A 660 kilometre Road Trip through country Thailand from Khon Kaen in Isaan to Ban Pong in Ratchaburi Province before starting the Southern Spine of Thailand Road Trip.

Our first stop out of Khon Kaen was a small, ancient Khmer ruin that we had yet to visit.

Ku Daeng Khmer Ruins

Ku Daeng is located within the grounds of a much larger, modern day Wat in Ban Kut Yan, Chaiyaphum Province.

Unlike the majority of Khmer temples Ku Daeng does not have the normal orientation to the east. It is a square construction of laterite with doorways each side except, unusually, on the east where there is a false or blind door. There are no steps on the eastern side whereas they are present, steeper than usual, on the other three sides.

The usual Prang of Khmer temples is missing leaving only four walls made of bricks with a doorway in each. The sandstone lintels above  the doorways depict Rama.

The design and carving on the lintels indicate that the temple was constructed in the 11-12th century in the Baphuon/Angkhor Wat style.

More information and photographs.

Ku Ban Wat Hua Sra Khmer Ruins

We drove around the village and, without actually seeing them, located the ruins. From photographs on the web it is apparent that there is very little of the temple extant.  What little that is left is located on private property.

After numerous investigations we established that the owners weren’t home. While the ruins are only small (judging from photographs) we still would have liked to see them, especially after travelling so far.

Lam Narai

Google Maps did its usual peripatetics in getting us to our hotel. Lots of twists and turns through tiny back sois before we got to the Narai Grand Hotel. After we walked to a restaurant for dinner it became abundantly clear that the hotel was only a short distance off the main road that runs through Lam Narai.

Officially Sanctioned Pollution

The Pasak Jalasit Reservoir south of Lam Narai is formed by the damming of the Pa Sak River. It is one of Thailand’s major reservoirs, built for irrigation and flood control. But that doesn’t prevent many, many thousands of tonnes of household/industrial refuse being dumped on the banks of the river upstream of the reservoir – clearly officially sanctioned. An excavator is used to spread the rubbish, creating a new bank for the river. TiT. Clearly  visible from the road when driving by.

Diversion through Fish Farms

Google’s ‘shortcuts’ are worse than my wildly exaggerated (by others) deviations from the planned route. This serendipitous foray from one major road to another on the way to a planned visit to the Giant Fishing Trap Markets took us through an isolated fish farming area – one that would be rarely traversed by anyone but locals.

This area is the floodplain of the Song Phi Nong Canal and Tha Chin River system – a lowland basin that is prone to flooding, with some areas being flooded all-year round making it suitable for fish farming, particularly snakehead fish.

It is part of the broader Song Phi Nong floodplain used for both rice cultivation and aquaculture, taking advantage of the seasonal flooding patterns of the Tha Chin River system.

Initial frustration at being incorrectly routed gave way to fascination about a highly interesting location and industry.

Giant Fish Trap Markets

This is a great concept in a great location (although access could be easier and better signed), however, it is clearly not well marketed nor patronised.

U Thong Skywalk

After internet searches were fairly consistent about the long-awaited U Thong Skywalk being ‘yet to open’ we had been advised by a friend that they had actually walked what is described as Thailand longest skywalk. However, it was open to the public for five days only over the New Year break. The date of its full time opening is not known.

The Skywalk is attached the wall of a disused hard rock quarry. Without this amazing bit of engineering being in operation the attraction for the visiting hordes, of which we were a number, was a large depiction of a seated Buddha carved from the quarry. Fleets of tuk tuks carried the hordes up the hill to this point of reverence (not worship). On realising the Skywalk was not in operation our return journey was immediate.

U Thong Ancient Ruins

 

Ban Pong

Ban Pong was the agreed rendezvous before we started our road trip south. It is intersection’ – the point at which  both road and rail traffic from Bangkok turns south or continues west or perhaps north.

The extended balcony from our room overlooking the river was an unexpected bonus – Sunday night room upgrade! The next door restaurant obviously also overlooked the river. Thainan Riverside Hotel has a great location. It is situated on the Mae Klong River (literally “mother river”), one of the three major rivers of western Thailand.

 

Download GPX File of Route

 

© Kim Epton 2026
875 words, 46 photographs, one image

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