Chiang Mai to Kon Kaen - How far (dist and time)???

daewoo

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Dec 6, 2005
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I have been invited to the wedding of the Thai girl in the Take Away shop up the road where I buy lunch every day... She and her (Thai) boyfriend have been living here together for 5 years and are going back to do the villiage wedding in her home villiage near Kon Kaen...

December 3rd...

Never been to a Thai wedding, so I will go if I haven't managed to convince anyone to do a ride in Laos at that time...

Just wondering how far it is too ride, if it is a nice ride, and how long it would take...

Cheers,
Daewoo
 

Pikey

www.tbbtours.com
What bike mate? Bungy has ripped down there on his 1050 Tiger in one hit and myself and him both drove our trucks down there in a day earlier this year.

If you are more into taking your time, I'd recommend stopping somewhere like Phitsanoluk or Lomsak overnight and then going through to KK the following day. Generally nice roads and Lomsak/Petchabun area is stunning.

I can't remember the exact KM but it's in the region of 650 - 700. John Gooding will probably chime in with a more accurate figure as he lives in KK and visits CNX regularly.

Cheers,

Pikey.
 

daewoo

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Dec 6, 2005
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Geezuz... didn't realise it was that far... I recon I would have serious Monkey bum after those miles in a day... 500km a day here is about my limit...

Thanks for the reply Pikey... would be on a hire bike, probably an ER6 or whatever they are renting these days...

I guess it will depend on if I can find a traveling companion or not... I am sure some of the guys floating through in Nov would like to see the "Authentic Thai Wedding"... I don't enjoy my own company too much... I find myself to be an opinionated arsehole :) ...

Still hoping that some of you guys will be doing a trip to Laos during the riding season while I am there (Nov23-Dec 15 or so)... that would take a much higher priority than a 5 day wedding trip for a chick I hardly know...

Look forward to catching up with you for a beer, but not as many as Chiang Rai for the Motorcross in 07 eh ;)... you'll be back from CB about then right???

Cheers,
Daewoo
 

Pikey

www.tbbtours.com
Yep, deffo catch up for a few beers and maybe a day ride somewhere. Cambodia is only going to be 5 - 7 days at the end of October so will be done & dusted by the time you arrive. Unfortunately, finances (or lack of) dictate that Cambo will be my only "big" ride this year so although I'd love to accompany you to Laos, unless I win the lottery or a rich unknown relative leaves me a pot load of money, I'm going to have to skip (this year anyway).

If you go to the wedding, take a couple of days and either on the way or the way back, detour via Loei & Dansai as the roads there are rippers. Me & Marcus came back from Vientiene/Nong Khai that way last year and it was great. Did it in a day from Loei which earnt Marcus big respect and a very numb bum as he was on an XR250!!! :shock:

Cheers,

Pikey.
 
Nov 21, 2008
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I did buriram chiang mai on a d-tracker buriram -petchabun-nam nao -nakhon thai-chiang mai.aprox 900 km not the shortest way to cm but a beutifull trip,i'd say as long as it's not your wedding,go for it.

Did it in 2 days,and yas may ass was so sore i could hardly stand up and had to lay on my stomack when eating,so i sold the d tracker to the dealer in cm and bought a er6,with that one the trip would not be a problem at all.
cm to kk is about 660 k the shortest way
 

DavidFL

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Daewoo
The best way to go is 1 night 2 days with an overnight stop in Loei - one of my favourite all time towns.
Cnx - Loei = 485 kms. Chiang Mai Lampang - Uttaradit - Chat Trakarn - Nakhon Thai - Dan Sai - Loei.
Loei - Khon Kaen = ___ kms , depending which way you go, but John Gooding will have all that info.

Re Laos, yeah sure I’m interested & I should be in Laos a good part of October; originally I thought it was going to be all month, but I'm behind with the 4th edition of the Mae Hong Son Loop map. However once that is out the way South Laos here I come!
 
Sep 4, 2007
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Hi Daewoo,
An Isaarn wedding great fun, but you must wear your best suit and tie.
Just joking, the casual nature of these ceremonies took me a bit by suprise at first, but certainly everything is very relaxed and many people seem to drift in and out and some just come and eat and drink and take no notice of the wedding ceremony. But that was not your question.
Well Loei from Khon Kaen is about 200km by the most direct route.
I have been many times from KK to CM and back of course.
The first time I was not sure how long and how I would feel so planned to stop off. I left KK at 7.00am and was suprised when I was over half way in under 4 hours. I reached CM just after 3pm, the distance was 650km. I was on aVFR800, i have since travelled on various machines even twice on 250cc machines On the 250 my maximum speed was 110kpm, dropping to 80kph on the hilly bits. Still an easy one day ride. The only time I have stopped over on the way is when I have left CM after lunch.
The roads are good, once past Lampang they tend to be fairly traffic free apart from a section from Den Chai to Uttaradit, and later from Chumpae to Khon Kaen. There is some great scenery along the way.
There are very few traffic lights and hold ups along the way.

