Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [451]
You’ll find a loom under most of the 300 houses, and the little shop at the temple stocks some traditional Phu Thai designs.
Srng·ta·ou head to Nong Sung (40B, 1¼ hours) every 10 minutes throughout the day from lane 16 of Mukdahan’s bus terminal. Six or so of these will continue to Ban Phu (50B), but it’s at the discretion of the driver. Khon Kaen-bound buses also stop in Nong Sung (2nd class 43B, one hour, every half-hour until 4.30pm). At Nong Sung you can hire a motorcycle taxi (50B to 60B) or a srng·ta·ou (about 100B) for the final leg.
YASOTHON & ROI ET PROVINCES
Yasothon and Roi Et, two of Thailand’s most rural provinces, have little of interest to fast-track travellers, but they do show a side of Thailand that few people (including other Thais) ever see.
People looking to nose deeper into Isan culture will want to take a peek at Phra That Kong Khao Noi and purchase some pillows in Ban Si Than in Yasothon Province. Yasothon city saves all of its fireworks for the annual Rocket Festival, which completes a trifecta of Isan icons. Roi Et Province has a few enormous off-beat attractions, including a 68m standing Buddha statue, and its capital city is the far more pleasant of the two.
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YASOTHON
pop 23,000
Yasothon has little to offer outside the offi-cial whizz-bang period of mid-May and neither looks nor acts like a capital city. In fact, it barely feels like a city at all.
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Sights
The centrepiece of Wat Mahathat (Th Wariratchadet; daylight hr) is Phra That Anon (aka Phra That Yasothon), a highly venerated Lao-style chedi. It’s said to date from AD 695 and to enshrine holy relics of Phra Anan (Ananda), the Buddha’s personal attendant monk. Much more interesting, however, is the gorgeous little hr rai, dating to the 1830s and restored in 2008, which sits on stilts in a pond. If you ask a monk, he’ll let you look inside.
Wat Singh Ta (Th Uthai-Rammarith; daylight hr) is rather ordinary, but the block fronting its southeast corner is a treasure trove of classic Chinese shophouses. It’s 300m off the main road, west of Kasikornbank.
Festivals
The Rocket Festival (Bun Bâng Fai) is celebrated on the second weekend of May. Rocket Festivals are held to herald the rainy season across Isan, but nowhere as fervently as in Yasothon where it involves local dances, parades and rocket-launching contests. The largest rockets, called bâng fai san, are packed with 120kg of nitrate. Those whose homemade rockets fail to launch get tossed in the mud.
Sleeping & Eating
In Town Hotel (no roman-script sign; 0 4571 3007; 614 Th Jangsanit; r 220-380B; ) This place, on the main road, is far enough south that it almost loses the rights to its name, but for Yasothon it’s far better than the budget average. The Warotohn Hotel next door is even cheaper, though not quite as good.
Yasothon Orchid Garden (no roman-script sign; 0 4572 1000; 219 Th Prachasamphan; r 400-450B; ) Conveniently near the bus terminal, this is a plain but reasonable midranger with big rooms. Wi-fi is available in ground-floor rooms and the restaurant stays open until midnight.
Green Park (0 4571 4700; Th Wariratchadet; r 500-800B; ) Similar standards to the Orchid, but with a modern flair. It has wi-fi in all rooms and for 60B per day you can use the adjacent health club. On the downside, there are no restaurants nearby. It’s 1km east of the night market on the way to Mukdahan.
JP Emerald Hotel (0 4572 4848; 36 Th Prapa; r 800-1000B, ste 1600B; ) The lobby is lovely and the rooms comfy, though they’ve fallen behind