Relax at in Thailand

Khon Kaen Province

Khon Kaen is a large commercial city, the most important in the northeast. It is the home of the largest university in the region and is also the administrative centre for the region. This is accredited to the government's effort to help develop the region in the 1960s. It also played an important role during the Vietnam war, with a nearby airbase facilitating the US Air Force.
At the turn of this millenium a small town had developed near Phra That Kham Kaen. The town never really flourished and was abandoned several times through the centuries. In 1789 a ruler from Suwwanaphum founded the present-day city and named it Kham Kaen, after the chedi. The name was later changed to Khon Kaen.
As it the centre hub of transportation in the area, most travellers will end up passing through here. Although it doesn't offer the same interests as the villages and towns of the region, it still has something for those wishing to stop over.

Places of Attraction

Khon Kaen National Museum
The museum is situated at the junction of Kasikhon and Lungsun Rachakhan roads. It has a superb collection of artefacts from the region, especially the archaeological finds from Ban Chiang in Udon Thani province. There are also collections from the Dvaravati and Lopburi(Khmer) periods of Thai history on show.

Phra That Kham Kaen
This 19 m-high chedi at Wat Chotiyaphun is located 30 km from the city centre. The chedi was built over the stump of a tamarind tree, that allegedly flowered after been dead for a long time. The spot was were a group of monks, carrying Buddha relics, stopped overnight. On their later return, the relics were enshrined in the chedi.

Non Muang
This archaeological site is located about 85km from Khon Kaen. The site was an ancient Chumpae habitat, believed to have been inhabited up until the 10th century. Excavators have found human skeletons and bronze tools from over 3,000 years ago.