The beautiful Roi Et Tower is found in the center of Roi Et city, a town in the northeast region of Thailand. Though the province is mostly filled with low-lying rice fields and the journey to Roi Et Tower is off the beaten path, we recommend a visit if you ever have the chance.
The tower is unique in its shape as it resembles a wot, a Thai musical instrument. This uniqueness makes it even more exciting to visit.
How to Get to Roi Et Tower
The Roi Et Tower was built in the center of the city of Roi Et overlooking the town lake. It is surrounded by its own set of gardens with a walking path through them. This building and the gardens really contribute to the aesthetics of the town. For more things to explore in this region of Thailand you can head over to our section of Northeast Thailand.
If you are traveling with kids, your best option to get t to the Roi Et Tower you will be to have your own set of wheels. You can fly into Roi Et from Bangkok, using Don Mueang airport. Once you arrive in Roi Et you can either rent your own vehicle, or you can use a taxi app. In Thailand the Grab App is the most popular. Grab is similar to Uber or inDrive which other countries use.
If you are really wanting to explore authentic Thailand, and get an away from the tourist, we recommend taking a road trip to get there. You can see so many things while you drive along the highways of Thailand. Once you get into the Northeast, where Roi Et is located, you will be thick in the agricultural heart of Thailand. Driving by the Thai rice fields is amazing.
If you are driving to Roi Et, you will expect it to take slightly under 7 hours. However, along the way there are things you see or do along the way. The most notable would be a stop at Khao Yai National Park, the first national park in Thailand.
Roi Et is also around 5 hours from the northern border of Thailand and Laos. The most notable cities in that area that offer great things to do for kids are Udon Thani and Nong Khai.
The History of Roi Et and How it Got its Name
The town of Roi Et lies in the province of Roi Et. In the Thai language, Roi Et means one hundred and one (101). How the province first got the name one hundred and one is a bit of folklore. Here are the two leading different stories.
The first one theory that many believe it is said that ancient Thai wrote 11 as 10+1. The city had been named for the 11 city gates it had around it. The 10+1 became 101 instead of 11 as the language progressed.
The second possibility is that it borders so many provinces that it was said to have 101 gates as border crossings. Either way, it has kept the name ‘Roi Et’ and the tower now gives greater significance to that name.
The builders also made the Roi Et Tower 101 meters. The building is full of significance to the city. Next we will cover why the building has such an unusual shape.
Why is the Significance of the Unusual Shape?
The tower was created in the shape of a circular wot. The wot is a traditional cultural instrument in the Isaan region of Thailand. It is a pan pipe with 11 pipes. It comes circular and flat, but the circular style is by far the most popular version of this traditional instrument. You blow air through the pipes to create the sound.
Please note that a ‘wot’ (โหวด), a traditional Thai panpipe, is different than the Thai word ‘wat’ (วัด) meaning temple in Thai.
Cost and Hours
Cost
Adult: 50 THB
Student: 40 THB (children)
Children under 101cm are FREE
Opening Hours
9:00 am - 4:00 pm (daily)
Parking
There is parking along the streets of Roi Et leading up to the tower, and these are the closest spots to the Roi Et Tower. There is also a parking lot one block over where you can park. This parking is next to the aquarium building, but this is further away from the tower from the streetside parking. If you cannot find yourself a space along the street you can head to this parking lot.
Going Up the Tower
Follow the signs for the entrance to the building. The entrance is up the stairs. You will find the ticket counter right inside the door. Buy tickets for the whole family. In good nature going with the 101 theme, children 101cm and under are free.
As the building is round, you need to walk around the building to get to the elevator to go up. This area is filled with lots of information and pictures. We really enjoyed learning about the wot in this area. You can learn all about the wot and its significance to the people of Roi Et. You can also learn all about the history of the tower, including details about the visit from the Princess of Thailand to see the tower.
Next you can show your ticket and go up to the 31st floor using the. The 31st floor is enclosed in glass all 360 degrees. You can use the binoculars provided to look out at the town and countryside below you.
There is also a glass floor where you can stand and look directly down. My kids loved this, but it is not for someone afraid of heights!
After you have looked around the 31st floor, you can take the stairs to the 32nd floor. Here you can go outside on the 32nd floor. There are bars to keep you in, so you are always perfectly safe. You get a really good sense of how high up you are, and because it is open you can feel the wind which is fun.
The top of the tower is domed in shape. You can see this dome when you are looking at the tower. This dome area is part of the Roi Et Tower attraction as you can go inside this part at the top. It has been made into a Buddhist religious space. You can see this religious space when you are on the 32nd floor.
You can spend as much time up on these floors as you would like. There is no time limit to how long you can be there.
