Thailand

ebroguy · #1 06-03-2007, 00:35

Hi there ,

I am a total 'newby' to this Forum and wanted to say hi ! and maybe get a little info from some old hands on here ,

I shall soon be making my first ever visit to Thailand , to a village in Udonthani called Kumphawapi , I am struggling to find any info or pics on this place , and it sounds very remote to me , I think it's about 50-60K from Udon city ? ! just wondered if anyone can shed any light on this for me .

In advance thanks ! .

MrDK · #2 06-03-2007, 00:49

Welcome to the board.

Personally I have no experience in that area, but I am heading up there in April. I will be ~60km south of Udon.

It is interesting that this is your first destination.

ebroguy · #3 06-03-2007, 01:04

Hi there !
Thanks for the welcome :-) ,

Yes I'm surprised too that I will be going there for my first visit ! But I shall be meeting a 'freind ' I have been chatting to for a couple of months on the net , well , I dont suppose I'm the first am I ! ,

I dont mind rural locations as I live in rural Spain , it would just be nice to see where I am going !

Take care .

nickboyuk · #4 06-03-2007, 03:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebroguy

Hi there ,

I am a total 'newby' to this Forum and wanted to say hi ! and maybe get a little info from some old hands on here ,

I shall soon be making my first ever visit to Thailand , to a village in Udonthani called Kumphawapi , I am struggling to find any info or pics on this place , and it sounds very remote to me , I think it's about 50-60K from Udon city ? ! just wondered if anyone can shed any light on this for me .

In advance thanks ! .

Have you checked Udon Thani thailand maps & detailed udonthani information - udonmap.com - Home. there is a forum there. I was up that way visitng my GFs village last week. Didn't get to Kumphawapi. You could ask on the forums there.
Hope its not the same girl. lol

ebroguy · #5 06-03-2007, 04:44

Hi there !
Thanks for your reply , I have just signed up to the Udon Forum , I'm now waiting for confirmation and I'll take a look , I dont remember saying that my ' freind ' was a girl ! but she definately lives in Kumphawapi so hopefully not the same :-) .

SirDougless · #6 06-03-2007, 12:06

It is actually a city of 20,000+ people, about 45k SE of Udon Thani city and is also called Ban Phan Don, Nam Khaung, Ban Nam Khong. Other spellings can include Koumpa Ouapi and Kumpu Kwapi. No wonder the post never gets delivered in Thailand! To be precise it is Lat 17.1336 Long 102.9675.

Apart from your girl, the main attraction is probably a Wat or two, however, if there is something interesting there please let me know.

You should invest 120 Baht in the Thinknet Bilingual Map of NE Thailand. Scale is 1:550,000 so it should prevent you getting lost.

dizbuster · #7 06-03-2007, 12:19

Welcome to the board, I have been there myself a few times and knew it reasonably well. As has been stated already it's around 45km due south of Udon Thani. You travel down the main road to Khon Kaen (highway number 2) and you will see it signposted when you get near. If heading down from Udon, you will then turn left at a junction (with traffic lights) and follow that road for about 8-10km and this takes you to the central Kumphawapi area.

If you are looking for anything particular, let me know and I will try to help out as best I can, hotel etc. Don't expect too much, very "non-western" and as a result, very hard to find English speaking people and western style food.

I found it a very relaxing place and liked my trips into town from my TG's village.

ebroguy · #8 06-03-2007, 19:12

Hi there !

Thank you both for your informative replies and offers of help , I was begininng to think I would be like Mr Livingstone and be the first Farang into this place , I must admit it certainly sounds larger than I first thought , My plan is to fly into Udon from BK and then somehow get to Kumphawapi , i think there is a train from Udon but weather it stops here or not I'll have to find out ,

Please forgive my ignorance , but as I said I am a complete ' newby ' so I have to ask what is a 'wat ' ? .

I dont mind non westernised , and dont miss English style food at all , I could eat curry and spicy food all day , and will probably have to Mmmm! .

once again thanks .

IRISH JONNY · #9 06-03-2007, 19:17

wat is a temple..ij

faultytowers · #10 06-03-2007, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebroguy

Please forgive my ignorance , but as I said I am a complete ' newby ' so I have to ask what is a 'wat ' ? .

Perhaps it would be a good idea to go on the internet and check out a bit about Thailand (customs/culture/habits etc) before your trip. Just seems like you are heading "into the unkown" without doing any research.

dizbuster · #11 06-03-2007, 20:42

There is a railway line that runs from Udon Thani all the way down to Bangkok and for the first part up until Kumphawapi, it runs almost alongside Highway 2 (road to Khon Kaen). However, it doesn't go that close to the main area of Kumphawapi, I know of one station but it's just one building and a platform. There's no public transport to talk of up in that region, you will have to hire a car if you want to get around with relative ease. Once out of Udon itself, the roads are easy to navigate and are very quiet most of the time.

