Nong Khai

A concrete Buddha the height of a building stares blankly across a sculpture park of Hindu deities, naga serpents, and mythological beasts rendered in raw grey cement. Sala Kaew Ku in Nong Khai is the life's work of one mystic — Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat — and it sits on the banks of the Mekong, directly opposite the capital of Laos.

Nong Khai is a Mekong river town in Thailand's northeastern Isaan region, connected to Vientiane by the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge. The town's headline attraction is Sala Kaew Ku — a sculpture park containing over two hundred concrete statues depicting Buddhist and Hindu mythology, built over twenty-five years by a self-taught mystic who claimed to have been taught by a hermit in a cave. The sculptures reach over twenty metres tall; the largest depicts a seven-headed naga serpent. Beyond the sculpture park, Nong Khai's Mekong riverfront promenade offers direct views across to Laos, with sunset restaurants lining the water's edge. The town's slow pace, French-colonial shophouses, and proximity to Laos create an atmosphere distinct from the rest of Isaan.