Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [446]
The battle had caused the whole area to sink and it became a huge lake, called Nong Han. The widows who did not eat the squirrel meat were safe and their houses were left undamaged on a small island that has been called Don Hang Mai (Widow’s Island) ever since.
Phadaeng returned to Phaphong, but could not bear the sadness from the loss of Nang Ai. He chose to die in order to continue to fight for her. After his death, he became a ghost leader and his army fought the naga in Muang Badan. The fight lasted so long that the god Indra had to come down to stop it. Ever since, Nang Ai has been waiting for Indra to decide who should be her husband.
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Pra Cha Chuen (no roman-script sign; 0 4271 1818; 382 Th Makkhalai; dishes 69-229B; dinner) This lovely, youthful place in an old wooden house is Sakon’s most publike restaurant, but they don’t slack on the food. Whether it’s the fried rice or lah chôrn sá·mŭn·prai (snake-head fish with herbs in chilli sauce with mango) it will be divine.
Shopping
Sakon’s OTOP Center (0 4271 1533; Th Sukkasem; 8.30am-5pm) sells interesting hand-woven silk and cotton fabrics and clothes dyed with indigo and other natural colorants. You can also pick up maoberry and black-ginger wines.
Getting There & Away
PB Air (0 4271 5179; in Bangkok 0 2261 0222; www.pbair.com; 1438 Th Yuwaphattana; 8.30am-5.30pm Sun-Fri, 8.30am-3pm Sat) flies once or twice daily to/from Bangkok (one way 3015B, 70 minutes).
Sakon’s centrally located bus terminal (Th Ratpattana) serves Ubon Ratchathani (ordinary/1st class 125/225B, five hours, nine daily), That Phanom (ordinary/air-con 38/68B, 1¼ hours, hourly), Nakhon Phanom (2nd/1st class 65/85B, 1½ hours, every 45 minutes), Udon Thani (ordinary/1st class 73/148B, 3½ hours, every half-hour), Khon Kaen (ordinary/1st class 129/188B, four hours, five daily) and Bangkok (2nd/1st class 386/497B, 11 hours, morning and late afternoon departures only).
There are also 2nd-class buses to Udon Thani (109B, every half-hour) and Khon Kaen (155B, five daily) from the Esso petrol station north of the bus terminal. 999 VIP (0 4271 2860) sends 24-seat buses to Bangkok (773B, 8.30am, 7.30pm and 7.45pm) from a roadside stop on Th Reuang Sawat (across from Sakon Nakhon Pattana Supsa School) south of town, but if you want to reserve a seat you need to buy tickets from its office on Th Sukkasem.
AROUND SAKON NAKHON
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Ajahn Fan Ajaro Museum
Luang Pu (Ajahn) Fan Ajaro, a famous student of Ajahn Man, lived at Wat Pa Udom Somphon in his home district of Phanna Nikhom from 1964 until his death in 1977. His museum (admission free; 8am-5pm), inside a chedi with a triple-layer lotus design, commemorates his life with the usual display of relics, photos and worldly possessions. Unlike Wat Pa Sutthawat ( Click here), which has become a wát têe·o (tourist wát), this is still a strict forest meditation monastery. The temple is 40km from Sakon Nakhon towards Udon Thani on Hwy 22, then 2km north of Ban Phanna Nikhom on Th Srisawadwilai.
Phu Phan Rajaniwet Palace
The grounds of the royal family’s Isan home (0 4271 1550; admission free; 8am-4pm) are open to the public when not in use. It’s quite a modest residence compared to some of their other palaces, but the gardens are beautiful and peaceful. You can’t drive around the grounds, but you can down drive to the ele-phant corral. Visitors are not permitted to wear shorts, short dresses or revealing tops.
The palace is 14km south of Sakon Nakhon, just off Rte 213. Take a Kalasin-bound bus (18B to 20B, 20 minutes, hourly).
Phu Phan National Park
Swathed in forest and tumbling over the pretty Phu Phan mountains, Phu Phan National Park (08 1263 5029; admission free) remains relatively undeveloped and isolated. It’s no surprise that the area once provided cover for the renowned Seri Thai resistance fighters in WWII and People’s Liberation Army of Thailand (PLAT) guerrillas in the 1970s. The former used Tham Seri Thai as an arsenal and mess hall during WWII. As