Ubon Ratchathani is a city in the south-east of the Isan region of Thailand. It was founded on the northern bank of the Mun River by a group of Lao princes fleeing Vientiane in the late 1700s. They applied for King Taksin's protection, duly granted in 1779 along with the city's new name, meaning "Royal City of the Lotus". The town of Warin Chamrap, on the south bank of the river, is effectively a suburb of Ubon these days.