There’s an area in northeast Thailand that doesn’t get as many tourists as it deserves. Near the city of Udon Thani we found incredible natural landscapes and fascinating historical sites, but hardly any tourists.
The drive from Chiang Rai to Udon Thani, travels close to the Laos border for much of the 14-hour bus ride. This area used to be the main supplier of the world’s opium. Today drugs still enter Thailand through Laos. During the drive, our bus went though at least 15 police checkpoints where they searched the bus for drugs. It made the long bus ride even longer. Thankfully we were about to discover that it was worth it.
Red Lotus Sea
From November until the end of February Nong Han Lake blooms with millions of red (actually pink) lotuses. The lake is massive at 8 km long and 3 km wide, but is very shallow which is perfect for lotus plants. The flowers don’t bloom close the parking lot, so from shore we couldn’t see much and wondered if we made a mistake by coming here.
We decided to take a long-boat ride across the lake to get a closer look. As we crossed the lake the flowers became more and more dense. By the time we reached the middle of the lake everything was pink for as far as we could see. It’s an incredibly beautiful sight; nature at its finest.
The lake is also teeming with fish. We saw many waterbirds soaring above the water searching for their dinner. Competing with the birds were fishermen. We watched them cast fishing nets from their long-boats as we slowly motored by.
After the pink lotus season, it’s time for the white lotus to bloom. We found one confused white lotus blooming among the field of pink.
Tips for visting Red Lotus Sea – Plan to arrive in the morning as the flowers close when the hot sun is high in the sky. Between 6 – 10 am is best. The lake is one hour southwest of Udon Thani and there are no public buses going to the lake. To get there you can either rent a car, join a tour group or do as we did and hire a private guide in Udon Thani. There is a parking lot near the docks where there are plenty of long-boats for hire in different sizes depending on the group size.
Phu Phrabat Historical Park
One hour east of Udon Thani, is a very interesting historical park. A receding glacier scoured the earth leaving behind huge sandstone rocks. Erosion from glaciers, wind and rain shaped these rocks into interesting formations.
Around 1,000 B.C., prehistoric man began carving shelters into these rocks. Experts don’t know a lot about these people, but believe that they were most likely hunters looking for protection from the sun and rain. In many rocks these prehistoric hunters carved out the base leaving just enough left to balance a large stone roof. In others they carved out large caves. Today most of these shelters are still standing and make incredible looking structures.
In one local legend a king imprisoned his daughter in a cave that was located high up on the rock. The legend says he was trying to keep her away from an unworthy suitor.
There is no water source in the area, so researchers don’t believe the caves were used as long-term housing, but rather for hunters to stay for a few days or weeks. To collect rain water, deep wells were carved into the stone. The tools they would have used were made from bronze and later from iron. Imagine carving huge rooms and wells into hard rocks with a spoon.
We saw many cave paintings that are believed to be from 2,000 – 3,000 years ago. Some paintings are in quite good condition as they were painted in sheltered areas away from the sun, wind and rain.
Some caves were used as temples. Experts believe they were temples because of the stone pillars surrounding them.
It was so incredible to imagine prehistoric man hunting in these woods and making shelters in these caves or worshipping in the temples.
Much later, Buddhist monks would stop in this area when travelling. The first came during the Dvaravati Period and later monks from the Khmer Empire were here (600 – 1100 AD). These travellers added Buddha statues and carvings to the caves.
Tips for visting Phu Phrabat Historical Park – There are no public buses going to the park. To get there you can either rent a car or do as we did and hire a private guide in Udon Thani. Entrance fees include a Thai speaking Park guide who can provide detailed information on the formations. Our guide could then translate for us. There is not much shelter and it can be very hot so try to avoid mid-day.
Ban Chiang
On the east side of Udon Thani is another important prehistoric site. In Ban Chiang they discovered 5,000 year old clay pottery. Many of the pots were found at burial sites where they were purposely broken and laid over the bodies of the deceased. Some pots however, were found in one piece. The biggest significance of this sight was the discovery of this early use of iron tools. Archaeologists used to believe iron was brought to Asia much later. This UNESCO World Heritage site showed an earlier advancement in tools than was previously believed.
To get to many of the sites in Thailand we often took public transit. All of the road signs are in Thai script and in rural areas not many people speak English. We often had to use gestures to communicate. To get to Ban Chiang we had to get off the bus at a non-descript spot outside of town. Twice we thought we were at the correct stop and tried to get off the bus. The first time 2 ladies figured out where we were going and stopped us from getting off. The second time, the whole bus got involved telling us it wasn’t our stop. When we finally arrived at the right place everyone on the bus made sure we got off and found a tuk-tuk so we wouldn’t get lost. They were awesome!
Udon Thani
We went to Udon Thani because it’s close to these interesting sites, but it’s also a tourist destination for other reasons. It has the undesirable distinction of being one of the biggest centers for sex-tourism in Thailand. During our 3 days in Udon Thani we saw numerous Caucasian men with Thai ‘girlfriends’, and we only saw 3 other Caucasian women. There is one street in town that is full of strip clubs and pick-up bars, but it is very different than the one in Bangkok. In Udon Thani it is just for sex tourism, whereas in Bangkok, Patpong is a fun display with more tourists than customers. This part of Udon Thani was very depressing.
