A quiet Mekong town facing Vientiane, with a riverside promenade, cross-border trains and a retiree crowd.
Nong Khai sits on the Mekong where the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge crosses to Laos, about 25 km from Vientiane and 626 km from Bangkok. It is a small town of around 46,000 people with an unhurried riverside life: restaurants along Rimkhong Road, a Saturday market on the promenade and the Indochina market at Tha Sadet. Expats and retirees come for the pace and the Isan way of life. Since July 2024 a direct sleeper has run from Bangkok through Nong Khai to Vientiane, and Udon Thani, with its airport and private hospitals, is an hour south.
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