

South of Mukdahan

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