Udon Thani

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.

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. "Restaurants serving Western cuisine, hotels and nightclubs sprouted up everywhere to meet their needs. It was an extremely busy city back then."

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.

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.

Administration

Main article: Mueang Udon Thani District

Udon Thani town municipality (thesaban mueang) with an area of 5.6 km2 was established on 15 March 1936. On 27 May 1953, the area covered by the municipality was increased to 8.3 km2. 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. on 31 December 1993. On 25 September 1995 Udon Thani was upgraded to city municipality (thesaban nakhon), and is divided into 21 sub-districts (tambons), which are further subdivided into 248 villages (mubans). (chumchon), 130,531 people in 60,659 households.

Transport

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). During the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic flights were reduced to 10-14 daily to{{cite web

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

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. Potash deposits in northeast Thailand are believed to contain the world's third-largest—after Canada and Russia—unexploited potash reserves. 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. 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 to 44.1 °C.

|Jan record high C = 37.6 |Feb record high C = 39.2 |Mar record high C = 42.0 |Apr record high C = 44.1 |May record high C = 43.4 |Jun record high C = 38.6 |Jul record high C = 39.8 |Aug record high C = 36.5 |Sep record high C = 36.8 |Oct record high C = 37.2 |Nov record high C = 37.0 |Dec record high C = 35.6 |year record high C = |Jan record low C = 2.5 |Feb record low C = 7.8 |Mar record low C = 11.5 |Apr record low C = 15.7 |May record low C = 20.4 |Jun record low C = 21.5 |Jul record low C = 21.2 |Aug record low C = 21.1 |Sep record low C = 21.0 |Oct record low C = 14.2 |Nov record low C = 8.4 |Dec record low C = 4.2 |year record low C = 2.5 | access-date = 12 October 2023}} (extremes){{cite web | archive-date = 26 December 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181226035029/http://climate.tmd.go.th/content/file/75%0A | url-status = dead | access-date = 1 August 2016}}

Sister cities

• INA Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
• USA Reno, Nevada, United States
• ZAM Lusaka, Zambia

References

References

1. (31 December 2019). "รายงานสถิติจำนวนประชากรและบ้านประจำปี พ.ศ.2562".
2. "Udon Thani".
3. (22 June 2019). "Recollections of Camp Ramasun: Life with Udon Thani GIs". The Isaan Record.
4. (13 February 2017). "Enjoying the Vista". Bangkok Post.
5. (2018-05-04). "CIA director Gina Haspel's Thailand torture ties". BBC News.
6. (2008-01-25). "US and Thailand: Allies in Torture". Asia Times.
7. (14 March 1936). "พระราชกฤษฎีกา จัดตั้งเทศบาลเมืองอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี พุทธศักราช ๒๔๗๙". Royal Thai Government Gazette.
8. (26 May 1953). "พระราชกฤษฎีกา เปลี่ยนเปลงเขตเทศบาลเมืองอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี พ.ศ. ๒๔๙๖". Royal Thai Government Gazette.
9. (30 December 1993). "พระราชกฤษฎีกา เปลี่ยนเปลงเขตเทศบาลเมืองอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี (ฉบับที่ ๒) พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๖". Royal Thai Government Gazette.
10. (24 September 1995). "พระราชกฤษฎีกา จัดตั้งเทศบาลนครอุดรธานี จังหวัดอุดรธานี พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๘". Royal Thai Government Gazette.
11. (2017). "Flight status". Udon Thani Airport Guide. Netmobius publication.
12. (2017). "Train from Bangkok to Udon Thani Schedule and Fares".
13. "Project Location".
14. (14 November 2017). "New push for potash mining hits opposition in Isaan". The Isaan Record.