Things To Do In Nong Khai – Visit Nong Khai – Budget Travel In Thailand

Located on the banks of the Mekong River and sharing a land border with Laos, Nong Khai is a popular destination for backpackers on the banana pancake trail.

Our first Thai adventure came to an end with three nights in the Thai border city of Nong Khai. It was hard to believe we had been already travelling for 2 months.

How We Ended Up In Nong Khai

We began our adventure knowing we would be spending 2 weeks in Bangkok (which was not, as some might have you believe, ‘too long’). We then headed north to the Chiang Mai area. Beyond that, we planned our journey as we went along.

Joanna wanted to see the Red Lotus Lake near Udon Thani, so we decided to head in that direction. We had thought about flying from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani but opted instead to travel by bus, stopping off at various cities along the way. It was a fantastic adventure and we saw some amazing sights that might not necessarily be on the usual tourist trail.

How To Get To Nong Khai From Udon Thani 

We hadn’t really done any research into how to get to Nong Khai as we presumed, correctly, that there would be plenty of options to get us to the border town. We simply walked from our hostel in Udon Thani to the central bus station to see what would happen. On arrival, we were approached by a man shouting “Nong Khai?” and pointing to a rather cramped-looking, cranky mini-bus.

“No, public bus.” I replied.

“Ahhh, ok. Platform 8,” he replied, helpfully.

Beware The Bus Scam In Udon Thani

There was a woman sat at a desk next to the public bus departure on platform 8 and she was able to sell us our tickets to Nong Khai for a bus that was due in around 20 minutes. Sweet.

What was odd was that there seemed to be buses leaving for Nong Khai; buses that were far from full. Finally, when our bus was due, we were told to follow a man who would take us to our bus… which turned out to be the rather cramped-looking, cranky mini-bus from earlier.

TOP TIP: always buy your bus tickets from the actual station. Other vendors can operate within the bus station and you too will find yourself paying more for a hot, cramped minibus rather than the bigger, cheaper public buses. Ah well.

The journey was not the most comfortable but, luckily, it lasted only one hour. The bus dropped us off at the bus station, which was about 30 minutes walk to our accommodation.

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Things To Do In Nong Khai

Buying Dollars In Nong Khai

If you are crossing the friendship bridge into Laos, you will need to buy some US dollars. We had read good reviews about ‘Super Rich Money Exchange’ (map). They were helpful and offered a good exchange rate with no commission.

Food And Drink In Nong Khai

Black Corner Coffee and Bistro’ (map) is a chilled, modern coffee shop serving excellent, strong coffee. After having spent a whole day cycling without any coffee, this was exactly what we needed!

Chili’s Bar (map) was the first bar we visited in Nong Khai. We enjoyed a couple of beers and listened to music in the beer garden. Chili himself then appeared and explained that live music would be starting later. The live music was Chili and anyone who wanted to play with him. I’m not sure how it happened, but I seemed to let on that I play guitar and he insisted I get up with him and play! I got up on stage with Chili and played a few familiar tunes to the small, but appreciative, audience. It was great fun!

Dee Dee Pochana (map) is a very poopular restuarant in Nong Khai. They offer a huge and varied menu so I was expecting quite a wait for our food. We ordered a tofu dish and a fish dish and the food arrived in minutes. It was pretty good too, particularly the fish (Asian Red Catfish).

Mackey’s Riverside Kitchen (map) is a family-run restaurant on the riverside. We kept seeing homemade posters advertisingthis restaurant all over town so we decided to give it a go. We sat at a table on the promenade and listened to the cute-but-sometimes-questionable live duo performing songs by The Eagles (obviously), John Lennon and… Glenn Medeiros!?

Joanna had a tofu red curry and I had chicken massaman curry. Joanna was in a pig-out mood and also ordered a papaya salad! We even went for dessert; something we very rarely indulge in. The food was excellent and the staff were really friendly. In our opinion, it was one of the best restaurants in Nong Khai.

IndoChina Market

‘IndoChina Market’ runs alongside the Mekong River, next to Tha Sadet Market. There wasn’t much here for us to get excited about. It has some food shops and a lot of Chinese imports.

IndoChina Market Opening Times: 9 am – 6 pm.

