Khon Kaen
Hub City Of The North East; The Nine Tiered Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon Stands On Bueng Kaen Nakhon Lake · Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen
Khon Kaen is the largest city of the central north-east, a busy, modern provincial capital on the Friendship Highway and the north-eastern railway, about 450 kilometres from Bangkok. It is a working city rather than a tourist town, home to one of Thailand's biggest universities, regional offices, hospitals and shopping malls, and its appeal for travellers is as a comfortable, well-connected base for Isaan with excellent food. Its landmark is Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon at Wat Nong Wang, a nine-tiered stupa on the shore of Bueng Kaen Nakhon lake, whose floors hold murals of Isaan history and life and whose top gives a view over the lake and the city. The lakeside promenade fills every evening with joggers, cyclists and aerobics classes, and the city's night markets serve som tam, grilled chicken, larb and sticky rice. The Khon Kaen National Museum shows finds from prehistoric Isaan, and day trips reach the Phu Wiang dinosaur sites, the silk village of Chonnabot and the Ubolratana dam.
Bueng Kaen Nakhon, Nai Mueang, Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen, 40000, Thailand
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: Wat Nong Wang and Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon open daily from about 8 am to about 5 or 6 pm, with no weekly closing day, the upper floors closing at the same time as the temple; the lakeside promenade is public and open at all times, busiest from about 5 to 8 pm. The Khon Kaen National Museum opens roughly 9 am to 4 pm and has commonly closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and some public holidays, with last entry about half an hour before closing. Night markets run from about 5 or 6 pm to about 10 or 11 pm on set nights; check. The traps that ruin a day are going to the museum on its closing day, arriving at the stupa after closing for the sunset, going to Ton Tann at an old address or on the wrong night, and arriving in mid-April unaware of Songkran. Confirm current times before relying on them.