Since I had already seen several places in Thailand (including Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui), I wanted to find a less touristy destination where I could enjoy the local vibe for a month or two. After some superficial research, I decided Udon Thani in the North-East of the country (Isaan) would be just the perfect place for this. I had read before, that there was quite a lot of sex tourism going on in Udon, which I am not only uninterested in, but makes me quite sad (and disgusted), but I said to myself this should not spoil my stay there.
I was very wrong. It did.
What is Udon Thani like?
Udon Thani is a very likeable small town with about 130.000 inhabitants – just the perfect size that will ensure you have everything you want as far as shopping and services are concerned, but without the rush and crowds and craziness of a big city. It has some nice cafés, a few larger malls, innumerable food courts, and a city centre with entertainment options and nice walking streets and markets.
Add to that the very low prices that you’ll find in Udon, the nice local people and the small town vibe – and you’ll find just the perfect place to settle down for a few months as a digital nomad.
There is only one problem, but it is huge (for me, at least): the city is full of mainly British, shabby looking old men, the youngest of whom look 65 at least, while some of them need help walking into a restaurant and sitting down. The help comes from their young(ish) Thai “girlfriends”, but every now and then you see such an old, fat, unkempt “grandfather” with a young Thai boy too.
Rarely did I see a white woman or a young white man in Udon Thani – and when I did, it just reminded me of the sadness of the situation.
If this doesn’t disturb you too much (or if you even think this is an opportunity for you), then Udon Thani might be just the perfect place for you. If, however, you are like me, and the sex tourism is the last thing you would enjoy, then follow my advice below.
Where to stay in Udon Thani?
The so-called girly bars, i.e. the ones which display young attractive Thai girls and a few ladyboys at the entrance, and which invariably serve western male customers who are looking for sex, are in and around Samphan Thamit Alley. Unfortunately, I ended up staying in exactly this street in an otherwise very good hotel (At Home At Udon). While the hotel was wonderful, I had to pass all the massage places and girly bars every time I went out or returned to my hotel. After a while, all the bar girls learnt that I was not going to be a customer, so they (mostly) left me alone.
At Home At Udon was a nice place with helpful staff. I had a large room with a balcony, and with a desk to work on. The chair was not really comfortable, but I requested a new one, which was much better. The internet connection was good for me – but I don’t usually make video calls.
I actually moved to this street from a family run hotel outside the city centre. That hotel would have been a perfect place to stay, with large rooms, a working desk and an inner courtyard with tables, but it was too far away from all the nicer places of the city, and I was also afraid that one of the stray dogs who roamed around in the streets would attack me – so I decided to move to the hotel in the bar street. Altogether, it was a good decision though, because everything I needed was just a few steps away, and I also got a discount for my longer stay (more than a month).
Things to see and do in Udon Thani
Udon Thani is not a place you visit for the sights. The main attraction for me was the city itself, with its small town vibe. The city centre has a few areas where I loved walking in the evening. One of them is called UD Town, which is a long street with various shops and eateries – both cheap and more elegant restaurants -, a larger food court and a market. They often organise events there; once I saw a pop concert, another time a folk ensemble was performing, but there were street dancers there too. Another place I often went to was very near this one, called Preecha Market, with lots of shops and nice places to eat.
For food, I often visited Central Udon shopping mall, they have a large food court downstairs. Similarly to the food court in UD Town, you can’t pay by cash, you need to request a card at a kiosk, “upload” money to it, and use this card when paying for your food and drinks.
Udon Thani has two central lakes, neither of which seemed inviting enough for me to return, but once you are in the city, it is worth checking them out.
There are a few places around Udon that you can visit, none of which was interesting enough for me to arrange transportation and spend time and money on them. Most people would go to see the Red Lotus Lake, which is about 60-70 kms from Udon Thani, and enjoy a boat ride on the lake covered with lotus flowers (check the season though). Ban Chiang is an archeological site, about the same distance, but in a different direction. There are a few temples, equally far away from the city itself, and to be honest, I have seen so many temples in Asia, that it must be some really outstanding one to be worth my time and money.
But I didn’t go to Udon Thani to enjoy famous sights – on the contrary, I was expecting a laid-back small(ish) town, where I can settle down a bit and live my usual working life.
Which I did, for a while, before I decided I had had enough of the sex tourism, and escaped.
Seeing a dentist and visiting a hospital in Udon Thani
As far as health is concerned, my time in Udon Thani was not as enjoyable as it could have been (even with the above mentioned handicaps). A few months before, in Indonesia, I was in terrible pain because of some kidney stones. The pain was gone now, but I wanted to see if I needed to return home for treatment, or if I could safely continue my travels. This type of check-up is of course not covered by travel health insurance, so I went to a private hospital called Bangkok Hospital in Udon. It was an OK experience, they examined me and said the stones were very small, and that they are not likely to cause trouble. The price was 5350 THB for a blood and urine test, an ultrasound examination and the consultation with the doctor.
I also needed a dentist – it never rains but it pours -, and I ended up losing a tooth (had to be extracted), and I also needed a filling replaced, plus the usual cleaning. I cannot remember how much I paid, but it was reasonable. The city centre is full of dentists, and it’s really hard to choose. I had the cleaning and the tooth extraction done by “Enjoy Dental Clinic”, where I had a terrible experience, so I went to have the filling replaced at “Lovely Tooth Dental Clinic” (why on earth do they have such stupid names…), which was perhaps better.
Overall impressions and tips
If you decide to spend a longer time in Udon Thani, and you are not someone looking for (cheap) sex, I suggest you should find accommodation near the centre, but definitely not in Samphan Thamit Alley or one of the neighbouring streets, but close enough to the centre anyway, because the better food options, the larger supermarkets and “things to see” will be in the centre.
You will find a large crowd of European people, but most of them will be the ones described above, and some who already settled down there, got married and have children. If you are hoping to find a digital nomad type of crowd or young(er) people to hang out with, you may be disappointed.
