Udon Thani

Udon Thani (Thai: อุดรธานี, pronounced [ʔù.dɔ̄ːn tʰāː.nīː]) is a city in Isan (Northeast Thailand), the capital of Udon Thani Province and the sixth largest city in Thailand. The city municipality (thesaban nakhon / city proper) had a population of 130,531 people as of 2019, while Udon Thani's urban area, Mueang Udon Thani, has a population of approximately 400,000. Udon Thani is one of four major cities in Isan, the others being Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, and Khon Kaen. Together they are known as the "big four of Isan".

This article is about the city of Udon Thani. For the city administrative districts, see Mueang Udon Thani district.
Udon Thani
อุดรธานี
Udon
City Municipality
City of Udon Thani
เทศบาลนครอุดรธานี
Udon Thani
Udon Thani
Official seal of Udon Thani
Seal
Udon Thani is located in Thailand
Udon Thani
Udon Thani
Location in Thailand
Coordinates: 17°25′0″N 102°45′00″E
Country Thailand
ProvinceUdon Thani
DistrictMueang Udon Thani
Town
municipality		14 March 1936
City
municipality		25 September 1995
Government
 • TypeCity Municipality
 • MayorItthipol Treewatanasuwan
Area
 • City Municipality47.7 km2 (18.4 sq mi)
 • Metro
1,095 km2 (423 sq mi)
 • Rank9th
Population
 (2019)[1]
 • City Municipality130,531
(Registered residents)
 • Rank7th
 • Density2,736/km2 (7,090/sq mi)
 • Metro
430,000
 • Metro density393/km2 (1,020/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+7 (ICT)
Postcode
41000
Calling code042
Websiteudoncity.go.th
Songthaew in Udon Thani
Udon Thani International Airport

Location

Udon is approximately 560 km from Bangkok. It is a major official and commercial center in northern Isan, Thailand, and the gateway to Laos, northern Vietnam, and southern China.[2]

History

The city's economy was boosted by the proximity to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base during the Vietnam War and retains reminders of that time in the form of bars, coffee shops, and hotels. "Udon sort of became like Pattaya when the GIs arrived," said a local architect.[3] "Restaurants serving Western cuisine, hotels and nightclubs sprouted up everywhere to meet their needs. It was an extremely busy city back then."[4]

The BBC has reported that Udon Thani's Royal Air Force Base was the site of a CIA black site, known to insiders as "Detention Site Green", used to interrogate Abu Zubaydah, Saudi-born Palestinian, believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants. In December 2014 the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) published an executive summary of a secret 6,000-page report on CIA techniques. The report alleges that at least eight Thai senior officials knew of the secret site. The site was closed in December 2002.[5]

Earlier reports alleged that a Voice of America relay station in a rural area of Udon Thani Province, Ban Dung District, was the CIA black site.[6]

Administration
Main article: Mueang Udon Thani District

Udon Thani town municipality (thesaban mueang) with an area of 5.6 km2 (2.2 sq mi) was established on 15 March 1936.[7] On 27 May 1953, the area covered by the municipality was increased to 8.3 km2 (3.2 sq mi).[8] As a result of the town's continuing growth, the total area of the municipality was enlarged for the second time to 47.7 km2 (18.4 sq mi). on 31 December 1993.[9] On 25 September 1995 Udon Thani was upgraded to city municipality (thesaban nakhon),[10] and is divided into 21 sub-districts (tambons), which are further subdivided into 248 villages (mubans). (chumchon), 130,531 people in 60,659 households.[1]

Transport
Udon Thani Railway Station

Udon Thani International Airport, close to the city centre (within the ring road), serves a number of domestic airports: Chiang Mai International Airport, U-Tapao International Airport (Pattaya), and Phuket, with approximately 24 daily flights to Bangkok (Don Mueang International and Suvarnabhumi Airport).[11] During the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic flights were reduced to 10 - 14 daily to[12] the Bangkok airports only.

Udon Thani railway station in the city centre receives four trains daily from Bangkok railway station (Hua Lamphong) including overnight sleepers.[13]

Economy

Mining

Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Italian-Thai Development PLC, owns the concession to the Udon North and Udon South potash mines and plans to develop them.[14] Potash deposits in northeast Thailand are believed to contain the world's third-largest—after Canada and Russia—unexploited potash reserves.[15] Potash is one of the main components of agricultural fertilizer.

Climate

Udon Thani has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). Winters are fairly dry and very warm. Temperatures rise until April, which is hot with the average daily maximum at 36.2 °C (97.2 °F). The monsoon season runs from late-April through early-October, with heavy rain and somewhat cooler temperatures during the day, although nights remain warm. The range of reliably recorded temperatures in the city is from 2.5 °C (36.5 °F) to 44.1 °C (111.4 °F).

