Renowned as the center of northern Thailand's prodigious silk industry, the bustling city of Khon Kaen represents the beauty of Mother Nature at its finest. Featuring a spectacular landscape that meshes modern high-rise infrastructure with lush forests and rolling hills, it is, however, a relatively unknown tourist destination. Khon Kaen is asserting itself with its national parks that offer some unique experiences for the senses and bewildering cultural facets such as the local tribe that worships cobras as their gods.
Comprising a large chunk of its economy and livelihood is the making of the very popular mudmee silk fabric which is a time-honored tradition. Mudmee fabrics are made by covering parts of the cloth with well-positioned threads before being dyed into a variety of colors, resulting to intricate and finely-detailed designs. Hence, it is also called the tie-dye method. The lovely handicrafts make for great souvenirs, often bought by many tourists to show off to friends and family back home. Silk enthusiasts should not miss the annual Silk Fair held every December where some of the best silk products are displayed for sale.
However, silk is not the city's only attraction as it also features natural beauty such as the wonderful Nam Nao National Park, a preservation area that is home to the majestic Phu Pha Jit, the highest mountain in the region. It also provides sanctuary to a wide variety of flora and fauna. The famed Phu Wiang National Park, on the other hand, contains the recently discovered dinosaur fossils.