Ubon Ratchathani

[DeHaro-old]

My sweetheart, who I know since December last year, is a student from Ubon Ratchathani. We have always been meeting in Bangkok, where his parents live.

Next month I will be around again, but he has to study and asked me to come to Ubon for a week and stay at the Sunee Grand Hotel. He is not out of the closet and I cannot stay in his room.

Has anyone of you been there and can you please tell me what to do in Ubon ? My boy will only be around from 5 pm to the next morning and I am afraid it will become a bit boring for me there alone. Any suggestions ?

[christianpfc]

A bit too late for the candle festival (which should be on 23.07.2013 according to my calculations).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubon_Ratch ... e_Festival (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubon_Ratchathani_Candle_Festival)

The Hitler fried chicken restaurant does not exist (anymore?) anyway. There are hits on google that place it in Ubon Ratchathani, but far more that place it in Udon Thani. (And In case someone wonders: that was on top of my list, short of justifying a trip to Udon or Ubon, before the recent news about the KFC law threat.)

[corky]

...My boy will only be around from 5 pm to the next morning and I am afraid it will become a bit boring for me there alone. Any suggestions ?

Yes - get a new boyfriend.

I have been to Ubon Ratchathani and it is the back of beyond.
Things to do during the day:
Visit the Laos border on the bus. Look at the reservoir. Wander round the town. Visit the market. Visit a few temples. Read the newspapers (English newspapers arrive at 2.00pm). Go to the railway station and escape.
Things to do at night:
Eat a mediocre meal in the hotel. Wander round the town. Go to a karaoke bar. Check the railway timetable for the next train back to Bangkok. Go to sleep at about 10.30pm because everywhere is closed.

[kakadai]

There used to be a gay sauna in Ubon. Has it closed down?

:happy7:

[Smiles]

...My boy will only be around from 5 pm to the next morning and I am afraid it will become a bit boring for me there alone. Any suggestions ?
Yes - get a new boyfriend.
I have been to Ubon Ratchathani and it is the back of beyond.
Things to do during the day:
Visit the Laos border on the bus. Look at the reservoir. Wander round the town. Visit the market. Visit a few temples. Read the newspapers (English newspapers arrive at 2.00pm). Go to the railway station and escape.
Things to do at night:
Eat a mediocre meal in the hotel. Wander round the town. Go to a karaoke bar. Check the railway timetable for the next train back to Bangkok. Go to sleep at about 10.30pm because everywhere is closed.
An impressive failure of imagination.

[llz]

There used to be a gay sauna in Ubon. Has it closed down?

Relaxing seems to be still open - at least their website is : http://www.relaxingubon.com/

There are two other massage places but I have never been there and have only facebook links :
U Spa and Massage : https://www.facebook.com/USpaMassage
and Mister Massage https://www.facebook.com/mistermassage.ubon

I was in Ubon in October 2010 and June 2011 ; there was a karaoke bar with boys in downtown Ubon but I have no idea whether it is still open or not. Its name was "Black Beans" ; anyway I doubt this will be of interest for the OP as he will not be free in the evening.

For directions and more, you may be interested in reading my blog although the information is more than two years old : http://llz.blogspot.fr/2010/11/ubon-and-udon.html - and other entries from October 2010 and June 2011.

[corky]

An impressive failure of imagination.

Please tell us your experiences of Ubon Ratchathani?

[ceejay]

I haven't been to Ubon for 3 years, and then it was for the Candle Festival, so there wasn't a shortage of things to do in the day.I was hoping somebody could come in with some more recent information, but I hope this helps.
I found this website quite helpful. It doesn't from memory seem to have been updated much, but the blog was being updated until last December:
http://www.weloveubon.com/
Ubon is not Bangkok or Pattaya and it has a different pace of life. Also, August is one of the hottest, and wettest, months there so there won't be too much going on the daytime. Take it as an opportunity to experience what life is like in a Thai provincial city. I don't know what you like to do. If you do like to visit Wats, then there are at least two very unusual ones:
Wat Nong Bua. This follows the layout of the Mahabodhi temple in India, but with very Thai white and gold decoration. Looks like a science fiction set.
Wat Ban na Muang. Has not one, but two, large buildings in the form of Royal barges (in very different styles). Also an elephant gate (A very large concrete elephant forms the main gate. You go inder it to enter)
You might also consider going to the million bottle temple on Srisaketh, if you have transport
There are plenty of national parks in the area and up towards the the Mekong. The two I visited were Sal Chaliang (noted for free standing rock formations that look like Neolithic megaliths but are naturally occurring) and Pha Taem (prehistoric cave paintings). You need a car to visit the parks and you will probably lose some days top the weather in August.
In the end your visit will be what you make it. If you go there expecting Bangkok, you will be bored. If you treat it as a chance to experience a different side of Thailand, you may find it very rewarding.