The Land of Orphan Toasters

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A travel journal to Khon Kaen by SeenThat

Quote: Swamping around in, out and in between the Land of Orphan Toasters’ heart: on civil graciousness, a tall Buddha, great fruits and silking out visas.

9 Photos

Beung Kaen Nakhon

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Attraction | "Swamping Around"

Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon Photo - Khon Kaen, Thailand

Quote:

Meaning the "marsh" or "swamp at the city centre," Beung Kaen Nakhon is a delightful lake located south of the modern downtown area of Khon Kaen, nothing was left from the former marshland. It is the main leisure area in the city and is an important center for travelers, especially around the northern shore where the Lakeside Market is. The market operates mainly in the afternoon hours, offering food, snacks and many "paint-your-pottery" stalls. However, the main attractions in the market are the stalls renting bikes (20 baht per hour) and the ones renting paddleboats and canoes (30 baht for half an hour). Thailand being ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 8, 2009

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Saen Samran Hotel

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Hotel | "On Teakwood and an Arbitrary Guesthouse"

Street Market near Saen Samran Photo - Saen Samran Hotel, Khon Kaen, Thailand

Quote:

Location, Location, and LocationIn MBA courses is taught that the three most important conditions for a business success are: Location, Location, and Location. Accordingly, Klang Muang Road, the second street eastern from Khon Kaen’s bus terminal hosts several guesthouses. Due to the large number of people crossing this transport hub usually it is difficult to find a place if arriving during the late afternoon.Yet, there are a number of worthy options. The popular Saen Samran Hotel is at Klang Muang 55-9, and offers fan single rooms from 150 to 200B. The renovated Roma hotel asks for 230 to 400B, the Khon Kaen Hotel 500B, and the Pongin Mantion 200 to 350B, all of them a...Read More

Location, Location, and Location

In MBA courses is taught that the three most important conditions for a business success are: Location, Location, and Location. Accordingly, Klang Muang Road, the second street eastern from Khon Kaen’s bus terminal hosts several guesthouses. Due to the large number of people crossing this transport hub usually it is difficult to find a place if arriving during the late afternoon.

Yet, there are a number of worthy options. The popular Saen Samran Hotel is at Klang Muang 55-9, and offers fan single rooms from 150 to 200B. The renovated Roma hotel asks for 230 to 400B, the Khon Kaen Hotel 500B, and the Pongin Mantion 200 to 350B, all of them are along Klang Muang. The Rossukond Hotel is at the Glang Muang and Prachasamosorn junction and asks for 550B.

Saen Samran

Always seeking for points of historical interest, I approached Saen Samran, the oldest guesthouse in town. Accordingly, it occupies a traditional Thai teak house. Thai towns are characterized by low rows of shophouses many of them built of teakwood. Shophouses are two or three storey structures, where the entrance level is dedicated to commercial activity, while the upper floors are used as the living quarters of the owners.

Many of the older buildings in town that are not dedicated to administrative or religious tasks enter this category. Nowadays forbidden of being logged in Thailand, teak was a popular building material in the past. Many buildings have survived and many are being built with trees brought from Myanmar. Teak is popular not only due to being native of the area. It can be worked easily and its oils provide protection from weather and termites. Saen Samran occupies a modified shophouse in which the ground floor became a reception area and lobby while the upper ones house the guest rooms.

The lobby hosts the reception, a television set, a few coaches and a noticeboard; the staff is somewhat unhelpful, but that is a secondary issue: it is very easy to wander around Khon Kaen.

Most rooms are in the second floor, away from the noise by the entrance, and they have been arbitrarily divided into big and small rooms, the small ones cost 150B while the others 200B per night. Despite that, all the rooms are roughly the same size and include a bed, a fan and a big but basic bathroom with a cold-water shower; the corner rooms have two windows instead of the regular one. Not all of them have electric sockets available, thus if in need of charging electronic gadgets then check that out before signing for the room. Since it is the best-known place among the inexpensive guesthouses, try to check-in early; otherwise, it would be probably full.

