Best Photo Spots in Udon Thani
7 photo spots in Udon Thani, each with the hour it actually works and the angle worth walking to. The difference between a good frame and a queue of people in front of one is usually timing rather than gear.
Ban Chiang and The Ho Chi Minh memorial site are best at morning; Nong Prajak Park and Phu Phrabat are best at sunrise; UD Town & the night market is best at after dark.
UD Town & the night market gets genuinely crowded — arrive at opening or accept people in the frame.
On light: old stone blows out under midday sun — the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset are when it has colour in it, many temples ban cameras inside entirely, so plan the shot for the exterior and the approach and open water and open sky mean the sky blows out before the land does; expose for the highlights and let the foreground come up afterwards.
A general rule that holds across Udon Thani: ask before photographing people, skip anything that looks like a religious rite in progress, and expect a tripod to need permission at ticketed monuments even where a phone is fine.
Low crowdEntry Around ฿150 for foreign visitors and ฿30 for Thai nationals
Ban Chiang
- Best timeLate morning at the open pit at Wat Pho Si Nai, when the sun is high enough to reach into the excavation — the museum interior is lit for objects rather than for cameras
- ColorsCreamTerracottaOlive
Medium crowdEntry Free
Nong Prajak Park
- Best timeThe hour before sunset, when the light is across the water and the city comes out to walk — and at dawn, when the mist is on the lake and the exercise groups are out
- ColorsWhiteCoralSky blue
Low crowdEntry A historical-park ticket at the foreigner rate
Phu Phrabat
- Best timeEarly morning, when the light comes sideways through the trees onto the mushroom rocks and the forest is still cool — this is a walking site and by eleven you will not want to be on it
- ColorsOliveCreamRust
Entry Free or a nominal donation
The Ho Chi Minh memorial site
- Best timeMorning, when the light is on the replica house and its garden — the museum interior is a display space and photography of it adds little
- ColorsCreamOliveNavy
Medium crowdEntry Priced per boat rather than per person, so a group splits it
The Red Lotus Sea
- Best timeFirst light, from the boat — the flowers are open, the mist is still on the water and the sun comes up across it. By ten they are closing and by noon there is nothing to photograph
- ColorsWhiteRoseSky blue
Entry Free
UD Town & the night market
- Best timeJust after dark, when the grills are going and the lights are on — the smoke off the gai yang carts under the lights is the shot
- ColorsWhiteIndigoRust
Low crowdEntry Free; donations
Wat Pa Phu Kon
- Best timeMid-morning, when light reaches into the hall along the length of the reclining figure — the terrace view over the forest is better in the late afternoon
- ColorsWhiteSaffronCream