Naga Dragon Statues

The Naga Dragons (map) is an impressive statue located on the banks of the Mekong River. We discovered them as we were cycling on Rim Kong Alley. This is a great place to walk or cycle as there are many restaurants, souvenir shops and temples with views across the river over to Laos.

Nong Thin Public Park

On the day we hired bicycles, we decided to make the most of them and cycle along the riverside to ‘Nong Thin Public Park’ (map). The park has dedicated cycle lanes and it was easy to cycle around. The cycle/walk loop is around 2.5 km long and circles around a lake in the centre of the park.

Sala Keo Kou Sculpture Park

On our final day in Nong Khai, we decided to rent bicycles and head to the Nong Khai sculpture park. Our guesthouse had a bike rental service but wanted a 500 baht deposit. Just behind the guesthouse, we found ‘Nui motorcycle and bicycle rental’ (map) which is basically a guy on the street with a few bikes. For 50 baht and no deposit, we had a decent bicycle for the day.

We cycled alongside the river until it was time to turn off to head to the ‘Sala Keo Kou Sculture Park’ (map). On approaching the park, there were a number of small restaurants and shops. In the car park itself, there were further options.  We found the entrance and paid the admission. The surreal beauty of the park hits you as soon as you enter. The statues are huge and, though the park is small, there are plenty of them to look at. We parked up our bikes and began to explore. Our photos could never capture the scale of the bigger statues. There is information on each sculpture, but none in English. However, this gives you the opportunity to interpret them as you wish.

There are also a couple of ponds with some equally impressive sized fish which you can buy feed for from the nearby shop. In the centre of the park is an educational temple. The park was filling up with schoolchildren as we left so we had timed it well, as we almost had the place to ourselves when we arrived. It is one of the best things to do in Nong Khai.

Sala Keo Kou Sculture Park Opening Times: 8 am – 6 pm, every day.
Sala Keo Kou Sculture Park Entrance Fee: 40 Baht for foreigners.

Tha Sadet Market Nong Khai

Tha Sadet Market (map) is an indoor market that runs parallel to the Mekong River. It houses many shops and cafes and we visited to try and find prunes for their ‘medicinal’ purposes. We managed to find a shop that sold dried fruits and nuts/spices by weight so we stocked up on prunes at a very reasonable price. It is a lively market that is frequented mainly by locals.

Tha Sadet Market Opening Times: 9 am – 6 pm, every day.

Wat Landuam

There are many temples in Nong Khai. Wat Landuam (map) is worth a mention as it is located on Rim Kong Alley which runs parallel to the Mekong River. The temple has a large Buddha on its roof which looks over the Mekong across to Laos. If you look over to the other side, you will see another Buddha looking back!

More Useful Nong Khai Information

Restaurant Scams In Nong Khai

Something to look out for in Nong Khiaw is this restaurant scam. We found a place on the riverside that had a decent, cheap menu outside. However, when we sat inside the restaurant, we were given a menu that bore no resemblance to the one outside and everything was much more expensive. I told the waiter and he made a joke and then produced the menu we’d seen outside. This would happen to us again in Nong Khai, so I guess it is something to watch out for. It hadn’t happened to us anywhere else in Thailand.

Laundry In Nong Khai

As all travellers will tell you, finding a good laundry service is a real buzz when travelling. Not all provide a good service. Some come back looking cleaner but smelling about the same. So when you find a good one, it really is a cause for celebration. It means you’ll be feeling fresh for at least the next week!

As we had not been staying long in each place recently, we hadn’t had time to do any laundry and it was building up! Our guesthouse charged by the item which would have been really expensive. Google Maps told us there was a ‘laundry service’ not far away.

We found a place near our accommodation that did laundry for 30 Baht per kilo. The ‘laundry service’ was basically a woman’s house and we hadn’t been given a receipt. When we went to pick up our clothes, we were fearing the worst. We were more than pleasantly surprised to be given our clothes, all fresh, smelling good and ironed! A wonderful service for any traveller.

Is Nong Khai Worth Visiting?

Nong Khai isn’t the most exciting city in Thailand but it is worth a couple of days of your time if you are travelling between Thailand and Laos via the friendship bridge border. I would definitely recommend hiring some bicycles and visiting the Sculpture Park and around the city away from teh Mekong to get a glimpse into the real lives of the Thai people.