Mekong Frontline — the laid-back Isaan riverside town opposite Vientiane where the Friendship Bridge crosses to Laos, Sala Kaew Ku's surrealist Hindu-Buddhist sculpture garden watches over the Mekong, and the sunsets over the river are the finest in northeast Thailand
Nong Khai is a small provincial capital on the Thai side of the Mekong River in northeastern Thailand (Isaan), directly opposite Vientiane, the capital of Laos — connected by the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, the main overland crossing between the two countries. The town has a relaxed, end-of-the-road character: a tree-shaded riverside promenade (Mekong Promenade), French-Lao colonial shophouses (legacy of French Indochina's influence on the Lao side), and a market culture that blends Isaan Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese flavours. The Sala Kaew Ku sculpture park (Wat Khaek), 4 km east of town, is on…
Nong Khai's strategic position at the Mekong — the river that has served as the boundary between Thailand and Laos (and before that, between the Thai kingdoms and French Indochina) — gave it consistent significance in Siamese and then Thai history. The town was an established trading post between the Thai Lanna/Lan Xang kingdoms before becoming a formal Thai frontier administration post under the Bangkok-based Chakri Dynasty in the 19th century. The Franco-Siamese War of 1893 forced Thailand (Siam) to cede all territory east of the Mekong to France (what is now Laos) — the treaties were signe…