Kaeng Loeng Chan is the closest of the small lakeside parks that ring Mahasarakham. It is a working irrigation reservoir, but the bank on the town side has been landscaped into a casual recreation area: lawns, sala pavilions, fishing platforms, a few floating bamboo restaurants serving grilled fish and som tam, and on weekends a low-key craft market. The water is brown but clean enough to swim in, and the breeze across the reservoir is one of the few reliable ways to cool down in April and May.
A short ride from the centre by motorbike taxi or songthaew. It is at its best in the late afternoon, when the heat eases, the temperature of the water drops just enough to be pleasant, and the long sunset light over the reservoir is the closest Mahasarakham gets to scenery.