As mentioned above, beyond being in a beautiful house, another advantage of the Saen Samran is its location: Klang Muang is one of the main avenues in the city. It hosts a lively Night Market offering the best of Isaan and a day market is located nearby. If all these weren’t enough, there is a Seven Eleven branch practically across the road as well as several internet kiosks.

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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 8, 2009

Saen Samran Hotel
55-59 Klang Muang Road
Amper Muang, Khon Kaen, Thailand 4000
043-239611

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Shopping Around in Khon Kaen

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Attraction | "Silking Out Visas"

Quote:

At Isaan's heart, Khon Kaen combines the relaxed ambience of small, rural Thai towns with all the commodities of the bigger ones; its fast developing center provides an attractive commercial environment for travelers looking for Isaan’s products. Of the last, silk is the main, but not only, one.VisasSurprisingly, Khon Kaen houses two consulates. There is no special reason for issuing the corresponding visas here; actually, Bangkok would be a better place for the Laotian one and Phnom Penh for the Vietnamese visa. However, if staying in Khon Kaen for a wh...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 8, 2009

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Traveling in Khon Kaen

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Attraction | "In, Out and In Between"

Read the Sign! Photo - Khon Kaen, Thailand

Quote:

In BetweenDivided by Highway 2, Khon Kaen features an easy to remember grid of streets: east of the highway are the Na Muang and Klang Muang roads running from north to south; perpendicular to them are Srichan and Prachasamosorn roads. Between these streets is the main commercial area of town.Klang Muang is one of the main avenues in the city, hosting a lively Night Market. There are several 7 Eleven branches and several Internet Cafes. South of downtown is the Bueng Kaen Nakhon Lake, which offers several recreational activities. Both areas host the bulk of travelers passing through town, though the first is substantially bigger and better located. Yet, the second offers...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 8, 2009

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On Thai Rice

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Attraction | "The Land of Orphan Toasters"

Khao Niao Ma Muang Photo - Khon Kaen, Thailand

Quote:

First SightSoon after I landed in Thailand for the first time, I found myself standing in the dry food products area of a local market. One of the shops displayed many bags of rice, each one containing a different product. Long, short, white, brown and types I couldn’t identify properly. It was like olives in the Middle East or potatoes in the Bolivian highlands: I was in the rice homeland, in the Land of Orphan Toasters.Disbelief...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 8, 2009

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Roi Et

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Attraction | "On a Tall Buddha and Great Fruits"

Standing Buddha at Bung Phlan Chai, Roi Et Photo - Thailand, Asia

Quote:

Probably it was luck, but the fact is that I found the sweetest fruits in Thailand while visiting Roi Et. But this centric town in Isaan has more than fruits to offer. Justifying a visit there is simple; Roi Et offers easy access to most of the southern half of the Thai Mekong and is near the National Highway 2, connecting Bangkok with Laos. Reaching it unintentionally is difficult, leaving it ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 8, 2009

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Chaiyaphum

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Attraction | "Civil Graciousness"

Prang Ku at Chaiyaphum Photo - Thailand, Asia

Quote:

By the end of my most recent trip to Thailand, I found myself at timeless moment of the day – after all time doesn’t flow there – at Khon Kaen’s bus terminal, wondering what would be the most interesting way of returning to Bangkok. Unluckily, I already had traveled all the main routes and visited all the major towns in the area; the chances to innovate were slim. I walked back and forth among the terminal bays until one sign caught my attention, "Chaiyaphum" it said. I knew the name and roughly where the town was but never had visited it. The decision to reach Bangkok via Chaiyaphum was immedi...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 8, 2009

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About the Writer

SeenThat
Tel Aviv, Israel

"See http://www.igougo.com/travel_blog/post-p164-5_Questions_for_SeenThat.html We are all pilgrims....."
222 journals
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