Getting to Udon Thani
Bus – Public buses are available from many cities including; Chiang Rai, Khorat and Nakhon Phanom
Fly – Flights are available to/from Bangkok or Chiang Mai
Train – Trains travel though Udon Thani to/from Bangkok and Khorat
Coming Next – Ski touring on the Wapta Glacier
For extra pics from this trip go to Gallery/Northern Thailand. For extra pictures from other blogs go to Gallery at monkeystale.ca Click on a picture to view it as a slide show.
For more stories from our trips in Thailand click here, or visit Destinations for other trips from around the world.
Click here for Travel Tips in Thailand.
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Monkey's Tale 
What an interesting region. Love the lotus flower lakes, not sure about the sex trade though! 😁
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Yes the city definitely takes away from our time there, but the sites around were great!
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I’m saying the obvious: The Red Lotus Sea is amazing. I’d never known about it before.
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It was better than we hoped! The pictures can’t even show how gorgeous it is.
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I have never seen anything like the Red Lotus Sea before. How beautiful. Good call on taking the boat across the lake for a closer look of the red lotus.
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It was truly amazing, much better than we expected. I actually think it’s good that it’s off the beaten track because there were only a couple other tour boats on the water.
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That Red Lotus Sea looks amazing. Interesting history about the rock formations as well. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks! The lotus were incredible and I was equally fascinating thinking about actual cavemen carving their shelters. It was a worthwhile visit.
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I have never seen so many lotus flowers in one frame before! That’s actually quite spectacular. As for the rock formations, those curiously-looking shapes seem to worth the effort and time. I had no idea about these interesting places in the northeastern part of Thailand before.
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It’s really worth a visit Bama. The lake was so much better than we had hoped and the rock formations were fascinating. It’s a quiet part of Thailand that’s really nice to visit, other than downtown Udon Thani.
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Love the Red Lotus Sea. Such a beautiful shot of colour. So much rich history in this part of the world. Thanks for sharing. Allan
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Thanks Allan, the lake was absolutely stunning. I was equally fascinated by the historical sites too, so much ancient history that barely receives any attention. Thanks for reading! Maggie
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Incredible. You inspire people to explore offbeat places.
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Thanks Arv, there are so many unexplored areas that are as good or better than the popular spots, they’re just not as good at marketing 🙂
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Exactly. A gold mine for explorers!
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I liked so much your post ! I spent 2 weeks in Thailand, in different areas.
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Thank you, Thailand has so many great places to explore. Thanks for reading! Maggie
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I want to say how important your posts are in these times especially. Where, one gets to learn about new places and unique nature formations, through your words. Thank you❤
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Thank you Suzette, our next one is winter in Canada so won’t take you to a far away exotic place but rather a cold one🙂
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Ah yes but Canada is huge, so much to explore! Very lovely. And, thank you!
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What a neat area! As you said, it’s always so interesting to imagine how people must have lived way back then. They had so many challenges to overcome and yet so much ingenuity.
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I know I was blown away by what we think of as primitive people, but were able to make these incredible shelters.
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Wow! Those lotuses are incredible! I love the pottery too. I love these gems that you find!
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Thanks, the lake was even more beautiful than had hoped! And because the historical sites are so old, I found them even more impressive.It’s a fascinating part of Thailand.
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I believe it. It’s super cool!
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The sea, rock formations and the pottery — lovely captures and a beautiful post M & R!
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Thank you so much, it’s an incredible spot:)
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It all looks so beautifully unmissable! I visited Thailand a few years ago, and this was never even on my radar. Thanks for sharing your travel advice, I feel like I’ll have to include it in any future trip I manage to make
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Thanks Tom, not many people make it to this part of Thailand and they’re missing out! We loved these sites and they were probaly even better because they were so quiet. I think you can get there from Vientienn,e Laos too, I hope you can make it there one day:) Maggie
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Oh, my gosh, that Red Lotus Sea is spectacular! Worth every minute of the bus ride for sure. We had a trip to Thailand scheduled right as the pandemic hit, so when we rebook, we may now have to add this in!
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You should add it in. You can get there without the awful bus ride too, depending on where you’re coming from. But the flowers only bloom for a few months so you have to time it properly. We hired a guide from our hotel and it worked out perfectly.
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At first I wondered why such a pretty place would have so few visitors, but then I kept reading: 14-hour bus ride. That would do it for me! Glad you persisted, though, because you really got rewarded!
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Yes that and the sex-tourism seedy street keeps most people away:) It was a spectacular site so I’m glad we suffered.
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So beautiful……
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Thanks Marie!
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I’ve never even heard about the Red Lotus Sea. A carpet of full lotus blooms stretching far off into the distance is certainly a stunning sight to see. Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to read all about ski touring on the Wapta Glacier. Aiva 🙂
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It was very stunning. Not many people know about it which was nice for us because it was very quiet. Thanks for reading! Maggie
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These are the kind of little-known places that I also like to visit, thanks for drawing attention to them.
