Khon Kaen

Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น) is a city and province in Isaan, Thailand.

Understand
While various artefacts have been found in the region that hint at its early human inhabitants, what we know today as Khon Kaen came into being when the ancient Khmer empire expanded into the area in the 12th century. The current town was established a little over two centuries ago during the reign of King Rama I.

In addition to being a university town, Khon Kaen is a historic centre of silk production. In Chonnabot, Mudmee silk is delicately woven by hand and then tie-dyed.

By plane
Thai AirAsia flies from Bangkok (DMK) to Khon Kaen (KKC) several times a day; there are also flights from/to Chiang Mai, Pattaya (UTP) and Phuket. Nok Air and Thai Lion Air each has a couple of flights a day to Bangkok (DMK) as well. Thai Smile Airways flies from Bangkok (BKK) five times a day, and can be booked in one ticket with an international Thai Airways flight.

By train
Khon Kaen is on the branch of the Northeastern Line that runs to Nong Khai and Laos. In 2019 the train station was rebuilt as an elevated station with plenty of shade. Eight trains per day pass through Khon Kaen: three going to Nong Khai from Bangkok, three going from Bangkok to Nong Khai, and the final pair of trains travels between Nong Khai and Nakhon Ratchasima. The day train leaves Bangkok at 08:45 and arrives at Khon Kaen at 15:30 (3rd class fan 227 baht, 2nd class A/C 397 baht). Two night trains leave at 20:25 (2nd class A/C sleeper 907/807 thb lower/upper berth) and 21:25 (not recommended, seats only), arriving at Khon Kaen at 04:10 and 05:19 respectively.

By bus
Until 1 December 2017 Khon Kaen had three bus terminals. The newest, Terminal 3, is eight kilometres out of town and, for that reason, inconvenient. The city administrators do not want buses in downtown Khon Kaen. The taxi cartel support that initiative for obvious reasons: the cost of a tuk-tuk or taxi to downtown may well cost more than your bus ticket to Khon Kaen.



Buses to/from Bangkok's Northern (Mo Chit) Bus Terminal depart every 15 minutes from early until late.

For quicker service, avoid the touts at Mo Chit, and ask for Chan Tour. This company provides only VIP buses, which have very large seats and a bathroom. Alternatively, Nakhonchai Air has nice VIP buses which are cleaner (meals, drink, in-coach toilet) than Chan, but with small seats. Both will cost 420 baht, highly recommended. Both have terminals separate from Mo Chit, about away, where you can wait for your bus in an air-conditioned waiting room.

From Chiang Mai Arcade Terminal 3, Phetprasert and Sombat Tour have buses throughout the day from 08:00. Evening buses run at 19:00 and 20:00 from Platform 6. The price is approximately 641 baht one-way and duration of journey is 10 hr. The only problem is at the Khon Kaen end: you are dropped off at Terminal 3, far from the city center, near the intersection of Highway 2 and the ring road south of Khon Kaen. This terminal is new (Aug 2014) and lacking in amenities (coffee shop, hotel, etc.), but there is a new (Feb 2016) 7-11 about 100 meters to the south of the Nakhonchai Air terminal. NCA has a free shuttle service for its customers between its downtown and ring road terminal. A yellow songthaew service will take you downtown to the rail station and the in-town bus station (non-air-conditioned bus station) for 10 baht (Jan 2015).

From/to Udon Thani, several air conditioned buses depart hourly from Udon's Bus Station 1 downtown. Fare is 80 baht (Nov 2015) for a journey of 90 min. Minivans depart from the same station to Khon Kaen continuing on to Roi Et. They are slightly faster than the bus, but less comfortable. As the downtown terminal is now closed, the buses now arrive to Terminal 3 on the southern outskirts of the city, but before they will pass the city center, stopping a few times to drop off the passengers - for the main tourist area, the best location to get off will be after an underpass near CentralPlaza, and tuk-tuks seem to wait for the buses there (alternatively, or if they ask for too much, use the Grab app).

By car
It's easy to get to Khon Kaen by car from Bangkok. Just follow the four lane Hwy 2. Hwy 2 also heads north to Udon Thani, Nong Khai, and Laos.

Get around
Khon Kaen's centre is characterised by a strict grid system of wide streets and long blocks. It appears to have been designed for road traffic in mind, making walking fairly unpleasant. Numbered songthaews charge 9 baht/person/trip (pay when you get out). Just wave your hand and the songthaew will stop to let you get on; ring the bell and it will stop again to let you get off. There are at least 10 routes serving Khon Kaen. Signage in Thai only.

