Thailand’s newest province, on the Mekong opposite Pakxan, with Phu Thok’s cliff temple and Three Whale Rock.
Bueng Kan became Thailand’s 76th province in 2011, when eight districts were split off from Nong Khai. Its capital is a small Mekong town opposite Pakxan in Laos, 750 km from Bangkok, and since December 2025 the Fifth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge has crossed the river here. The economy rests on rubber and on tourism: visitors come for Phu Thok, a 359 m sandstone hill climbed by wooden walkways, and Hin Sam Wan, the 75-million-year-old Three Whale Rock. Life is rural and unhurried.
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