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Yes you feel like you can understand the country and the people better when it’s not over run by tourists.
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Oh my god I love those rock formations. And ancient art? I MUST go there it looks so much my thing. Only been to Mae Hong Son in the North which was amazing but these rocks? Fabulous.
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We really liked these sites. Not many people go and even our guide didn’t know much so we were happy to have a Park guide explain while our guide translated. We spent a couple of hours and only saw a small portion of the rock formations. You’d love it!
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I must go there. This is me through and through. Very exciting!
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Like some of my sculpture
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Such a beautiful lake!! Awesome photography 👌
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Thank you, it’s an incedibly beautiful place.
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Your pics are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thank you so much:)
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🌺🙏🌺🙏🌺
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What amazing places to explore! Never heard of these before. Pictures and mindblowing.
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Thanks, yes, it’s incredible that these places are not really known about, but that’s also why they’re so special.
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Once more you managed to uncover a true hidden gem! The sight of the blooming lake is incredible, but even more so are your fellow bus passengers. Love that anecdote very much. Ancient dwellings and rock paintings are fascinating, a rare glimpse into the life and mind of prehistoric humans. To me the similarities between the far flung early communities and settlements of the Bronze and Iron Ages (cave art, circular stone formations representing sacred places, etc) are always curious and intriguing. Quite a reward you had for the exhausting bus journey. Thanks for sharing!
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Yes, this part of Thailand is really special to us. A large part of it was that the people, they were the most friendly of anywhere in Thailand. And the incredible, ancient sites were much more fascinating than I thought. I felt as if I could see those hunters working to make their shelters. It’s a huge park and we only saw one section. Of course, no where can beat the lake, it was beyond beautiful.
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Very interesting. Never would have associated Thailand with these types of historical parks. Love the Red Lotus flower lake. Thank-you for this
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Thank you, we also had no idea that this type of site would be in Thailand. It was fascinating! And of course the lake was incredible. Thanks for reading! Maggie
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Fascinating to see a flower bed comprised of water. I’ve seen water lilies in various locations floating on top of the water but seeing the stalks of the red lotus sticking out of the lake is quite eerie. Great post – loved the rock shelters.
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Thanks, yes lotus sits above the water where I don’t think lilies do. It was flower bed that we could take a boat through! Thanks for your comments:) Maggie
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Amazing!
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Thanks Eliza!!
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The Red Lotus Sea looks so peaceful and beautiful – and it must be amazing when the white lotus takes over!
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Yes I’d love to see a sea of white ones too!
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Such wonderful awe-inspiring places, Maggie. The ceramics are really beautiful!
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Thanks, yes we found a few great places. The ceramics really surprised us at how beautiful they were for being made by prehistoric man! Not as caveman-like as we thought.
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Wow, this is such a pretty sight to behold, the lake has turned red… Truly incredible. Have never heard of these offbeat places, thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Yes it’s really magical. It’s not on the usual tourist route so it’s pretty quiet which makes it even better.
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I had to check this out on a map and I wish I’d had this info when we visited Vientiane in Laos. It looks like it is quite accessible from there. I’ve not before read anything about this fascinating part of Thailand. I would have gone crazy at the Red Lotus Sea
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It’s much closer to Vientiane than any large city in Thailand. It’s not a well known area which is great because it’s very quiet and feels more like the real Thailand. The lake is unbelievable, you’d love it. Our pictures can’t even capture how massive and gorgeous it is.
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An enlargement of one of your lotus lake photos would make a great wall statement.
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Good idea. We have quite a few pictures from Asia on our walls but none from there.
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Wow that’s quite the site seeing the red lotus sea…and fabulous photos.
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Thanks, it’s an incredible place when the flowers are in bloom!
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My late step-mother was born near Chiang Mai. She sometimes mentioned the red lotus waters that she visited when she was a girl.
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Oh wow, that’s so interesting. Have you ever been? These ones near Udon Thani are incredible.
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Very interesting place. I was fascinated by your story.
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Thank you, yes we were so impressed by the sites in this part of Thailand. Thanks for reading! Maggie
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that sea of lotus is so beautiful and unique, thanks for sharing 🙂 enjoy the weekend and cheers from Portugal 🙂 PedroL
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Thank you Pedrol, we were surprised that the lake was so large and so much more beautiful than expected. Thanks for reading! Maggie
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always up to those surprises eheh thanks for the feedback Maggie 🙂 regards, PedroL
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This is such an interesting post!
Loved all of your photo’s … of course the sea of red Lotus flowers are just beyond words – wow 😲. And the sandstone rocks are also amazing … it reminded me of the Cederberg Mountains here in South Africa. What a great tour you had here!
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This whole detour on our trip was such a pleasant surprise. We red one or two lines in Lonely Planet and thought we’d check it out. The Red Lotus Sea was so beautiful, miles and miles of blooming lotus. The park was also very interesting with ancient caves and rock formations. It was well worth the detour. Maggie
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