Sisaket

Introduction

Sisaket is a historical province hosting many Khmer style temples and ruins. It is still quite untouched by tourism so it can be a good place to get off the beaten path and experience some authentic Thailand.

Probably the most noticed attraction here is the bottle temple in the south of the province.

Recommended for

• People who enjoy temples and learning about Thai history
• Travelers looking for a more authentic Thailand

Getting there

By bus – Buses run every day from Mo Chit in Bangkok to Sisaket bus terminal which take about nine and a half hours. The price ranges from 400 to 700 baht. We recommend taking a VIP bus for comfort and value.

By plane – The nearest airport is Ubon Ratchathani. From there, you can catch a bus for 100-150 baht to Sisaket.

By train – Trains leave Bangkok at different intervals throughout the day, starting at 5:45am. The last one is a night train leaving at 10:45pm. It can take anywhere from 8 hours to 11 hours and the price ranges from 300 baht to 1000 baht, depending on the train and the class of the ticket.

Where to stay

If you want to stay in the town center, there are a few different options near the aquarium. We stayed at Boonsiri Boutique Hotel. It was comfortable, near to the train station and good value for money. We were on the 4th floor with no lift, which wasn’t really a problem for us but you can pay extra to get a room on a lower floor.

There are also a couple of options right near to Wat Lan Khuad (Bottle Temple). As we were passing through, we stayed at the Peace Pool Resort. Again, we found this to be good value for money at 500 baht for a double or 590 baht for a twin room. They have a nice swimming pool to relax in after a long day of exploring.

We find our accommodation on Booking.com by first searching for the town or province and our dates, we then filter out any rooms with a score lower than 7 or 8 (depending on availability) as well as any rooms out of our budget. After this, we open the map and hover over all of the pins in the rough location we already decided we want to stay in. Hovering over the pins gives us the price for x nights plus the review score. We click on each pin to open those hotels in a new tab, review them and book our favorite.

Getting around

Taxi – There are taxis available in Sisaket. You may have to agree on a price with them beforehand if they refuse to use a meter.

Motorbike taxi – Look for the men in orange vests. Tell them where you want to go and ask for the price before you get on.

Samlor – These are tricycles with a carriage on the back for passengers. They work in the same was as motorbike taxis.

Nightlife

You have a couple of options for nightlife in Sisaket. A good choice for dinner is at Leo’s Bar and Restaurant where they also have a good selection of imported beers. You could also try out Cuckoo’s Nest Pub & Grub right next to the train station. If you are wanting to play pool, then head to Happy Joy Bar on Wichit Nakorn road.

Fitness & gym

A good choice for a gym in Sisaket is The One Fitness. The opening times are from 1pm to 10pm. Be careful with the location as they used to be by the train station but have now relocated. Follow this GPS location to find them.

Another option for a morning workout is Nice Fitness but they are overpriced (300b per day) compared to other gyms in Issan.

Getting out

You have a few options after leaving Sisaket. Head west into Surin, the home of the Elephant Round-up Festival or East into Ubon Ratchathani, a province with some cool activities, good nightlife and an airport. Your other options are to travel into Roi Et or Yasothon to the north.

Photo gallery

When to go

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

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.

Destinations like Sisaket in both northern and north eastern regions can be significantly cooler during the high/cool season than central and southern provinces like Bangkok or Phuket. It's a welcome and noticable change in season which may require a wardrobe change, especially at night.

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.