Loei Tourist Attractions
Nobody would call Loei a star tourist destination – at least among the Western travellers, but the charm of the town lies in the opportunity to experience the real local life as it is – have a stroll around the park, chill out on your raft floating in Huai Krating Reservoir or climb up to the viewpoint in Phu Bo Bit Forest Park to experience a quiet yet spectacular sunset.
Kut Pong Public Park
Kut Pong is the favourite gathering place for all the locals. People come here for a morning jog or to meet friends at lunch break, students hang out in the afternoon to study together or simply chill out, mothers take their kids to the playgrounds. With lots of trees, green and shade and an artificial lake where you can feed the fish it’s a nice spot to rest for a bit during your visit.
From the clock tower that marks the city centre walk south for 150 meters and you’ll be right there. Before crossing the bridge over the lake that will take to the park, have a look at the Chaopho Kut Pong Shrine and the City Pillar Shrine, the two most revered shrines in town where people come all the time to pay respect and offer donations.
Loei Museum
This little museum is a good starting point to have a glimpse of the history and tradition of Loei town and province. The building, once used as the city hall, is a two-storey house and the exhibitions are all places within the three rooms on the second floor. The museum focuses on the culture and traditions of the different ethnic groups living in Loei while one of the rooms is dedicated to the three visits to the city of the late King Bhumibol. Even if it’s probably not the most interesting museum we’ve been to, the central location close to Kut Pong Public Park and the free entrance are two good reasons to give it a try anyway.
Visits are allowed every day from 8.30am to 4.30pm.
Sunset from viewpoint in Phu Bo Bit Forest Park
Located just few km east of town on the top of a hill, it is by far the best viewpoint around Loei. Don’t be scared off by the 600 steps that you’ll have to climb; even for inexperienced hikers it will not take more than half an hour to get up the stairs and the 360 degree view will completely compensate your effort. Coming in the late afternoon is a better idea as the temperature starts to cool down and the sunset view is spectacular.
If you have your own wheels, drive east on route 2138 for 6 km, otherwise a tuk-tuk or motorbike taxi will take you there and wait for you for THB250.
Huai Krating Reservoir
For a relaxing lunch and afternoon out of town, Huai Krating (or Huai Nam Man) is a wonderful reservoir not far from Loei. Super busy during weekends and public holiday, it’s otherwise incredibly quiet and beautiful during the week. Rafts are available for rent starting at THB250 a day (the bigger ones are THB500). If you’re there during lunchtime you can order your food before a long tail boat will take you out to the lake. When the food is ready they will bring it there. You can spend hours in your raft chilling, eating, fishing and swimming if you like. The water is refreshing and clean but the visibility is not quite good. Every now and then one of the boats will approach you to check that everything is ok and to see if you need to order drinks or food. The setting is spectacular and the atmosphere is extremely peaceful.
To get to the reservoir, drive north on route 201 for 5 km when you have to turn left on route 21 and keep on going for roughly 12 more km until you get to destination.
