Well, Ubon has turned out to be somewhat of a fizzle in my eyes. I have a feeling there is a bit of a push to promote this region of Thailand. Tourism here seems largely undeveloped, probably due to the fact that it was more or less off-limits to tourists for security reasons up through the late 1990’s with Khmer Rouge activity in the area.
Perhaps the feeling is that tourists need to come first before tourist businesses are worth setting up. There are a few things to see in town, including a decent historical museum, but I managed to get through most of what’s available in less than a day. The surrounding area is supposed to have some worthwhile excursions, but there aren’t any tours heading to them because, I was told by the Thailand tourism authority, “There aren’t enough tourists”. And while you could try to negotiate transportation with a local driver, it is hard to find anyone who understands what you want. Most businesses here, including my hotel, seem to treat me as more of a nuisance than anything else. I get the impression that most Westerners who visit here are only stopping on their way to or from Laos (which is just over the border).
Instead of spending the next five days here, milling about town and seeing shops like those in other parts of Thailand, I think I’m going to hop the overnight train to Bangkok and an early-morning bus to Kanchanaburi, clear over on the other side of Thailand near the border with Myanmar (aka Burma). Hopefully they still have sleeping berths available!
