Purpose: The purpose of Tour 18C (Central and Lower Provinces in Isan, Thailand), was to visit and review new sites for the database on the UnseeninThailand website.
Intent: The intension of the tour was initially set to explore four provinces in Lower Isan. These were to be Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram, Surin and Si Saket. The Isan region of Thailand is to date the least explored so far, with still a number of provinces either never visited or receiving minimal attention in the past. Just a handful of groupings remain that lend themselves to a longer tour such as is planned here. Two provinces, Nakhon Ratchasima and Buriram have had some coverage before: Buriram in March 2013, and Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Khiao district in July 2016. Pak Chong District has had some attention before during family visits. There have never been stopovers in Surin or Si Saket provinces. Regarding site visits, the priority was to discover the history of Lower Isan with emphasis on ancient sites and museums. The tour was set initially for two weeks but with an option to extend it or even terminate it and start a new tour.
Achievement: Within the two weeks window allowed for the tour, only three of the provinces were covered and even then, there were still sites missed and some lost opportunities. Some of the deficiency was the result of circumstances beyond my control but at other times we missed out through poor planning. However we were able to add some interesting sites that we hadn’t identified before.
At the end of the two-week period we were diverted to take in a social event in Kalasin province. With a bit of extra good fortune, we could have added this as a fifth province and returned to Bangkok. In the end, it replaced the visit to Si Saket with rather mixed results. Finally, we made that decision to extend the tour to make it a five-province tour. When Roi Et province was discovered to have a good mix of attractions the revised tour was to yield a high level of visits and collection of data making is a contender for the most productive tour to date.
Provinces Nakhon Ratchasima: Our first port of call was Pak Chong. While this destination facilitated a family event it also allowed us to add more site visits in a district we are reasonably familiar with. It is still a district of some size and there is no shortage of natural attractions in this popular area near Khao Yai National Park. We would spend 3 nights here. Moving east we enjoyed the Lamtakong Dam and its scenery but were soon onto the plateau where we soon found ancient monuments in Sung Noen District. These form part of a much larger area of special interest registered by UNESCO as a geopark. Nakhon Ratchasima itself is a modern city with a number of attractions and a history that includes past conflict with Vientiane. The Zoo and Fossil Museum are examples of natural attractions. UNESCO acknowledges that this is an important area in the world for petrified wood. Moving to the northeast is the important Khmer sanctuary of Phimai. With an area to the south covered first, the northern districts were visited on the return leg adding further examples of Khmer influence thus completing our coverage of this province which occupied 7 days.
Buriam: Buriram has been visited before but only the major sanctuaries of Prasat Phanom Rung and Prasat Muang Tam. Leaving these out there is still a good number of other ancient sites to discover. The city of Buriram is relatively modern founded by King Rama I in the 18th century. Besides its historical interest the city is home to the most famous football club in Thailand and the recently opened modern racetrack, Chiang Circuit. This makes the city the most famous for sport outside Bangkok. We were able to limit the time here due to previous visits, just two and a half days.
Surin: Surin is a completely new province for this site. We therefore needed to deal with it effectively including the sites in the disputed area along the Thai/Cambodia border. Ancient Khmer ruins dominate this province causing us to spend 3 nights here after a couple of issued that led to delay.
Kalasin: Kalalsin was another destination that resulted from a planned social event but we eventually covered the province quite effectively. With less than two days needed for that we would spend three nights in Kalasin. With only one ancient site of interest, most of the visits were in the north of the province around the Lam Pao Reservoir including the Sirindhorn Museum and Dinosaur fossil site.
Roi Et: Having visited the museum in Roi Et on the way to Kalasin, I decided to add this province to the tour. I was not disappointed as a number of important Khmer settlements were located in the province to add to my findings further south. Roi-Et also demonstrated that it has some important religious sites from the Lang Xang (Laotain) and Ayutthaya Periods. It also has some exotic modern art temples.

Other Issues: On this tour, there were no personal equipment failures although my mobile had a cracked screen when it was dropped at base. Medical issues were however evident although they did not cause significant delay. Treatment for gout lost a couple of hours then one day in Kalasin I was restricted when I suffered diarrhea. A bout of heatstroke occurred towards the end of the tour but lasted only overnight. Relative to earlier tours these issues were quite light.
Seemingly the most disappointing part of the tour was the hire of the car. From the start, I was unhappy to be offered a lower spec Honda Jazz rather than the Toyota Vios I normally drive. Not long after departure the undertray came loose in a rainstorm and caused further delay later for the same reason. These issues didn’t not lead to finincial loss but we were obliged to drive on temporary red number plates pending full registration which resulted in a police fine. This was refunded but the plates meant there were driving restrictions on the vehicle. All in all most unsatisfactory service by National Car Hire.
Finally: The distance covered on this tour of 5188 km was easily a record for us. The near 100 sites we covered were not all easy to reach and we had to work hard to achieve our objectives. Cost wise, we came out on budget. 1500 baht /day for 2 people. £35 is still amazing under the circumstance.
Points for this tour, I give 7/10 overall perhaps dragged down in little by the lack of sites and conveniences in Kalasin. This is however a major thumbs up to a region that falls well under the radar. Representing the age of dinosaurs through the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Dvaravati, Khmer, Lan Xang, Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin Periods, I doubt if there’s been any tour I’ve covered that is so rich in history. The food has been interesting and the people friendly. It’s been a real pleasure and a privilege to have conducted Tour 18C and I hope I have done the region some justice and opened some eyes in the process.