Sala Keoku (Sala Kaeo Ku) Sculpture Park Nong Khai – Is It Worth A Visit?

-- Last Updated on August 16, 2023 by Jonesy

Sala Keoku sculpture park in Nong Khai, also known as Wat Khaek is well worth a visit if you have a day or so to spend in Nong Khai.

Most tourists pass through Nong Khai for a night or so after visiting or before entering Vientiane in Laos for a Thai visa.

Nong Khai is a wonderful and serene city and province of Thailand in the northeast with the Mekong River sitting between neighbouring Laos. Even if you just stay for a night and relax next to the Mekong with a cold beer, it’s well worth a visit.

• A visit to Sala Keoku is one of the various things to do in Nong Khai and attractions to choose from when planning activities.

About Sala Keoku

It is unique in Thailand and a project that began in Vientiane (Buddha Park), inspired and created by the late Bunleua Sulilat, a Shamen priest. Born in Nong Khai, Bunleua Sulilat left the Buddha Park sculpture project in Laos after the communist revolution in 1975 and began the work of Sala Keoku in 1978.

I imagine if he did not have to leave Laos that Buddha Park would have become a huge sculpture park, but maybe leaving Laos and having sculptures for people to view in two places could have possibly become the best outcome.

The sculptures are made from concrete. They are only going to have a short life span which is unfortunate as I’m sure in the future they would have become something historical. Some of the weathering of the statues actually makes them more attractive.

Within the grounds, there is also a temple and place of worship. Keep this in mind when visiting because it is not just a tourist attraction for many Thai visitors.

It costs only 20 THB to enter the park. A nice surprise was it’s the same price for farang (foreigner) as for Thai people that’s not the case in many places.

Statues at Sala Keoku

I’m not sure how many statues and sculptures are at the park, but there are enough for about half an hour to an hour’s visit. Any longer, you would possibly be fed up with seeing statues. Some are built as tall as 25 meters and look impressive.

Most of them represent some meaning that is mythical relating to Buddhism and Hinduism. The one I particularly like is the one step to Buddhahood (enlightenment) which is encouraging to know that it does not take 100 lifetimes.

There are inscriptions on many of the monuments; however, they’re not in English, of course. A booklet with pictures and a description of each sculpture would be great, even if they charged 50 THB or so for it.

Feed The Fish

There’s a small lake with a lot of large catfish ready to be fed If you’d like to see hundreds of them rush for bread you can throw in for them. The small shop sells bags of bread cuttings for about 20 THB.

Worth Visiting?

If you’re staying in Nong Khai even for a day it’s probably the best tourist attraction you can see, apart from the Mekong, in my opinion. It’s only a couple of kilometres from the city area and easy to get to – so why not take a look……

You might want to visit early in the day as it gets very hot, making it hard to enjoy anything, never mind looking at sculptures, especially if you cycle as I did. Sala Keoku opens at 8 am and closes at 6 pm, and from 8 – 10 am or 4 – 5 pm is best suited in regards to heat avoidance.

You only need about an hour at the most visiting time to walk around Sala.

Getting There

The easiest option is to take a tuk-tuk from the city that will need to drop you there and bring you back. As mentioned, it’s about 2 – 5 km from the city and the riverside area where hotels and guesthouses are situated.

If you can brave the heat as I did, you can hire a bike for 50 THB for the day and ride there. Make sure you have a map and directions handy to help you get there, as you could easily end up on a detour as I did, and that was using google maps (not accurate at all on this occasion). Fortunately, I asked a small Thai restaurant owner where it was, and I was right opposite the turning for it.

The guesthouse I stayed The Rim Riverside Guesthouse could have taken me in his car if I did not want to cycle. It’s nearly 6 km from The Rim Riverside.

Open daily: 8AM – 6PM.

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