Udon Thani
Udon Thani
อุดรธานี Udon | |
|---|---|
| City of Udon Thani เทศบาลนครอุดรธานี | |
 Udon Thani | |
 Seal | |
  Udon Thani Location in Thailand | |
| Coordinates: 17°25′0″N 102°45′00″E / 17.41667°N 102.75000°E | |
| Country | Thailand |
| Province | Udon Thani |
| District | Mueang Udon Thani |
| Town municipality | 14 March 1936 |
| City municipality | 25 September 1995 |
| Government | |
| • Type | City Municipality |
| • Mayor | Itthipol Treewatanasuwan |
| Area | |
| • City Municipality | 47.7 km2 (18.4 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,095 km2 (423 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 9th |
| Population (2019)[1] | |
| • City Municipality | 130,531 (Registered residents) |
| • Rank | 7th |
| • Density | 2,736/km2 (7,090/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 430,000 |
| • Metro density | 393/km2 (1,020/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+7 (ICT) |
| Postcode | 41000 |
| Calling code | 042 |
| Website | udoncity |
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Udon Thani (Template:Lang-th, pronounced [ʔù.dɔ̄ːn tʰāː.nīː]) is one of the four major cities (Khorat, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen) of the Isan region, Thailand, (known as the "big four of Isan"). It is the capital of Udon Thani Province.
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, a 31-year-old 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
Udon Thani town municipality (thesaban mueang) with an area of 5.6 sq.km. was established on 15 March 1936.[7] On 27 May 1953, the area covered by the municipality was increased to 8.3 sq.km.[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 sq.km. on 31 December 1993.[9] On 25 September 1995 Udon Thani was upgraded to city municipality (thesaban nakhon),[10] and consists of subdistrict Mak Khaeng, 15 villages (muban), 104 communities (chumchon), 130,531 people in 60,659 households.[1]
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 Bangkok (Don Mueang International Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport) with approximately 24 daily flights to the capital.[11]
Udon Thani Railway Station in the city centre receives four trains daily from Bangkok Railway Station (Hua Lamphong) including overnight sleepers.[12]
Commerce
Mining
Asia Pacific Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of Italian-Thai Development PLC, owns the concession to the Udon Thani potash mines and plans to develop them. According to press reports, Udon Thani has enough potash to mine two million tonnes per year for 25 years. Potash is one of the main components of fertilizer.
Retail and cinemas
Udon Thani has three Tesco Lotus stores, two Big C malls, a Makro, and three large shopping malls. The largest shopping mall is CentralPlaza Udon Thani which hosts Udon Thani's largest movie theatre cinema Major Cineplex.[citation needed] CentralPlaza Udon Thani was reopened 27 March 2012 after significant renovation and expansion. Landmark Plaza has the second largest cineplex in Udon Thani, SF Cinema City.[citation needed] The shopping mall, UD Town, opened in winter 2009. In a park-like setting on an area of 38,000 m² (24 rai), UD Town is Thailand's largest open air shopping center.[citation needed]
Revenue from tourism
Some of the revenue from tourism is related to tourists going to and/or coming from the archaeological site Ban Chiang (forty-seven kilometres from the city).
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 36.3 °C (97.3 °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 43.9 °C (111.0 °F).
| Climate data for Udon Thani (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
43.0 (109.4) |
41.2 (106.2) |
38.7 (101.7) |
37.7 (99.9) |
36.5 (97.7) |
35.8 (96.4) |
36.5 (97.7) |
37.0 (98.6) |
35.6 (96.1) |
43.0 (109.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.0 (86.0) |
32.5 (90.5) |
34.9 (94.8) |
36.3 (97.3) |
34.4 (93.9) |
33.2 (91.8) |
32.6 (90.7) |
32.0 (89.6) |
31.9 (89.4) |
31.6 (88.9) |
30.7 (87.3) |
29.1 (84.4) |
32.4 (90.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 22.8 (73.0) |
25.3 (77.5) |
28.0 (82.4) |
29.8 (85.6) |
28.9 (84.0) |
28.6 (83.5) |
28.2 (82.8) |
27.8 (82.0) |
27.6 (81.7) |
26.9 (80.4) |
24.9 (76.8) |
22.4 (72.3) |
26.8 (80.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16.5 (61.7) |
18.9 (66.0) |
21.9 (71.4) |
24.4 (75.9) |
24.8 (76.6) |
25.0 (77.0) |
24.9 (76.8) |
24.6 (76.3) |
24.2 (75.6) |
22.9 (73.2) |
19.7 (67.5) |
16.3 (61.3) |
22.0 (71.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 7.0 (44.6) |
9.8 (49.6) |
11.4 (52.5) |
17.2 (63.0) |
20.5 (68.9) |
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) |
4.2 (39.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 6.3 (0.25) |
22.0 (0.87) |
49.7 (1.96) |
74.1 (2.92) |
198.5 (7.81) |
229.0 (9.02) |
210.9 (8.30) |
285.1 (11.22) |
239.5 (9.43) |
90.1 (3.55) |
10.3 (0.41) |
2.9 (0.11) |
1,418.4 (55.84) |
| Average rainy days | 1.7 | 3.1 | 5.5 | 8.0 | 16.9 | 19.0 | 19.6 | 22.0 | 17.3 | 9.5 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 126.0 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 65 | 63 | 60 | 63 | 74 | 78 | 78 | 81 | 81 | 76 | 69 | 67 | 71 |
| 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 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 8.8 | 9.2 | 8.9 | 8.1 | 6.4 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 6.9 |
| Source 1: Thai Meteorological Department[13] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Office of Water Management and Hydrology, Royal Irrigation Department (sun and humidity)[14] | |||||||||||||
Sister cities
See also
References
- ^ a b "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) - ^ "Udon Thani". Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ "Recollections of Camp Ramasun: Life with Udon Thani GIs". The Isaan Record. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ Jablon, Philip (13 February 2017). "Enjoying the Vista". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
- ^ "CIA director Gina Haspel's Thailand torture ties". BBC News. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Crispin, Shawn W (2008-01-25). "US and Thailand: Allies in Torture". Asia Times. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
- ^ "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. Retrieved 10 April 2020, effectively on 15 March 1936
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ "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. Retrieved 10 April 2020, effectively on 27 May 1953
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ "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. Retrieved 10 April 2020, effectively on 31 December 1993
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ "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. Retrieved 10 March 2020, effectively on 25 September 1995
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ "Flight status". Udon Thani Airport Guide. Netmobius publication. 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ "Train from Bangkok to Udon Thani Schedule and Fares". train36.com. 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ "Climatological Data for the Period 1981–2010". Thai Meteorological Department. p. 9. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ "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.
External links
- Official website
Udon Thani travel guide from Wikivoyage
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