David Luekens/CNN
Despite delivering an intensely flavorful cuisine to go with serene Mekong valley scenery and a strong list of natural and historical attractions, Isaan drew only a small fraction of the numbers of foreign tourists who flocked to other Thai regions before the pandemic.
It is not on the "banana pancake trail."
The lack of interest from foreign tourists may partly explain why the coronavirus barely touched Isaan, when infections surfaced frequently in provinces like Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket back in April. Despite being in Thailand's most populous region with more than 22 million residents, Isaan's 20 provinces have reported just over 100 infections since the pandemic began.