Nakhon Phanom province
Home to some of Thailand's most spectacular Mekong riverfront scenery, Nakhon Phanom (City of Mountains), although primarily a gateway to Laos and onwards to Vietnam, is also home to one of Isan's (and southern Laos') most important wats, Phra That Phanom in the southern town of That Phanom.
While the province's position on the Lao border has created a relatively high Vietnamese and Laotian population -- with an influence that can be seen primarily in the food, this is nevertheless still a very Thai province. Bordered to the west by Sakhon Nakhon, the north by Nong Khai and the south by Mukdahan, this is a rural largely agricultural region, the provincial capital has a bit of a farmers's market feel to it, and aside from the ideallic town of That Phanom, there is really little reason to visit the province, except for the above-mentioned riverfront scenery or as a rest-stop enroute to the Lao town of Tha Khaek.
