Loei
Thailand's cool highlands where Phi Ta Khon ghost masks appear each June (dates set by mediums) and Phu Kradueng's mist-wrapped peaks draw Bangkok escapees.
Loei keeps time differently. Each year, between March and July, the town's spirit mediums divine the dates for Phi Ta Khon—the Ghost Festival held in Dan Sai district. In 2025, the celebration ran June 28-30, as villagers donned masks crafted from palm leaf sheaths topped with bamboo sticky rice baskets, painted with spirits both fearsome and playful. The festival honors Prince Vessandorn, a former Buddha who returned from death; the masks represent the ghosts who welcomed him home.
This is Thailand's cool highlands. While Bangkok swelters, Loei's November-to-February mornings wrap its mountains in mist. Phu Kradueng National Park draws hikers to its pine forests and cliff-edge meadows; Chiang Khan has become an Instagram destination for its wooden shophouses along the Mekong. The tourism economy runs on climate differential: what feels cold to Thais from the central plains feels merely pleasant to visitors.
Loei demonstrates how geography creates cultural niches. The same cool temperatures that favor mountain agriculture also preserved traditions that couldn't survive the pressures of lowland modernization. Phi Ta Khon isn't staged for tourists—it predates tourism's existence here—but tourism now ensures younger generations have economic reason to learn mask-making. The ancient and commercial interweave: ghosts welcome a Buddha while tour operators book hotel rooms.