Khon Kaen

Khon Kaen's museum and lake pagoda, then silk or dinosaurs

Two days in Khon Kaen covers the city and one day trip. Day one takes in Khon Kaen National Museum, the City Pillar Shrine and sunset from Wat Nong Wang's nine-tier pagoda over Bueng Kaen Nakhon. Day two goes to Chonnabot for mudmee silk or to Phu Wiang for dinosaur fossils.

If you came in on one of the flights from Bangkok, Khon Kaen Airport is only 8 km out, so start at Khon Kaen National Museum on Lang Sun Ratchakan Road when it opens at 09:00. Its rooms run from Ban Chiang's prehistoric pottery and a Stone Age skeleton to Khmer lintels gathered across the region, and an hour and a half is about right. Have lunch nearby, then take a songthaew or Grab to the City Pillar Shrine on Thepharak Road, where an inscribed stone brought from an ancient site in Chum Phae stands beside the pillar.

Late afternoon is for Bueng Kaen Nakhon. Climb the nine tiers of Wat Nong Wang's pagoda, looking at the painted history scenes on the way up, and reach the viewing level for sunset over the lake. Walk part of the loop past the sculptures and the monument to the city's founder, then eat grilled chicken and som tam at the lakeside stalls. If you still have energy, the shrine projects free films outdoors at around 20:00.

On the second day, choose between silk and dinosaurs. Chonnabot, south-west of the city, is where weavers tie and dye mudmee thread before it goes on the loom, and village shops sell the cloth. Phu Wiang, to the west, has a dinosaur museum and dig sites with bones still in the rock. Either is far easier with a hired car or a local tour than by bus.

Khao Suan Kwang grilled chicken and the Ton Tann evening stalls

Khon Kaen's signature is gai yang Khao Suan Kwang, chicken marinated, flattened and grilled slowly over charcoal, eaten with som tam, larb and sticky rice. Sour sai krok Isan sausage and nam tok salad are everywhere, and Ton Tann market and the Bueng Kaen Nakhon shore are the best evening food stops.

Grilled chicken is a point of pride in this province. Gai yang Khao Suan Kwang, named after a district north of the city, is marinated, flattened and cooked slowly over charcoal, then eaten with som tam, larb and sticky rice from a woven basket. Roadside grills all over town sell their own versions, and the better ones run out by early evening.

The other Isan staples are easy to find. Look for sai krok Isan, sour sausages of fermented pork and rice grilled until crisp, nam tok, a grilled beef or pork salad sharp with lime and chilli, and the fierce dipping sauces that come with everything. The streets around the Srichan Road hotels and the Roma Hotel stretch have cheap eateries open late. Ton Tann, an open-air evening market, mixes craft stalls with food carts, and the shore of Bueng Kaen Nakhon fills with grills and sweet stalls at sunset.

Students keep the cafes busy near Khon Kaen University. For a break from Thai food, Indian and Western menus cluster around the Pullman Hotel. If you want a beer with dinner, remember that shops sell alcohol only from 11:00 to midnight, and not at all on major Buddhist holidays.

The Silk Festival in November and Songkran on Khao Niao Road

November to February is the best time to visit Khon Kaen, with January lows near 18C and about 5 mm of rain in December. The Silk Festival and Phuk Siao ceremony run for about ten days from late November, Songkran fills Khao Niao Road in mid-April, and September is the wettest month at about 246 mm.

Cool, dry weather lasts from November to February. January lows sit near 18C and highs around 31C, and December gets only about 5 mm of rain, so this is the season for trips to Chonnabot and Phu Wiang and for the hike up Phu Kradung. It is festival time too. The Silk Festival and the Phuk Siao friendship ceremony fill the city for about ten days from late November, with weavers selling mudmee and a ritual of tying cotton threads round the wrists of new friends. Book rooms early.

March to May brings the heat, and April averages about 36C. Songkran in mid-April is the biggest party of the year here, centred on Khao Niao Road, the city's 'sticky rice street', which closes to traffic for days of water fights and concerts.

Phu Kradung closes to hikers from roughly June to September, and day trips become less reliable. The museum and the malls carry on regardless, and a stormy afternoon is a good excuse for a long lunch.

Phu Wiang dinosaurs and Khon Kaen's geopark bid

Phu Wiang, roughly 80 km north-west of Khon Kaen, is where Thailand's best-known dinosaur finds come from. The Department of Mineral Resources runs the Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum in Wiang Kao district, and dig sites inside Phu Wiang National Park still show bones lying in the rock where they were found.

The star of the collection is Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae, a long-necked sauropod named in honour of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Finds have kept coming: in August 2025 palaeontologists unveiled a sixth new dinosaur species from the park. Start at the museum to see the skeletons and models, then drive to the excavation pits, which make much more sense once you know what you are looking at.

The province wants the area recognised internationally. A proposed Khon Kaen Geopark of about 1,038 sq km would take in Phu Wiang National Park and parts of Wiang Kao and Phu Wiang districts, but it has not yet received UNESCO Global Geopark status. Public transport out here is thin, so hire a car or join a tour from the city and allow a full day.