[dogblower]

Used to go up there a lot once upon a time. My GF's village was close to the provincial capital so I used to stay in town at the Kesri (spelling?) Hotel which was quite reasonable. Kantharalak is much further away so you'll be staying in the village as it's too far to commute. Si Sa Ket town has some nightlife, live music venues etc and it's possible to get laid there as well. Very few people speak English up there, so unless you speak some Thai you're going to have to rely on someone (your GF) a lot.

I found the people to be absolutely wonderful and they went out of their way to help me on numerous occasions. We went down to Khao Phra Viharn a couple of times and you should make sure to get there yourself - especially since you will be a lot closer to it than to Si Sa Ket itself. We also went swimming in a number of waterfalls down that way which was fantastic stuff too.

I'm afraid you're shit out of luck with farang restaurants up there, though there are a few in Si Sa Ket which serve what they probably imagine is farang food. Down in Kantharalak you won't even find that. Eat local - it's bloody good stuff.

What the hell - go up there, explore, enjoy and then write us all a trip report on how much fun you had.