Welcome to Travelfish, original Asia travel intelligence you can trust.
Username: Password: | Join
 

Tha Khaek




























 
 

Tha Khaek

Travel guide

Quicklinks
 » Orientation
 » Accommodation
 » Food & Drink
 » Sights & attractions
 » Getting there & away

Khammuan Province used to be mostly a thoroughfare for travellers passing between Thailand and Vietnam, or heading north and south to more popular destinations. With three NBCAs on offer, Khammuan would seem to hold unlimited potential in terms of trekking and tours. But, more so than in the rest of the Southern Laos, the poor condition of the roads and the lack of infrastructure has been holding it back.

The sleepy provincial capital of Khammuan province, Tha Khaek lies across the Mekong River from the bustling Thai town of Nakhon Phanom. While Tha Khaek is certainly not the most exciting town in Laos, it is a good deal more interesting than its cross-river neighbour, and, relatively speaking, it's the biggest, most tourist-friendly town in the province.

Tha Khaek means "Guest landing". Originally, this was a reference to the town's stature as a riverine trading outpost, but the name still holds water today. Foreign visitors continuously pour into town, crossing the Mekong by boat, and Laotians make frequent day-trips to buy goods in Nakhon Phanom. Tha Khaek is a full-on, international border crossing, and Lao visas on arrival are available crossing into Laos.

The construction effort to transform Route 12 from a dirt track to a major east-west trade corridor starts just outside of town, and Tha Khaek is already beginning to get a little bit busier in anticipation of its eventual growth, luring more and more Laotians to move into town from outlying areas. This growth, however, hasn't yet resulted in a huge influx of western tourists. Accommodation options haven't increased in recent years, and the town is visited only by a steady trickle of backpackers, the vast majority of whom stay at the Tha Khaek Travelodge.

For now, Route 12 courses along the southern edge of the Phou Hin Boun NBCA, a massive limestone forest with numerous pristine and picturesque rivers and lakes. And where there is limestone, there are caves: route 12 offers easy access to half a dozen or more, the most recent of which, Buddha Cave, was only discovered (or rather, rediscovered) in 2004. But the most remarkable cave in Phou Hin Boun is the eerie and amazing Konglor Cave -- a 7.5 km underground river that can be navigated by boat. It's inaccessible from the south, but there are good roads leading north to the village of Na Hin (also known as Kheun Kham) from which the cave can be reached on a day-trip or overnight. The road to the cave, too, is the scene of another road construction effort, and it becomes easier to navigate with every passing week.


 
















Tha Khaek in general, and the Travelodge in particular, are increasingly becoming a staging area for the 'Konglor Cave Loop', as tourists show up here looking to take a three-to-five day motorbike journey from Tha Khaek, through Nakai and Lak Xao, to Na Hin for a trip to Konglor Cave, and then returning from the north via route 13S.

But you don't have to do it on your own anymore: there's a new tourist information centre that is conducting a pilot project to test out three new guided tours of the nearby Phou Hin Boun NBCA, all of which are worth looking into.

Further afield, the Nakai-Nam Theun NBCA along the eastern border with Vietnam is the scene of a massive public works project -- a hydro-electric dam has been built, and a 50km stretch of the Nam Theun River Valley is going to be flooded -- the inundation process is scheduled to begin in August of 2007.

Conservationists are scrambling to measure the impact the reservoir is going to have on local wildlife, and whole communities are being uprooted and moved away from the inundation zone. The park itself is off-limits to tourists at the moment, but a new road has been cut into the forest along what will be the western edge of the reservoir, from Mahaxai in Khammuan Province, to Lak Xao in Bolikhamsai.

A motorcycle journey along this road is a dusty, bumping, and demanding trek that serves as nothing so much as an object lesson in how an undeveloped country becomes industrialised. Nevertheless, the road is navigated almost daily by at least a few tourists undertaking what's becoming known as the Konglor Cave Loop -- probably one of the most interesting and unique motorcycle treks available in the region. Dirt-bikers will want to head here sooner rather than later before they pave all the roads.

For the more adventurous, travel into the remainder of the province is possible and can be especially rewarding -- rest assured you'll be the only foreigner on the truck-bus!

Text and/or map last updated on 10th August, 2009.

Considering a tour to Laos?



Add to scrapbook

 

    Get orientated with our interactive map of Tha Khaek, Laos


    Check and uncheck the boxes below to show and hide the various icons on the map above and use the sliding bar at the left side of the map to zoom in and out. Have fun!
    Accommodation:    Restaurants:    Bars:    Attractions:    Transport:    Orientation:    Post & phone:    Banking:    Medical:    Other:
  

   Vision: Photos of Tha Khaek

Click on any image below to be taken to see a larger version of the photo and to browse our Tha Khaek photo gallery.

Tha Khaek, Laos Tha Khaek, Laos

You can add your own photos to this by joining the Travelfish Group on Flickr. Please click here more information.

 

  Search for accommodation


Search for guesthouses & hotels
where in Laos?

Sort results by:
Travelfish ranking (best first)
Price (cheapest first)
Name (A-Z)
Show only properties bookable online


 

Fresh off our Asia travel forum

Here are some discussions off the Travelfish forum, perhaps related to Tha Khaek. You can find the full forum here.

Topic Replies  Views 
Tha Khaek & Southern Laos 
In Laos: by Intrepid82, last reply by withoutborders
16 1773
Recommendations for accomodation in Tha Khaek and Savannakhet 
In Laos: by sugarplum, last reply by DonMorgan
2 952

Tha Khaek reviews

Backchat from the Travelfish community

Not a soul has had a thing to say about this place -- why don't you get the ball rolling?

Have your say

You need to be logged in to add a review.
Username: Password:
Not a member? you can join here.

Review title

Snappiness encouraged ;-)

When did you visit here?

This gives your review a bit of context - especially if you were last in Tha Khaek in 1932.

Your review

(Remotely sensible, non-ranting comments are much appreciated. If you don't like somewhere, please explain why -- it's all far more helpful for others that way.) Serial ranters, loons and spammers will be banished!
And please, no self-promotional URLs -- that's what your signature field is for.


So how does it rate?
On a scale of one to ten (with 10 being outstanding and 1 being bloody awful) how would you rate Tha Khaek for the following criteria?

Note: Ratings are OUT OF TEN -- not five!

Sights & activities:  
History & culture:  
Scenery & environment:  
Eat & drink:  
        
Traveller scene:  
Romance:  
Value for money:  
I'll be back (or not):  

Please note comments are edited for clarity, typos and style before they appear. Ranting tirades, spam and anything else that really belongs somewhere else won't make the cut. If you want to rant, go to Thorntree.

Please login and refresh this screen before writing your review -- thanks!




 

The bottom line

This site was constructed out of 100% recycled electrons -- if you don't, you should recycle too!
All material copyright Travelfish Pty Ltd ACN 107 758 985 -- please don't steal our content
Thailand FAQ | Cambodia FAQ | Travel related links | Jobs with Travelfish | Press
For ZoneAlarm Users | Contact Travelfish | Privacy statement | About us
Advertise with Travelfish | How do I get my business listed on Travelfish?
Yahoo! FareChase
Last updated pretty recently ;-)
There are 136 visitors online, sword2002uk, and your boss!
Travelfish | Blog | Fourelephants | AsiaNewsDesk | BangkokMetro | Affiliates