Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat): Gateway to Isan

Nakhon Ratchasima, universally known as Korat, is Thailand's second-largest city and the gateway to the vast northeastern Isan plateau. Despite its size, Korat receives a tiny fraction of the tourists that visit Bangkok or Chiang Mai, which means you experience authentic Thai city life without much tourist infrastructure built around you. The most significant attraction in the region is Phimai Historical Park (60 km northeast of Korat), one of the finest Khmer temple complexes in Southeast Asia — predating Angkor Wat and rivalling it in quality if not scale, with superb carved lintels and a towering central prang. The park is set in a peaceful town and easily visited in a day by bus from Korat. Phanom Rung, a further Khmer sanctuary east of Phimai, extends the same period of history for anyone with an extra day and a rental car.

The Dan Kwian pottery village (15 km south) is a long-established centre for distinctive rust-coloured ceramic work — kilns and showrooms line the road. Korat is also genuinely cheap by Thai standards: market food, city buses and guesthouse rooms all run well under what the same standard costs on the coast or in Chiang Mai, largely because so few Western tourists pass through to push local prices toward tourist ones. A rental car for the Phimai and Khao Yai side trips is really the only significant added cost of a Korat-based stay.

Back in the city, the Suranaree Monument in the town centre commemorates the national heroine who repelled a Lao invasion in 1826; it is a major pilgrimage site decorated with flower garlands and offerings. The night market on Chomsurang Road is excellent for Isan food at genuine local prices. Gai yang, the region's grilled chicken, is butterflied and marinated in a pounded paste of lemongrass, coriander root and garlic worked under the skin before slow grilling over charcoal, and is meant to be dipped in a sharp, herbal jaew sauce rather than eaten plain — the marinade alone reads as fairly mild without it. Moo ping (grilled pork skewers) and sticky rice are the other standing order, best bought a few skewers at a time rather than treated as a single meal.

Korat's own city sights are modest set against Khao Yai National Park, ninety minutes away, which has the wildlife, hiking and even a resident elephant population the city itself lacks — for travellers with an adventurous streak, Korat works best as a comfortable overnight base for the park rather than a destination for outdoor activity in its own right. Frequent buses from Bangkok's Mo Chit Northern Bus Terminal take about 3.5–4 hours and cost ฿230–350 for air-conditioned services, and trains from Hua Lamphong run several times daily via Thanon Chira Junction, Korat's own station a short ride from the centre. Korat also has its own small airport with domestic flights from Bangkok.