Hi Westerby,

How you doing? I've only lived here about 4 years, but I found your post ironic in that I am increasingly going to Udon to buy stuff.

First of all, where do you go to buy stuff here? NK's Lotut (Lotus in English) is a nightmare to shop at if you go after noon, not to mention on weekends! And they have less than any of the big stores in Udon.

When we were building my house here, we could never find anything in NK, and if we found something we liked, the response was inevitably, "Out of stock. We can order for you." With delivery times very variable.

My feeling is that NK is the end of the line - figuratively & literally - and by the time the goods from BKK pass through Korat, Khon Kaen, Udon, etc., we're kind of left with the dregs here. Very small selection and prices no better - and often worse - than Udon.

There may be some things worth buying here, but I don't know what they are - maybe Lao or Chinese products.

Maybe someone else with more experience knows. But this is my experience. And so we shop in Udon about once a week, and only buy some staples and necessities here - plus the usual, frequent fresh market runs.

Love to others' takes on this, and maybe get some useful info!

I think it depends on what you are buying, I have found most farang related products to be slightly higher in price here in Nong Khai than in Udon, but then again, a lot of Thai merchandise seems to be cheaper. I guess it is all just down to what you buy and where you buy it.

I'm not sure about prices differences, but I usually buy in Nong Khai, if I can find it there, otherwise one tends to be forced to Udon. There is a lot less choice in Nong Khai.

Certainly places like Tesco or Boots, the prices should be the same wherever. With Tesco/Lotus try and get there first thing between 9.00am and 10am. It's much quiter then and many of the Lao day shoppers haven't arrived yet.

With local traders I don't find them expensive, but I guess it's where you go and what you buy.

Westerby, not that I would want to make this information generally available, of course, but from my observations I would say property prices in Nong Khai are definitely cheaper than in Udon. Understandably I suppose, because NK doesn't (yet?) have anything near the range or number of shopping outlets, facilities, services etc that Udon has, and probably won't for a long time to come. NK residents often find themselves having to go to Udon to buy furniture or more specialist goods. For example, Udon has Index, Home Pro, Carrefour, Big C as well as a much larger Tesco, and many large Builder's Merchants and DIY type stores. So yes, property prices are cheaper in Nong Khai, like for like.

The above said, Nong Khai has a range of small hardware shops, a couple of Home Marts, a Tesco that we've already spoken of, and a number of furniture shops, - as well as Tha Sadet market for the more obscure or unusual items!

You will no doubt have seen the news report/thread elsewhere on this forum about the developers of UD plaza and shopping centre in Udon, are looking at the idea of a similar project here in Nong Khai.

Re the prices of vehicles, I would suggest that new vehicles are much the same price wherever one goes in Thailand. With secondhand vehicles, the range and numbers available are understandably lower in NK, which may (and I'm only guessing here) result in prices holding up well (or even being a bit dearer), as compared with bigger cities like Udon or Bangkok. So if you are looking for secondhand, whilst your choice will likely be more limited, maybe with less scope for discounts, you would however save the time trouble and costs of buying elsewhere, having to transport the vehicle back to NK, re-registering it locally etc.

All the major dealers are represented in Nong Khai, if you are thinking of a new vehicle.