Roi Et

Roi Et is a province in central Isaan, occupying around 8,300 square kilometres of the flat Khorat Plateau between Maha Sarakham, Kalasin and the southern Khmer-temple provinces. Its capital is an unusually pleasant provincial town, built around Bueng Phalan Chai, a large artificial lake with an island at its centre on which a walking Buddha image stands — the symbol of the province.

The name Roi Et means "one hundred and one", recalling a legendary past as the great city of Saket Nakhon, said to have had eleven city gates and eleven satellite towns. Modern development has erased most of the ancient fabric, but the province still carries its history in scattered Khmer-era sanctuaries — Ku Phra Kona, Prang Ku, Ku Ka Sing — and in towns like Suwannaphum, founded by Lao migrants from Champasak in the late Ayutthaya period.

For travellers, Roi Et offers a relaxed lakeside provincial capital, some of Thailand's tallest Buddha images, dramatically eccentric modern temples, ancient Khmer ruins, and a particularly rich festival calendar. It is also the heart of the Thung Kula Rong Hai, a once-barren plain now famous for producing Thai hom mali jasmine rice.

The cool season, November to February, is the most comfortable time — dry, warm days and cooler evenings, ideal for strolling Bueng Phalan Chai and visiting the hilltop temples.

Roi Et's festival calendar is unusually full and worth planning around. The Kin Khao Pun Bun Phawet Festival is held in early March; rocket festivals (Bun Bang Fai) light up districts across the province, especially Suwannaphum and Phanom Phrai, around May–June; the Candle Festival falls on Asalha Bucha Day in July; and long-boat races take place around the end of Buddhist Lent in October.

March to May is hot, often exceeding 36°C, with hazy skies from regional crop burning in February–March. The rainy season (June–October) brings green rice fields across the Thung Kula Rong Hai and full waterways for the boat races.

Roi Et is well connected for a central Isaan province and the compact capital is easy to navigate.

• Air: Roi Et Airport (ROI) has daily flights from Bangkok's Don Mueang on AirAsia and Nok Air — the quickest way in.
• Rail (indirect): There is no railway in the province. Take a train to Khon Kaen, then a connecting bus (the distinctive pink buses run Khon Kaen–Roi Et).
• Bus: Buses from Bangkok's Mo Chit terminal serve Roi Et directly (around 7 hours by road). Regional buses connect Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham (about 45 baht / US$1.30) and points along the Rayong–Pattaya–Korat–Buriram–Mukdahan route.
• Within the city: Samlors (three-wheeled cycle taxis) are the classic way to get around the centre, typically 20–50 baht (US$0.60–1.40); they wait near markets, hotels and the bus station. Motorcycle taxis and tuk-tuks are also available.
• To outlying sights: Wat Pha Nam Yoi is about 70 km from the capital; the Khmer ruins and the craft villages are scattered across the rural districts. A chartered vehicle, motorbike or self-drive is most practical for these.

• Roi Et city — the lakeside provincial capital, built around Bueng Phalan Chai with its island walking Buddha, the national museum and Somdet Phra Srinakharin Park.
• Wat Burapha Phiram (Roi Et city) — home to one of Thailand's tallest standing Buddha images, "Phra Phuttha Ratana Mongkhon Maha Muni", with museum chambers in its base.
• Wat Pha Nam Yoi (Nong Phok area) — a vast, ornate temple complex on a hilltop with sweeping countryside views.
• Wat Pa Non Sawan — an extraordinary, eccentric temple decorated with local earthenware, its multi-tiered chedi entered through a giant Hanuman's mouth.
• Ku Phra Kona & Ku Ka Sing (Suwannaphum / Kaset Wisai) — well-preserved Khmer-era sandstone prang sanctuaries.
• Suwannaphum — the historic Lao-founded town, famed for its lavishly decorated rocket-festival parades.
• Thung Kula Rong Hai — the legendary plain, now Thailand's premier jasmine-rice growing region.

Roi Et eats classic Isaan food — sharp, sour and herb-driven, built around khao niao (sticky rice). The province sits in the Thung Kula Rong Hai, the source of Thailand's prized hom mali jasmine rice, so the rice itself is a point of local pride.

Signature dishes include som tam (green papaya salad, often made locally with fermented fish pla ra and field crab), gai yang (charcoal-grilled marinated chicken), larb and nam tok (toasted-rice meat salads), and the herbal soup tom saep. A distinctive local specialty is khao chi — grilled sticky rice glazed with egg — celebrated in its own festival. Freshwater fish from the province's reservoirs and rivers feature widely.

The best eating is the street food around the bus station, the markets and the lakeside; a grilled-chicken-and-som-tam plate runs about 40–70 baht (US$1.10–2.00). Roi Et town also has a handful of well-regarded local restaurants and Western options. Vegetarians should ask for jay or mang sa wirat and request that pla ra and fish sauce be omitted.

Roi Et's culture is firmly Thai-Isaan, and the province observes the Hit Sip Song — the traditional twelve monthly merit-making festivals of the northeast — particularly fully.

• Kin Khao Pun Bun Phawet Festival (early March, Roi Et city) — a major event at Somdet Phra Srinakharin Park with thirteen parades enacting the chapters of the Vessantara Jataka and free khao pun rice-noodle stalls.
• Bun Khao Chi (Bun Duean Sam) (around the third lunar month) — celebrating grilled sticky-rice cake, with a giant-khao chi competition.
• Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) (May–June) — lavish district rocket parades, with Suwannaphum and Phanom Phrai the most spectacular.
• Candle Festival (Asalha Bucha Day, July) — decorated candle floats parade to Somdet Phra Srinakharin Park.
• Long-boat races (around mid-October, end of Buddhist Lent) — held at Tambon Mueang Bua, Kaset Wisai, drawing crews from across the region.

The province's signature craft is the khaen, the Isaan bamboo mouth-organ; the finest are made in the village of Si Kaeo. Silk and cotton weaving is also strong — Phadung Phanit Road in the capital is the place to buy fabric.

• Walk the Bueng Phalan Chai lakeside — stroll the green heart of Roi Et town past the island walking Buddha, the city pillar shrine, flower gardens and rowboats on the water.
• Stand beneath a giant Buddha at Wat Burapha Phiram — climb the staircase of one of Thailand's tallest standing Buddha images and explore the museum chambers in its base.
• Visit the surreal Wat Pa Non Sawan — wander a temple unlike any other in Thailand, encrusted with local pottery and entered through a vast Hanuman's mouth.
• Trace the Khmer sanctuaries of the south — tour the laterite-and-sandstone prangs of Ku Phra Kona, Prang Ku and Ku Ka Sing, remnants of the Angkorian frontier.
• Catch a rocket festival in Suwannaphum — time a visit for May–June to see the province's most extravagantly decorated Bun Bang Fai parades and homemade rockets launched skyward.