Isaan: the quarter tourists skip

A third of Thailand's land, a third of its people, and a rounding error of its tourists. Isaan — the northeast plateau leaning on the Mekong — is where repeat visitors graduate: the Thailand of som tam pounded to order, silk villages, Khmer ruins and towns that still register surprise at seeing you.

The case for going

• The food. Isaan's holy trinity — som tam, kai yang (grilled chicken), sticky rice — conquered the whole country; eating it at source, with larb and river fish alongside, is a pilgrimage that costs pocket change;
• The Mekong towns: Nong Khai, Chiang Khan, Nakhon Phanom, That Phanom — riverside promenades, French-shophouse traces, sunset aerobics and the slow brown river doing the entertaining;
• Khmer Thailand: Phanom Rung's hilltop sanctuary and Phimai's temple-in-a-town are Angkor's cousins without Angkor's crowds;
• Craft country: silk (Surin, Khon Kaen's villages), pottery, silverwork — buying at the loom from the weaver;
• The welcome. Tourism hasn't professionalised the interactions; curiosity and hospitality here are the uncommodified kind.

Honest notes

• Distances are real and attractions are spread — Isaan rewards the unhurried and the self-propelled (hire a car; the driving is easy);
• English thins out fast; translation apps and smiles carry you — part of the appeal, stated honestly;
• Hot season here is hot; cool season and early green season are the windows. Seasons;
• Base cities (Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Ubon, Korat) are comfortable, well-flown hubs — Isaan is remote in feel, not in logistics.