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Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkol: Roi Et's Great White Chedi on the Hill

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Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkol: Roi Et's Great White Chedi on the Hill Roi Et province is flat rice country — which is why its greatest monument stops you in your tracks. On a low hill in Nong Phok district, about an hour north-east of Roi Et city, rises Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkol at Wat Pha Nam Thip: a vast white-and-gold chedi, one of the largest in Thailand, built by the followers of the revered forest monk Luang Pu Si Maha Wiro. Pilgrims come from across Isan to climb its levels; curious travellers come for the sheer improbable scale of it gleaming above the fields. A Mountain Made by Devotion The chedi was begun in 1990 and built entirely from donations, floor upon floor of halls, Buddha images and ornate decoration rising inside a structure modelled on the great chedis of the past. Its white spire, banded with gold, can be seen for kilometres across the plain. Around its base runs a long cloister gallery, and the grounds include gardens, naga staircases and quieter shrine ...
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Lam Pao Dam: Kalasin's Big Lake for Fish Feasts, Beaches and Slow Afternoons

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Kalasin is dinosaur country, but its other great landscape is water. Lam Pao Dam, built across the Lam Pao River in the 1960s, holds back one of Isan's largest reservoirs — a broad inland sea of more than 70 square kilometres, ringed by fishing villages, lakeside restaurants and one very popular municipal beach. For Kalasin families, Lam Pao is the weekend: a raft on the water, a platter of grilled river fish, and a sunset that turns the whole lake to copper. For travellers crossing Isan, it is the province's most relaxing stop. The Lake and the Dam The dam itself, in Sahatsakhan district about 37 kilometres from Kalasin town, is an earthen wall you can walk and drive along, with views on one side over the reservoir's island-dotted expanse and on the other down the green valley of the Lam Pao. The reservoir irrigates over 300,000 rai of farmland and supports a serious freshwater fishery — the boats heading out at dawn are working boats, not decoration. Birdlife gathers at...
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Roi Et Tower and Bueng Phalan Chai: A Lake, an Island Temple and Isan's Tallest Viewpoint

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In the middle of flat rice country, Roi Et built itself a skyline. The Roi Et Tower — officially the Ho Wo Chi, shaped like the woat, the circular bamboo panpipe that is the city's symbol — rises 101 metres over Bueng Phalan Chai, the big central lake whose name echoes the province's own: Roi Et means 'one hundred and one'. Below the tower, the lake wraps around an island temple, a walking loop and the city's favourite evening promenade. Come for the view, stay for the sunset over the water. The Tower: 101 Metres Over the Rice Plains The tower's shape is the first delight — a giant woat panpipe standing on end, its pipes forming the silhouette you can see from kilometres across the paddies. Inside, lifts rise to observation floors with a full panorama: the lake directly below, the old city grid, and green country running flat to every horizon. The top floors typically open through the day into the evening (typically 09:00–21:00); entry typically costs ฿50–100....
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Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkol: Roi Et's Towering Temple on the Plain

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Rising out of the flat Roi Et rice plain like a white mountain, Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkol is one of the most extraordinary temples in Isan — and one of the least visited. This 101-metre chedi (the height is a play on Roi Et's name, which means "one hundred and one") is covered inside and out with intricate carvings, murals, and some of the finest naga sculptures in Thailand. If you only visit one temple on your trip through Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, and Roi Et, make it this one. The temple sits at Wat Pa Kung, about 30 kilometres from Roi Et city in the district of Si Somdet, in peaceful forest surroundings. It was built under the guidance of the revered monk Luang Pu Sri Mahaviro, and the work is still being refined by local craftsmen. What you see today is the result of decades of devotion — and it shows in every carved doorway. Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkol at Wat Pa Kung, Roi Et. Photo: Wikimedia Commons — view the file on Wikimedia Commons . Inside the chedi Climb th...
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Sirindhorn Museum: Kalasin, Thailand's Dinosaur Capital

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Kalasin may be the most underrated province on this blog — because underneath it lies one of the richest dinosaur fossil fields in Southeast Asia. The Sirindhorn Museum at Phu Kum Khao, in Sahatsakhan district about 30 kilometres from Kalasin town, stands beside the excavation site where the bones were found, and it tells the story better than any other museum in Isan. If you travel with children, put this at the top of the list. If you don't, go anyway. Bones in the Hill In 1994, a monk at Wat Sakkawan, on the forested hill of Phu Kum Khao, noticed enormous bones weathering out of the rock. Palaeontologists from Thailand's Department of Mineral Resources excavated through the following years and uncovered more than 700 fossil bones from at least seven sauropod dinosaurs — giant long-necked plant-eaters that walked this plateau around 130 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous. The museum, named for Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, opened at the foot of the hill so visito...
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Getting to Kalasin, Maha Sarakham and Roi Et and Getting Around

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Kalasin, Maha Sarakham and Roi Et are easier to reach than their off-the-map reputation suggests — you just need to know the hub pattern. Roi Et has its own airport with Bangkok flights, Khon Kaen's bigger airport and railway connections sit just to the west, and comfortable VIP buses link all three cities to the capital overnight. Once here, distances between the trio are short, roads are good, and a mix of songthaews, tuk-tuks, motorbike taxis, rental cars and hired drivers covers everything from a market run to a full dinosaur day. This guide explains each leg plainly, with typical prices labelled typical. Getting There From Bangkok By air to Roi Et: Roi Et Airport (ROI), about 17 kilometres west of the city, receives direct flights from Bangkok's Don Mueang, typically one to two per day with low-cost carriers, flight time about 1 hour 10 minutes. Booked ahead, one-way fares typically start around 800–1,200 baht; walk-up and holiday fares run higher. From the airport, tax...
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Kalasin, Maha Sarakham and Roi Et Food and Markets

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Come hungry. Kalasin, Maha Sarakham and Roi Et sit in the heart of Isan, where Thailand's boldest flavours live: fiery som tam, charcoal-grilled chicken, fermented fish pla ra in everything, sticky rice eaten by hand, and herbs gathered that morning. Food here is not adapted for tourists — it is cooked for neighbours, priced for students and farmers, and all the better for it. This guide walks you through what to eat in each province, where the markets are, and how to order with confidence. Typical prices are labelled typical, and they will make southern-Thailand travellers smile. The Isan Table: What You Will Eat Everywhere A classic shared Isan meal across all three provinces looks like this: som tam pounded to order — green papaya, lime, chilli, peanuts and, in the local style, pla ra fermented fish sauce; gai yang , marinated grilled chicken with crisp skin; larb , minced pork, chicken or duck with roasted rice powder, mint and shallots; tom saep , a hot-sour soup with herbs...
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