The ordinary bus station ("baw kaw saw") is the interchange for all songthaew routes.


 * Songthaew 2: Central Plaza-town
 * Songthaew 3: Big C-Central Plaza-town
 * Songthaew 8: KK University-town-Fairy Plaza

If you need to take a tuk-tuk the driver will normally quote 40 to 50 baht for trips within the city. Taxis (similar to those in Bangkok) are available too, as well as Grab ride-hailing service (with fares a bit more reasonable than in nearby Udon Thani - 55-65 baht for a few kilometers in the city center, 90-100 baht to the main bus terminal at the city outskirts (January 2019)).

See


















Do
Every night at the City Pillar Shrine, movies are shown for free on large projectors outside at around 20:00. Most are dubbed in Thai.


 * Take a day trip (or stay overnight) to Phu Kradung, around halfway between Khon Kaen and Loei. Popular with young Thais, the mountain is a pleasant climb with cliff views and waterfalls (depending on the time of year) on the plateau. Camp or stay in a lodge overnight if you don't want to do it in one day. See Loei for more information.

Buy
Khon Kaen is famous for its silk.

Across the road from the Roma Hotel in downtown, there is a cheap breakfast restaurant. A lady pulls up in a car and unloads stuff to sell on the footpath, including Thai silk. Prices are excellent, and can be bargained down if you buy in quantity. (Initial price was 500 baht, Four of them were 1,500 baht total.)

There are two shopping centres, TukCom (formerly Oasis Plaza) and Fairy Plaza, a Big C, a Tesco Lotus and a Makro. Other major stores include Global House, Homepro and Index Living Mall. Central Department Store (Central Plaza), just beside the City Gate, is the largest shopping complex and hosts SFC cinema, Robinson, Se-Ed Book Centre, B2S, Tops Supermarket, and various restaurants.

There are various night markets, which also are good places to try out many different kinds of foods; a "young and hip" market at Khon Kaen University behind the Complex where students sell many of the goods, a popular one on Glang Muang Rd, and one that sometimes doubles as a carnival, at Bueng Kaen Nakhon.



Eat
Along the road from the Roma Hotel (same side of the road), there are several cheap street eateries. There is also a cheap Internet cafe in the area. A 7-Eleven (alcohol sales 11:00-14:00 and 17:00-24:00) is nearby where you can buy beer if you want to drink with your meal, use the shop's bottle opener.



Go next
There are two bus terminals in town. The "big" terminal, where most buses arrive and leave and the "small" terminal, which is somewhat more exclusive and appears to provide the "direct to BKK" type of buses. It really is quite small compared to the other. They are about distant from each other within the centre of town, unlike most Thai cities where the bus terminals are on the outskirts. Both terminals have air-con buses, but the big one also has non-air-con to the local provinces.


 * Bangkok Nakhon Chai Air Bus (6 hours), 420 baht, departs hourly from the air-con Bus Terminal (Prab-Argat). Highly recommended, though their staff speaks Thai only.
 * Vientiane (Lao PDR) Thai-Lao International Bus - 180 baht, departs 07:45 (usually delayed till 08:00) and 15:15 daily from the Aircon Bus Terminal (Prab-Argat). Passport (with current Laos visa) must be produced when purchasing ticket. If you do not have a Laos visa you cannot buy a ticket, as the bus will NOT wait for passengers processing their visas on arrival (citizens of few countries outside Southeast Asia who can enter Laos visa-free, notably Russians, may have to insist on that fact and/or to show some solid proof they will not need a VoA, like existing Lao visa-free entry stamps). Tickets can only be purchased on the day of travel. Visas are available at the Lao PDR consulate in town. Thai and limited English are spoken by consular staff. Hours are Monday-Friday, 08:00-12:00 and 13:00-16:00. Prices are said to be same as in Bangkok. Visas for American, Australian, British, several EU and New Zealand citizens cost 1,400 baht/US$40, Canadians pay 1,700 baht/US$50, while Chinese pay 600 baht/US$17. Officially, visas can be picked up the next day, or pay an additional 200 baht to have the visa issued within 1 hour. Officially, only baht is accepted although if you don't have baht, they may take US dollars. A 30-31 baht to the US dollar rate has been reported, making it more expensive than getting a visa on arrival and paying in US dollars.
 * Bus connections to Ubon, Udon, Nong Khai (Class 2: 110 baht), Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Roi Et, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Lamphun, Phrae, Phetchabun, Phitsanulok, Mukdahan (Savannakhet Lao PDR), Amnat Charoen, Nong Bua Lamphu, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (22:00 daily, 335 baht) and Northern Thailand are also available.