Udon Thani

Three days in Udon Thani, Ban Chiang and Phu Phrabat

Three days lets you see Udon Thani and its surroundings. Spend day one at Nong Prajak Park, Nong Bua and the UD Town market, day two at the Red Lotus Sea and Ban Chiang's excavation pit, and day three among the balanced boulders of Phu Phrabat Historical Park near Ban Phue.

Begin in the city, an easy first day if you land at Udon Thani International on an early flight from Bangkok. Join the early walkers at Nong Prajak Park, where joggers circle the lake soon after dawn, then cross town to Nong Bua park to see the Chinese pagodas over the water and the dragon pole. Have lunch around Central Plaza and sit out the midday heat. In the evening, head to UD Town beside the railway station, where the market stalls open as the sun goes down.

Day two needs an alarm and a car. Leave before dawn for Nong Han Kumphawapi, south-east of the city, and take a boat through the Red Lotus Sea while the flowers are open, roughly December to February. By late morning the lilies have closed, which leaves time to drive on to Ban Chiang, about 35 km east of Udon, for the national museum and the roofed excavation pit at Wat Pho Si Nai.

On day three, drive about 60 km north-west to Phu Phrabat Historical Park near Ban Phue and walk among its balanced boulders and rock shelters while the morning is still cool. Stop at Ban Na Kha, 15 km north of the city on Highway 2, for hand-woven silk on the way back. For a slower day, take the train to Nong Khai and spend the afternoon by the Mekong.

Naem nueang, mu kratha and the UD Town stalls

Udon Thani eats Isan food with a Vietnamese streak. Som tam, larb, grilled chicken and sticky rice are sold from early morning, naem nueang pork sausage is rolled at the table in rice paper, and mu kratha barbecue buffets fill the city. UD Town by the station has the widest choice of stalls.

Udon cooks Isan food with a few borrowed habits. The basics are everywhere from early morning until late: som tam pounded to order, larb of minced meat with toasted rice powder and herbs, grilled chicken and baskets of sticky rice. Street carts add satay, meat on sticks and noodle soups made with beef, pork, chicken or duck.

Vietnamese families who settled in upper Isan left their mark on the menu. Naem nueang, grilled pork sausage that you wrap at the table in rice paper with herbs, green banana and garlic, is a family meal here, and the same dish turns up across the river towns as far as Nong Khai.

For a group dinner, try one of the buffet places where you cook meat yourself on a domed pan set over a charcoal burner in the middle of the table, with broth running round the rim. It is called mu kratha, and the city has dozens. In the evening, the market at UD Town by the railway station has the widest choice of stalls in one place, while the carts around Nong Prajak Park suit a cheap snack after a walk. Plan a late drink with care: bars close at midnight sharp.

Pink lilies at Nong Han and Udon's cool, dry months

November to February is the best time to visit Udon Thani. Mornings are cool, with January lows near 17C, December and January each get about 6 mm of rain, and the lilies at Nong Han Kumphawapi turn the lake pink at dawn. April peaks near 37C and August brings almost 300 mm.

Udon's year splits cleanly. From November to February the air is dry and mornings are cool, with January lows near 17C and highs around 30C; December and January each see only about 6 mm of rain. This is also when the water lilies at Nong Han Kumphawapi flower and turn the lake south-east of the city pink. The blooms open at dawn and fold by late morning, so leave town in the dark, and book a car or ask your hotel to arrange transport the evening before.

At the pier, boats take small groups along channels cut through the flowers. There is no shade out on the water, so bring a hat. Thai coach groups pile in at weekends, which makes a weekday far calmer. In October the lake hosts traditional dragon boat races.

March to May is the hot season, peaking in April at about 37C, and Songkran water fights fill the streets in mid-April. Then come the rains. August is the wettest month at almost 300 mm, and trips to Phu Phrabat or the Phu Foi Lom eco-park mean muddy trails, though the seasonal waterfalls are flowing.

Phu Phrabat, Udon Thani's second World Heritage Site

Phu Phrabat became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 27 July 2024, at the committee's session in New Delhi. Listed as a cultural landscape, it covers Phu Phrabat Historical Park and nearby Sima sites, and it made Udon Thani the only Thai province with two World Heritage Sites, the other being Ban Chiang.

The listing rests on the sima stones, the boundary markers that set out sacred ground around Buddhist ordination halls. Phu Phrabat keeps the largest group in the world still standing where they were placed during the Dvaravati period, which UNESCO dates to between the 7th and 11th centuries.

It is Thailand's eighth World Heritage Site. Walk the marked loop slowly, look for the stones at the foot of each rock shelter, and bring water, since shade is patchy once you leave the trees. Combined with Ban Chiang on a separate day, it gives a clear line from prehistoric farmers to early Buddhist communities in the same province.