Come back down the same elevators back to the 1st floor. At the bottom there is a gift shop with lots of souvenirs. Along with the gift shop there are also a few 3d art displays inside the tower. These can be fun to pose with and take photos with your family. These 3d art displays are also enhanced with a QR you can scan. This adds a bit of fun to the 3d experience!
Gardens
When you finish in the tower, I recommend a walk through the gardens surrounding the tower. The area is small but is nicely landscaped with pathways through it.
All throughout the gardens surrounding Roi Et tower there are models spread of different buildings from around the world. There is a sign posted with each model, so your family can compare the different buildings and see the unique architecture of buildings from around the world.
Surrounding Area
If you are spending some time in Roi Et, there are a couple of places that we recommend taking your kids in the area around Roi Et Tower. None of these places require a lot of time to see but added together and you might need more than one day to get the most out of them. We recommend spending around 2 days.
Roi Et Aquarium
The Roi Et Aquarium is found just a two-minute walk from the Roi Et Tower. It is a small building full of freshwater fish.
Entrance cost is free. It is a great place to take your young children who get excited about seeing fish. This is not comparable to large city aquariums. It is stroller-friendly and well-maintained.
We suggest giving yourselves 30 minutes to an hour inside depending on the interest level of your children.
Roi Et Aquarium Cost
Free
City Park
Right across from the Roi Et Tower is the city park. This beautiful central area of Roi Et City is a meeting spot for locals. There is a path the whole way around the lake where you can run or walk. Inside the park area (the island), there is a large playground for kids. It is geared for kids ranging from 3 to 12. Basically, all kids. The playground was created in a ‘beach’ setting, so there is a large sandy area for the kids to play in.
Roi Et Science and Cultural Center
This attraction is a little farther away from the tower as it is outside of the city center. It is about a 15-minute drive from Roi Et Tower. I am including Roi Et Science and Cultural Center because it was a highlight for our kids when visiting Roi Et.
The Roi Et Science and Cultural Center is a huge regional center for science education. There are different areas of science represented ranging from energy, dinosaurs, to space and exploration. The planetarium section has a wonderful display that educates all about the stars and planets in a state-of-the-art theater presentation.
The exhibits are incredibly hands-on for kids. Even with a lot of school groups coming through, we were able to stay in our own exhibit areas away from the school groups and have time to look at everything. Many of the signs are in English as well as Thai, so we learned a lot of cool facts.
There is also local artifacts in the museum, so your family can see some of the local culture and archeological finds from the northeast of Thailand.
We recommend giving yourselves several hours there depending on the age of your children. It is definitely more geared towards elementary aged children than small children, but the area is stroller friendly.
Roi Et Science and Cultural Center Prices
Museum Entrance
Adult 20 baht
Child 10 baht
Planetarium Entrance
Adult 30 baht
Child 20 baht
(Planetarium has a show they perform twice a day. Check with the museum for up-to-date times)
Open Hours
8:30-4:30 Weekdays
Closed Saturday/Sundays
Food
After checking out the Roi Et Tower and surrounding area, your family may be hungry! There are many street stalls around Roi Et to pick up a quick bite to eat.
For sit down restaurants, we recommend eating at a restaurant on the road that wraps around the park. You can find many good restaurants, and you can enjoy the view of the city park and the tower. We really enjoyed eating at an Indian restaurant called Bombay Indian Cuisine.
Accommodations
Roi Et is a smaller town with a population of slightly over 30,000 people, so the demand for amazing hotels is small. That means that you are not going to be able to find yourself in a Shangri-La or fancy place to stay. But what the accommodations do have is charm and character, which is exactly the sort of place we look for when trying to learn about a place.
Our top option for a place to stay with a family would be the Mae On Village Resort. This small hotel is a few kilometers away from the center of the city. It is advisable to have your own car to stay here as sometimes it might be difficult to get a taxi scheduled to pick you up. What this place does have to offer is views of rice fields. Staying at hotels that are amongst the rice fields is great for kids. Our kids love walking on the raised boardwalks over the rice fields. Keep in mind if you have very young children as the boardwalks don’t have sidewalks. What better way than to start and end your day looking at beautiful rice fields.
The second place we recommend is The Rice Hotel. This hotel is close to the city center. You could walk there in around 30 minutes. We recommend driving. As it is inside the town, access to a taxi would be easy. The Rice Hotel is more conveniently located which is nice. There are also a few good restaurants close by to it.
Final Thoughts on Roi Et Tower
To be honest, when we first went to Roi Et, we were not expecting too much. This tends to be the case when it comes to off the beaten path places. We stopped because we happened to be going near it on a road trip. However, Roi Et Tower impressed our family and we have gone back to visit on more than one occasion. It is a simple yet fun place to explore and run around with kids. Pairing the tower with the science museum makes for a wonderful family experience that we highly recommend.