Climate data for Udon Thani (1991–2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 37.6
(99.7)		 39.2
(102.6)		 42.0
(107.6)		 43.9
(111.0)		 44.1
(111.4)		 38.6
(101.5)		 39.8
(103.6)		 36.5
(97.7)		 36.8
(98.2)		 36.5
(97.7)		 37.0
(98.6)		 35.6
(96.1)		 44.1
(111.4)
Average high °C (°F) 30.3
(86.5)		 32.7
(90.9)		 35.2
(95.4)		 36.5
(97.7)		 35.0
(95.0)		 33.6
(92.5)		 32.8
(91.0)		 32.2
(90.0)		 32.2
(90.0)		 32.0
(89.6)		 31.4
(88.5)		 29.5
(85.1)		 32.78
(91.00)
Daily mean °C (°F) 23.1
(73.6)		 25.2
(77.4)		 28.2
(82.8)		 29.9
(85.8)		 29.2
(84.6)		 28.8
(83.8)		 28.3
(82.9)		 27.8
(82.0)		 27.7
(81.9)		 27.1
(80.8)		 25.3
(77.5)		 22.9
(73.2)		 26.96
(80.53)
Average low °C (°F) 16.7
(62.1)		 18.6
(65.5)		 22.0
(71.6)		 24.4
(75.9)		 25.0
(77.0)		 25.1
(77.2)		 25.0
(77.0)		 24.6
(76.3)		 24.3
(75.7)		 22.9
(73.2)		 20.0
(68.0)		 16.7
(62.1)		 22.11
(71.80)
Record low °C (°F) 2.5
(36.5)		 7.8
(46.0)		 11.4
(52.5)		 15.7
(60.3)		 20.4
(68.7)		 21.5
(70.7)		 21.2
(70.2)		 21.1
(70.0)		 21.0
(69.8)		 14.2
(57.6)		 8.4
(47.1)		 4.2
(39.6)		 2.5
(36.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 6.4
(0.25)		 21.2
(0.83)		 50.2
(1.98)		 73.0
(2.87)		 188.3
(7.41)		 218.5
(8.60)		 224.8
(8.85)		 298.9
(11.77)		 249.5
(9.82)		 94.3
(3.71)		 14.0
(0.55)		 5.8
(0.23)		 1,444.9
(56.89)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 0.9 1.9 3.7 5.2 12.9 14.7 16.1 18.1 14.2 6.1 1.2 0.5 95.5
Average relative humidity (%) 65.8 62.7 61.0 63.3 73.3 77.5 78.8 81.1 81.4 75.1 69.2 67.0 71.4
Mean monthly sunshine hours 272.8 259.9 275.9 243.0 198.4 156.0 120.9 117.8 144.0 198.4 252.0 257.3 2,496.4
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization[16]
Source 2: Office of Water Management and Hydrology, Royal Irrigation Department (sun 1981–2010)[17](extremes)[18]

Sister cities

References
  1. "รายงานสถิติจำนวนประชากรและบ้านประจำปี พ.ศ.2562" [Statistics, population and house statistics for the year 2019]. Registration Office Department of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior (in Thai). 31 December 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2020, archiving is not necessary because DOPA provides data from 1993 to future years.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. "Udon Thani". Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. "Recollections of Camp Ramasun: Life with Udon Thani GIs". The Isaan Record. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  4. Jablon, Philip (13 February 2017). "Enjoying the Vista". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  5. "CIA director Gina Haspel's Thailand torture ties". BBC News. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  6. Crispin, Shawn W (2008-01-25). "US and Thailand: Allies in Torture". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2014-11-10.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. "พระราชกฤษฎีกา จัดตั้งเทศบาลเมืองอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี พุทธศักราช ๒๔๗๙" [Royal Decree Establishing of Udon Thani town municipality, Udon Thani province, B.E.2479 (1936)] (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette. 93: 1329–1333. 14 March 1936. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2020, effectively on 15 March 1936{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  8. "พระราชกฤษฎีกา เปลี่ยนเปลงเขตเทศบาลเมืองอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี พ.ศ. ๒๔๙๖" [Royal Decree Change Territory of Udon Thani town municipality, Udon Thani province, B.E. 2496 (1953)] (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette. 70 (33): 650–654. 26 May 1953. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2020, effectively on 27 May 1953{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  9. "พระราชกฤษฎีกา เปลี่ยนเปลงเขตเทศบาลเมืองอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี (ฉบับที่ ๒) พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๖" [Royal Decree Change Territory of Udon Thani town municipality, Udon Thani province (issue 2), B.E. 2536 (1993)] (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette. 110 (228): 46–49. 30 December 1993. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2020, effectively on 31 December 1993{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  10. "พระราชกฤษฎีกา จัดตั้งเทศบาลนครอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๘" [Royal Decree Establishing Udon Thani city municipality, Udon Thani province, B.E.2538 (1995)] (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette. 112 (40 Kor): 6–9. 24 September 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 10, 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2020, effectively on 25 September 1995{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  11. "Flight status". Udon Thani Airport Guide. Netmobius publication. 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  12. "Udon Thani Airport Guide". Flight Status – Arrivals, Departures Udon Thani Airport Live Flight Status. Netmobius. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  13. "Train from Bangkok to Udon Thani Schedule and Fares". train36.com. 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  14. "Project Location". Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC). Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  15. Saisom, Jirasuda (14 November 2017). "New push for potash mining hits opposition in Isaan". The Isaan Record. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  16. "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  17. "ปริมาณการใช้น้ำของพืชอ้างอิงโดยวิธีของ Penman Monteith (Reference Crop Evapotranspiration by Penman Monteith)" (PDF) (in Thai). Office of Water Management and Hydrology, Royal Irrigation Department. p. 43. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  18. "Climatological Data for the Period 1981–2010". Thai Meteorological Department. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
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