5 top reasons why you should visit Ubon Ratchathani

Ubon Ratchathani town is another Thai provincial capital city that sees few Western tourists. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much the town had to offer. 

So in order to spread the word about the town, and hopefully convince a few people to check it out, I now present my unofficial top 5 reasons to visit Ubon Ratchathani town.

1) Food and markets

This is a town that loves to eat, and you'll find properly spicy Isaan, and delicious Vietnamese and Chinese-Thai food all over the city. The town centre also has modern Western-style cafés, for when you really want smashed avo on sourdough toast, and a flat white.

But forget the sourdough for today's breakfast; instead, grab a plastic stool in a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant for a steaming bowl of the city's most famous noodles, kuay jab, a porky broth with vermicelli, Vietnamese sausage and crispy fried shallots.

Porky goodness: kuay jab at 99 Kuay Jab Rot Seab

When the evening comes, the main street heading east from Thung Si Muang Park becomes a walking street, selling all kinds of food, clothing, nicknacks, and more. Stuff yourself to the gills, then go for a little walk around the park before you waddle back to your hotel.

2) Wonderfully varied temples

Temple lovers, prepare to be impressed. Temple-take-it-or-leave-its, I'll warrant you'll still find one or two to peak your interest. This is town with a huge variety of temple styles and attributes. Something for everyone!

Your first stop should probably be Wat Thung Si Muang, right in the centre of town. It's beautiful and atmospheric, especially the ho trai, a wooden scripture hall built on stilts over a lotus pond (to prevent termites reaching the sacred texts).

Elegant ho trai at Wat Thung Si Muang

Next up, and for something completely different, head to Wat Tai Prachao Yai Ong Tue. Where Thung Si Muang is classical and elegant, this one is something else entirely. The grounds and buildings are a riot of colourful statues, paintings and plants, representing everything quirky and over-the-top from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. You want giant gold and green dragons, concrete elephants, nagas, spirits, barnyard animals, dancers and gods? You got it! Spend half an hour wandering and taking it all in, and the cumulative effect is like a comic book vomited rainbows all over you. I kinda loved it.

Assaulting your eyeballs at Wat Tai Prachao Yai Ong Tue.

What's more, both temples were quiet when I visited, meaning you can explore at your leisure. And if you're a temple lover, there plenty more to explore when you're done with those two.

3) A good museum

History buffs should take a beeline to the Ubon Ratchathani National Museum. A small but well curated collection in an attractive century-old building, it gives you a good grounding in the history of the province, from pre-history, through the Dvaravati and Khmer eras, to 19th and 20th century Thai and Laos culture and craft. 

Ardhanarishvara (figure showing both male and female aspects, representing Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati)

4) Inexpensive

Without being crass, let's just admit it: Ubon Ratchathani is excellent value for visitors. I scored a comfortable room with aircon right near the walking street for 425b a night. I ate delicious noodles for 40b a pop, and even my Western café brunch of avo toast, latte, and a fruit and yogurt smoothie came to only 140b. For those coming from Laos and used to paying the sort of tourist prices found in Luang Prabang, Ubon will seem remarkably cheap.

5) Well connected

A city of 200,000 people, Ubon Ratchathani is well served with public transport options. 

The main intercity bus station is served by a plethora of minibuses and big coaches serving all major towns in the north east, as well as points further afield (Bangkok, Laos, etc.). Although, as often happens, it is situated on the outskirts of the city, sorngtaews and city buses run regularly into the centre, and the staff at the bus station were helpful and friendly.

There's a mainline train station connecting down to Bangkok (and points in between), although it's also annoyingly a bit far from the town centre (about 3.5km).

Finally, for those coming from further away, the airport is unusually close (3km) to the town centre (I walked there from my hotel in about 40 minutes when I was leaving town to head down south) and has flights with a number of budget airlines so prices are reasonable.

So where do you want to go next? Nakhon Phanom? Bangkok? Pakse and Laos? Easy peasy.