Isaan
Isaan is Thailand's largest region, consisting of 20 provinces. Despite having 30% of Thailand's population, this region receives less than 3% of Thailand's tourist dollars.| Tap on a place to explore it |
Photo: สิทธิพงษ์ อินทะนิน, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Ddalbiez, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Essential Destinations
Top destinations include Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani.
Nakhon Ratchasima
Photo: Kbambam, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Nakhon Ratchasima, usually referred to as Khorat or, more commonly Korat, is the largest city in the Isaan region of Thailand. Its proximity to Bangkok makes it a good jumping-off point for travellers who are heading into further into the region.
Udon Thani
Udon Thani is a city of 131,000 people in the Isaan region of Thailand. Often referred to as Udon or Udorn, the city should not be confused with Ubon — Ubon Ratchathani in southeastern Isaan.
Khon Kaen
Photo: P.khiao, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Khon Kaen is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the "big four of Isan", the others being Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Ubon Ratchathani.
Destinations to Discover
Explore places such as Northern Isaan and Southern Isaan.
Northern Isaan
Northern Isaan is a region of Thailand, close to the border with Laos. Geographically it is part of the Mekong Valley. The barrier between Northern Isaan and Central Isaan is the Phu Phan Mountains.
Southern Isaan
Photo: P.khiao, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Southern Isaan is a region of Thailand. Geographically it is part of the Mun River Basin.
Central Isaan
Photo: P.khiao, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Central Isaan is a region of Thailand. Geographically it is part of the Chi River Basin.
Isaan
- Type: region of Thailand with 21,800,000 residents
- Description: region of Thailand
- Also known as: “Esan”, “Esarn”, “Isan”, “Isan/North eastern Thailand”, “Isarn”, “Issan”, “Issarn”, “North-eastern Thailand”, “Northeast Thailand”, and “Northeastern Thailand”
- Neighbors: Central Laos, Central Thailand, Eastern Thailand, North-western Cambodia, Northern Laos, and Southern Laos
- Category: region
- Location: Thailand, Southeast Asia, Asia
- View on OpenStreetMap
Latitude of center
16° northLongitude of center
103° eastPopulation
21,800,000Wikidata ID
Q381897
This page is based on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
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Satellite Map
Discover Isaan from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Arabic to Yue Chinese—“Isaan” goes by many names.
- Arabic: “يسان (تايلاند)”
- Arabic: “يسان”
- Belarusian: “Ісан (рэгіён)”
- Belarusian: “Ісан”
- Bulgarian: “Исан”
- Burmese: “ဤသာနဒေသ”
- Catalan: “Isaan”
- Cebuano: “Isanë”
- Central Bikol: “Isanë”
- Chinese: “Isan”
- Chinese: “伊善地区”
- Chinese: “伊扇尼耶”
- Chinese: “伊扇若”
- Chinese: “依善”
- Chinese: “依善地区”
- Chinese: “依善地區”
- Chinese: “泰國東北地區”
- Czech: “Isán”
- Dutch: “Isaan”
- Dutch: “Isarn”
- Dutch: “Noordoost-Thailand”
- Finnish: “Isan”
- Finnish: “Koillis-Thaimaa”
- French: “Isaan”
- French: “Isan”
- French: “Îssâne”
- French: “Plateau de Khorat”
- Galician: “Isan”
- Galician: “Rexión Nordeste”
- Galician: “Tailandia do Nordeste”
- Georgian: “ისანის რეგიონი”
- German: “Esarn”
- German: “I-San”
- German: “Isan”
- German: “Issaan”
- German: “Issan”
- German: “Nordost-Thailand”
- German: “Nordostthailand”
- Hebrew: “איסאן”
- Hebrew: “איסן”
- Hindi: “ईसान”
- Hungarian: “Iszán”
- Iloko: “Isane”
- Indonesian: “Isan”
- Italian: “Isan”
- Italian: “Thailandia del Nordest”
- Japanese: “イーサーン”
- Japanese: “イーサーン人”
- Japanese: “イサーン”
- Japanese: “イサーン人”
- Japanese: “イサン地方”
- Javanese: “Isan”
- Khmer: “ភាគឦសាន (ថៃ)”
- Khmer: “ភាគឦសាន”
- Kinaray-A: “Isanë”
- Korean: “이산”
- Korean: “이싼 지방”
- Korean: “이싼”
- Korean: “타이 북동부”
- Lao: “ພາກອີສານ (ປະເທດໄທ)”
- Lao: “ພາກອີສານ”
- Lao: “ອີສານ”
- Latvian: “Isana”
- Latvian: “Taizemes ziemeļaustrumi”
- Literary Chinese: “依善”
- Literary Chinese: “依善地”
- Literary Chinese: “依善地区”
- Literary Chinese: “依善地區”
- Literary Chinese: “泰國東北土”
- Literary Chinese: “泰王國東北地區”
- Malayalam: “ഇസാൻ”
- Min Nan Chinese: “Isan”
- Northern Frisian: “Isaan”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “Isan-området”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “Isan”
- Norwegian: “Isan”
- Ossetian: “Исан”
- Pali: “𑀇𑀲𑀸𑀦”
- Pampanga: “Ísána”
- Persian: “ایسان”
- Persian: “شمال شرقی تایلند”
- Polish: “Isan”
- Portuguese: “Isaan”
- Portuguese: “Isan”
- Portuguese: “Região Nordeste”
- Romanian: “Isan”
- Russian: “Исан”
- Russian: “Северовосточный Таиланд”
- Sanskrit: “Īśānaḥ”
- Sanskrit: “ईशानः”
- Scots: “Isaan”
- Scots: “Isan”
- Scots: “Issan”
- Shan: “ဢီႇသၢၼ်”
- Slovenian: “Isan”
- Slovenian: “Severovzhodna Tajska”
- Spanish: “Isan”
- Spanish: “Tailandia del Nordeste”
- Swedish: “Esarn”
- Swedish: “Isaan”
- Swedish: “Isan”
- Swedish: “Isǎn”
- Swedish: “Issan”
- Tagalog: “Hilagang-silangang Taylandiya”
- Tagalog: “Isan”
- Thai: “ภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือ”
- Thai: “ภาคอิสาน”
- Thai: “ภาคอีสาน”
- Thai: “อิสาณ”
- Thai: “อิสาน”
- Thai: “อีสาน”
- Turkish: “Isaan”
- Turkish: “Isan”
- Turkish: “Kuzeydoğu Tayland”
- Ukrainian: “Ісаан”
- Ukrainian: “Північно-Східний Таїланд”
- Urdu: “ایسان”
- Vietnamese: “Đông Bắc Thái Lan”
- Vietnamese: “Isaan”
- Vietnamese: “Isan”
- Waray (Philippines): “Isanë”
- Wu Chinese: “伊森地区”
- Wu Chinese: “依善”
- Wu Chinese: “依善地区”
- Wu Chinese: “泰国东北部”
- Wu Chinese: “泰王國東北地區”
- Yue Chinese: “依善”
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About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Isaan”. Photo: Ddalbiez, CC BY-SA 3.0.