Sa Kaeo

History

Sa Kaeo, sitting along Thailand’s eastern border with Cambodia, doesn’t draw big crowds — but that’s part of its appeal. Though it only became a province in 1993, its history goes back much further. The area was once part of the ancient Khmer empire, and you can still visit Prasat Sdok Kok Thom, a sandstone temple from the 11th century that once linked to Angkor.

The landscape here is rugged and striking. At Lalu, wind and rain have carved tall clay formations into a kind of natural sculpture garden that shifts with the seasons. Pang Sida National Park offers forest hikes, waterfalls, and a yearly explosion of butterflies.

There’s also a quieter spiritual side — like Wat Tham Khao Chakan, a cave temple tucked into a limestone mountain, where monkeys climb the cliffs and bats take flight at sunset. For travelers heading to or from the border, or just looking for somewhere different, Sa Kaeo is a place that invites a slower kind of exploration.

When to go

Most of Thailand falls in to the generic high and low season categories, including Sa Kaeo.

High season - begins in November and runs through to February, bringing cooler temperatures, lush greenery from the previous months of rain, good air quality, and less rain. The downside is larger crowds and sometimes higher prices for tours, flights and accomodation.

Low season - begins in July and runs through to October. During low season the temperatures are higher, the chance of rain and storms are higher. That doesn't mean it's a bad time to visit though, if you can be flexible, there are deals to be found on flights and accomodation.

While it's always hot in Sa Kaeo, the small change in temperature between high and low season can be just enough that the heat isn't unbearable when out and about.

Need more? Read our post discussing the best time to visit Thailand.

Where to stay

Instead of recommending hotels, we think it will be more useful to share our process so you can pick based on your own critera for location, budget and style.

We always start our search on either Booking.com or Agoda. They have an easy to user interface and have some extra benefits for "Genius" and "VIP" users. You can also sometimes pay with credit card in advance if you're playing the cashback or air miles game.

Process:

1. Search for specific province, city or town.
2. Apply rating filters for a minimum rating or either 7, 8 or 9.
3. Apply other filters: budget, fitness, breakfast, etc.
4. If you have a specific location in mind, use map view to browse and make a final selection.

If there are too many properties available to choose from, increase the rating filter for less, higher rated selections.

Final notes: Prices are dynamic. Check the same hotel on both Booking.com and Agoda to see which has the best deal at any given time (go through to checkout to make sure all VAT and service charges are factored in). You can go one step further by calling the hotel and checking the price for booking directly. In our experience this saves money 50% of the time but you have less guarantees.