Chiang Khan
Mekong Riverside Town Of Wooden Shophouses Facing Laos · Chiang Khan, Loei
Chiang Khan is a small district town on the Mekong in Loei province, in the far north-west of Isaan, where two long parallel streets run beside the river facing the green hills of Laos. Chai Khong Road, the lane closest to the water, is lined with old two-storey wooden shophouses of teak and other hardwoods, many now converted into guesthouses, cafes and souvenir shops, with their lanes numbered as sois from one end of town to the other. Every evening the street closes to traffic and becomes a walking street of food stalls and shops, and every morning at dawn saffron-robed monks walk the same street to receive sticky rice from kneeling residents and visitors. Chiang Khan became hugely popular with Thai travellers in the 2010s, so it is busy and commercial on long weekends, but quiet midweek. Nearby, the Phu Thok viewpoint looks over a sea of mist at sunrise in the cool season, and Kaeng Khut Khu rapids are known for coconut candy. The wider province holds Phu Kradueng, Phu Ruea and the Phi Ta Khon festival.
Chai Khong Road, Chiang Khan, Chiang Khan, Loei, 42110, Thailand
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: Chai Khong Road is a public street open at all times; the dawn alms round passes roughly 5.30 to 6.30 am daily; shops open from about 9 or 10 am, and the walking street runs every evening from about 5 or 6 pm to about 10 pm, with no closing day, though it is much busier on weekends. Phu Thok songthaews leave around 5 am in the cool season. Phu Kradueng closes for the rainy season, roughly June to September, and its trail has an early-afternoon cut-off for starting the climb. The traps that ruin a trip are arriving on a Thai long weekend with no room, going to Phu Thok in the wrong season or too late, missing the alms round by sleeping in, and turning up at Phu Kradueng after the trail cut-off or in its closed months. Confirm current times before relying on them.