They drive on the left, same as the UK but not the same for the rest of Western Europe. If you are up to trying left hand drive then your best option is to hire. You can get buses from Udon down to Kumphawapi, but they are not the type of buses we would associate with long journeys, they are Songthaews - basically a pickup truck with two bench seats in the back facing each other with room for 5/6 people on each side, plus of course standing room. Most of the time these are full up with locals as they don't run all that often. If you are with a local (Thai) and that person knows their way around plus you are the adventurous type, then try the buses you might find it a great way to see Issan. I have no idea where you would get information about routes, times etc and wouldn't even know where to suggest looking. There probably isn't a website, well not in English anyway, that would give out this information.

If you want a hassle free trip then a car is a must, they have car hire places at the airport, but it's best to book in advance.

Have fun

fun2have · #12 07-03-2007, 05:35

yes, as others have said it is far from being a village, a substantial provincial town.
udon looks like a farang resort in comparison to kumpawapi.

ebroguy, is your friends house in town or not ? people will often say that they live in a certain town, but live in a village, within its amphur (local government administrative district).

talk to some of the bms on udonmap.com, some kumpawapi locals on that site.

thai railways has the times in english i am sure, but a bus is cheap to kumpawapi. but as was said before, hire a car if your friend can not provide transport.

i quite like the countryside out that way, but if you are driving be careful as the quality of the road changes quite rapidly after you leave highway 2.

fun2have · #13 07-03-2007, 05:40

Have you checked Udon Thani thailand maps & detailed udonthani information - udonmap.com - Home. there is a forum there. I was up that way visitng my GFs village last week. Didn't get to Kumphawapi. You could ask on the forums there.
Hope its not the same girl. lol

saw it happen on my last trip to the wifes village 555, how special to visit the village only a matter of days after another had just left.

soicowboy · #14 07-03-2007, 09:05

Hope you check up on the culture alittle more ,knowing what a wat is , is pretty essential in that part of the world , the people have thier own way of seeing things.

ebroguy · #15 10-03-2007, 19:01

Thank you all for your replies and your advice ,I take everything onboard that has been said .

I have visited udonmap.com , and found it very usefull and informative, as I do this Forum , I am allways searching for more info prior to my visit ,which is in about eight weeks ! but we all have to start somewhere right !

Well now I know what a 'wat' is at least I have made a start ! .

My freind lives in a village about 45k from Udon , she is going to meet me at the airport and we'll take it from there , Though I would like to book a Hotel in Udon for my first night at least . I think I will not want to go to far after travelling from Spain to the u.k , and then BKK and on to Udon , Am I mad !
So any suggestions for hotels in Udon and Car hire firms would be welcomed .

Take care all and thanks again .

ebroguy · #16 11-03-2007, 23:09

Hi there , I have visited the ' Thinknet ' website to purchase the map you suggested , however none of the links on the ' purchase products ' page seem to work , well not for me at least ! I have also tried Amazon , no sign of it there either , any other ideas as to where I can purchase this valuable item ? .

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirDougless

It is actually a city of 20,000+ people, about 45k SE of Udon Thani city and is also called Ban Phan Don, Nam Khaung, Ban Nam Khong. Other spellings can include Koumpa Ouapi and Kumpu Kwapi. No wonder the post never gets delivered in Thailand! To be precise it is Lat 17.1336 Long 102.9675.

Apart from your girl, the main attraction is probably a Wat or two, however, if there is something interesting there please let me know.

You should invest 120 Baht in the Thinknet Bilingual Map of NE Thailand. Scale is 1:550,000 so it should prevent you getting lost.

dizbuster · #17 12-03-2007, 08:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebroguy

...My freind lives in a village about 45k from Udon , she is going to meet me at the airport and we'll take it from there , Though I would like to book a Hotel in Udon for my first night at least . I think I will not want to go to far after travelling from Spain to the u.k , and then BKK and on to Udon , Am I mad !
So any suggestions for hotels in Udon and Car hire firms would be welcomed...

I use Budget Car when booking a car.

Also, there's a hotel not far from Kumphawapi just off Highway 2 called the KP Hotel. I have yet to find a website for it, but perhaps your GF will know about it. That might be useful and save you a bit of petrol driving from hotel in Udon to your GF's village every day

briofoz · #18 12-03-2007, 09:22

If you are a Bit Torrent user, you may find one there.....