Often dubbed the heart of Isaan, Khon Kaen has a population between 200,000 and 400,000 (depending on the source), making it one of Thailand’s largest cities. With an enrolment of over 25,000, Khon Kaen University is the biggest in the Northeast. Laos and Vietnam both have consulates here issuing visas in advance — a necessity for travel to Vietnam and required if you want to catch one of the international buses to Vientiane.

Modernity is the way in Khon Kaen today. A handful of buildings reaching up to 30 storeys have joined modern shopping malls, major international chain hotels and sprawling suburbs. While the city lacks the charm of Chiang Mai or Ubon Ratchathani, a few neighbourhoods to the north of town are still graced by old wooden houses, and the tree-lined Bueng Kaen Nakhon Lake provides a scenic stretch for relaxation in the city’s southern reaches.

Khon Kaen was named after Phra That Kham Kaen, an old chedi built over a tamarind tree that supposedly grew miraculously after a relic of the Buddha was placed in a dead stump. It’s located 20 kilometres northeast of the provincial capital, which was founded in the late 1700s by an officer from Vientiane who switched sides after Siam ... Travelfish members only (Full text is around 1,100 words.)