Nong Khai (หนองคาย) is a city in North-East Thailand, capital of the Nong Khai Province. It is situated directly at the Mekong River and is the site of the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge across to Laos. It is the Thai gateway to the Laotian capital of Vientiane 25 kilometres up river, on the north bank opposite the town of Sri Chiang Mai on the Thai side. Although at the time of building the bridge, railtrack was installed along the centre of the roadway to the Laos side, no railway infrastructure exists in Laos to connect it with any on-going destinations. The service currently stops one kilometre short of the border at a new railway station not far from the city centre of Nong Khai.

Nong Khai's main sight is Sala Kaew Ku (also Wat Khaek), a park of massive sculptures (some over 20m tall). The park is the handiwork of the mystic Luang Pa Bunleua Sulilat, who bought the land in 1978 when he was exiled from his native Laos. Synthesizing Buddhism, Hindu and Confucian ideologies, Buddhas, many-armed goddesses, naga snakes and all sorts of human-animal hybrids dominate the scenery.

In more recent years, Nong Khai has become a popular destination during the Buddhist lent festival when mysterious balls of light, or Naga fireballs, rise from the Mekong river.

Economy
Nong Khai is essentially a border town with the typical traffic associated with such locations. Tourism is mainly comprised of short stopovers by people traveling to and from Laos. The main thoroughfare is mainly populated by hardware stores, banks and gold shops. A large, busy Indo-china market thrives in the city centre along the riverside. Tourists are catered for by a wide selection of hosteleries from budget guesthouses to international hotels and thriving evening entertainment.

Extracted from Wikipedia: Nong Khai

i am currently a resident of nong kai city- well city is a bitof a joke really its a moderate size town to be honest.

interesting place tho for a visit and within easy touching distance of laos

Welcome to the board sparky. Any other information you can add about Nong Khai would be greatly appreciated. Places to Stay, Eat, Drink and Shop are generally the going concerns but anything of interest for sightseeing is welcome as well.

eating wise thai style the best place is DeeDees generall accepted as the best by thais and falang both.

typical meal for 2 with a coule of drinks is around 2-300 bht.

falang food you have a few options but i prefer the meeting place as its decent grub - i tend to eat here most days.

other options are the danish baker for the german/ scandinavians and one or two others down the riverside.

accomodation wise for a decent hotel there is the grand tho its a bit out of town on the dual carraigeway.

in town the pawantree is the next best with aircon and comtuters in all rooms- rates can be a bit blurry tho with 1 being charged 800 and another 1200 or so.
i know the guy(one of the family that is who owns it) who owns it if anyone wants to stay there i can have a word.

longer term accomodation is a lot cheaper than pattaya- an unfurnished 3 bed bungalow can be rented for 3000bht per month

nightlife is nothing like pattaya but it can still be found if you know where too look. mainly tucked away beer bars and thai kareoke.

shopping is limited to be honest- Udon up the rd is a better bet.

i am no expert at all on Nong kai- there are many that know far more than me but if anyone wants any info on the place i can do my best to find out.

Sparky

Thanks sparky appreciate the help.

Board Member PSP (Paul) used to run the Meeting Place and is now managing Lennie's in Pattaya. I'm not sure if he still has anything to do with the meeting place or not.

Ye Paul still owns the place but now has a manager in and also pauls wife helps run it as well.

just sitting here in the meetingplace now posting this as it has wifi and eating homemade lasagne.

Sounds great, wish I could be there myself. Instead I have to put up with sub-zero temperatures for another month.

Hi Guys

Just to update this Thread, the Meeting Place is now co-owned and run by Martin (Sparky) and my Wife Ilene.

Please be sure to stop by and say hello. They will be delighted to offer any advice they can on the area.

Regards


PSP

My girlfriend and I were in Nong Khai in mid January for 3 days. Essentially I just wanted to see the Mekong River. We stayed at Mut Mee guest house which is on the banks of the Mekong. The accommodation varies, but we had an air-conditioned room, large private balcony, hot shower etc for THB 700 a night. Whilst Mut Mee was comfortable and in a great 'jungle' setting (which unfortunately meant heaps of mossies), it was a bit too alternative/hippie for me. You can check out their website Mut Mee for further details and things to see and do in and around Nong Khai.

There are many other guest houses along Rim Kong road (head east from the city pier) which are cheaper (around THB 300) and have less variable accommodation. There are also a few bars along that road including one run by an Englishman that has delicious home made beef pies and a level pool table. My GF’s sister’s boyfriend and I consumed a few pie and beers there whilst the family ate Som Tam down the road.

Nong Khai has more than it’s fair share of Wats, a few impressive public buildings and even a city museum (helps if you can read Thai). A visit to Sala Kaew Ku sculpture garden just out of town is a must and there are a few national parks and archeological sites worth visiting also.

I’d go back again, timing my visit with the Mekong fireballs at the end of Buddhist Lent.

I'd put a few photos here but can't work out the process, other than using attachments. And I'm in IT!

There is some kind of festival in NongKhai starting tomorrow, Feb 05 and ending on Feb 17. Lots of clothes and foods from all over Thailand for sale. You know, the normal Thai festival goings on.

Going to make the traffic in that part of town a bit difficult. The Thai weather bureau predicts a 10 percent chance of rain for the next week or so. Temperatures are getting up to just about 38 or 39 degrees C ( thats about 100 F for those that can not convert yet ). Should be a good week.

thanx for the info mate im visiting there with a tg in july and would be thinking about staying at your place as ive just read youve taken over the meeting place i will get back to you later to varyfy cheers that is if you have rooms there

This post has been edited by pauljo: Jun 2 2007, 02:15 PM

sorry mate only just seen your post- i dont log onto addicts as often as i should.

if you havnt already contacted me or visited the website is now up and running

http://www.the-meeting-place.com/

and email

martin@the-meeting-place.com