If you are ever driving around rural Isaan and looking for a place to eat, here is a rule of thumb.
If it is around meal time and the place is completely empty, there has to be a reason why?
Usually it means the pricing is too high for the area, the food is no good, not enough selection, understaffed/non-existent or slow service.
If you are looking for a place to eat and there are no Thai people there, it is a good indication to keep looking.
We were driving today and saw a very large restaurant on a lake with an upper and lower deck with many tables.
At noon, not one customer.
We stopped in to see what was going on.
First, the meals were priced 3X higher than any other restaurants in the area.
Second, there was only 1 grandma as the entire staff.
Third, even though it was a limited menu, over half of the things on the menu were not available.
So, we politely departed.
Restaurants in rural Isaan with NO customers is usually a warning sign to stay clear!
Just having a view is NO guarantee there isn’t something else wrong.