Going via Loei, does add a few km, but it adds some very enjoyable roads and Loei is a better place to stop overnight than somewhere like Lomsak, which is on the more direct route.
If you let me know when you are coming down in December I may be able to time a CM visit to join you on the way down, and we could do it with or without an overnight. I could use my Kawasaki Ninja 650R so we would be matched on machines and comfort.
BTW once when in a hurry on the FJR1300 I did the journey in just over 6 hours including 2 short stops, Ian probably has beaten that.

Cheers John
 
Sep 19, 2006
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www.chiangmai-xcentre.com
Hi Daewoo,
It is an Easy day Ride to Khoen Kaen trust me! I think My Time was about 5 1/2 hours but an Easy slow Ride with Stops maybe 8? See What is happening then and I may come with You? I can visit John while You go to the Wedding? great Riding around that entire Area :wink:
 

daewoo

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Dec 6, 2005
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Thanks for the kind offers guys...

My biggest desire for this trip is to try and get to Laos, because I haven't been before, and don't want to miss seeing it before it catches up to Thailand...

I think the chick is a bit stoked that I would bother... in my mind it as good a reason to ride to somewhere as anything else...

I think the wedding is actually in Mahasarakham, but she didn't think I would know where that is so told me Khon Kaen... much of a difference??? looks to be another 70km...

I have told her to make sure she lines up a couple of cute friends to schaperone me all night and make sure I don't end up being Nigel no mates... She said she needs to know a week in advance for allocated seating, does that sound right??? I though these weddings were much more casual than that... I will dust off my best Tux then :)...

Cheers,
Darryl
 
Sep 4, 2007
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Maha Sarakham, is a pleasant quiet town about 65km South East of KK. It has a newish University campus and is probably well stocked with suitable chaperones for you.
Sounds as if the wedding, or maybe reception has booked a hotel, who are more upmarket than the average and they may well have a table plan. There is quite a bit of variety in the course of events, but typically the couple may invite 9 monks and relatives to attend a blessing that is often early in the day, from 7am onwards. That is normally followed a little while later, or maybe a lot later, by the wedding which is conducted by a senior figure from the community.
None of this recognised by the law as a legal marriage, that is a normally private quick paperwork excercise at the amphur office, not usually the same day. However the Bhuddist wedding is what most of the community is reffering to as getting married. The ceremonies followed by eating drinking singing and some dancing etc.
Forgive me if this is over the top info, but you did say never been.
Also some guys may say this not to do with biking, and may belong over on Thai Visa etc, but hey we do live here and its as good an excuse to get away on the bike as any.
Not sure how this is going to get you into Laos. You can travel East from Maha Sarakham but it is about 200Km to Mukdahan and a border crossing, or you can go North to Nong Khai, thats about 240km from MS,
but there are issues crossing over the friendship bridges into Laos with motorbikes from Thailand. No issues going the other way, Laos into Thailand, so maybe you want to cross the river somewhere up North, then travel down thro Laos and back into Thailand at Nong Khai or further down at Mukdahan, then on to the wedding. I have no experience to date crossing into Laos and cannot comment, but there is loads of good info on this forum on the subject.
 

daewoo

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Dec 6, 2005
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johngooding wrote:
Forgive me if this is over the top info, but you did say never been.
Thanks heaps John... very helpfull... As far as I knew, The Family ties some string around the bride and grooms wrists in front of a Monk, then everyone gets drunk and sometimes a fight breaks out :) ... as opposed to a farang wedding, where you put a ring on each others fingers in front of a Priest, then everyone gets drunk and sometimes a fight breaks out... but the bill is a lot higher...

With respect to Laos, I was just commenting that, if a trip to Laos is on the cards with other (GT) riders, I would skip the wedding for that...

I understand that it is possible to take hire bikes from some of the Chiang Mai shops into Laos, that the shops understand what is required and will help you sort it out...

Even if I don't make it to KK for the wedding, I hope I will come down anyway, and if I do it would be nice to catch up...

At the moment my only firm plans are to put the Missus and Kids on a plane back to Australia on Nov 23rd after 10 days family time on the beach... and to make sure I put myself on the plane home well before Christmas (realistically before Dec 13th)...
 
Sep 4, 2007
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daewoo wrote: [quote quote=johngooding]
Forgive me if this is over the top info, but you did say never been.
Thanks heaps John... very helpfull... As far as I knew, The Family ties some string around the bride and grooms wrists in front of a Monk, then everyone gets drunk and sometimes a fight breaks out :) ... as opposed to a farang wedding, where you put a ring on each others fingers in front of a Priest, then everyone gets drunk and sometimes a fight breaks out... but the bill is a lot higher...

With respect to Laos, I was just commenting that, if a trip to Laos is on the cards with other (GT) riders, I would skip the wedding for that...

.
Your description sounds much more fun and probably more accurate than mine.

Looks as if Tony and Bard and myself may be heading into Laos sometime November or December. Just an idea at the moment no firm plans, you can probably see the idea firm up via the forum over the next couple of weeks.
Would be pleased to see you down here if you do end up in Maha Sarakham.