Udon Thani
Udon Thani
อุดรธานี Udon | |
|---|---|
| อุดรธานี | |
 Udon Thani | |
| Country | Thailand |
| Government | |
| • Type | City |
| Area | |
| • City Municipality | 47 km2 (18 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,095 km2 (423 sq mi) |
| Population (Aug 2012) | |
| • City Municipality | 153,329 |
| • Density | 3,262/km2 (8,450/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 430,000 |
| • Metro density | 393/km2 (1,020/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+7 (ICT) |
| Postcode | 41280 |
.jpg)
Udon Thani (Thai: อุดรธานี, pronounced [ʔudɔːn tʰaːniː]) is one of the four major cities (Khorat, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen) of the Isan region, Thailand, (known as the "big 4 of Isan"). It is the capital of Udon Thani Province.
Location
Udon's geographical location 17°25′N 102°45′E / 17.417°N 102.750°E is approximately 560 km from Bangkok. Udon is a major commercial center in northern Isan and the gateway to Laos, northern Vietnam, and southern China. The province of Udon Thani has a population of 1,544,786; the city alone has 399,535.
History
47 km east of Udon Thani is Thailand's premier Bronze Age excavation at Ban Chiang, the world-renowned archaeological site.
Although there are few attractions in the city for most travellers, there are a few interesting Buddhist temples. Within a few kilometres of Udon Thani is Wat Pa Baan That, which was home for many years to forest meditation monk, Luangta Maha Bua, known for his philanthropic endeavors such as accumulating gold and giving it to the national treasury to benefit Thailand's citizens during the economic crisis of the late 1990s. It is said that over the course of his tenure at this temple over US$550 million was collected for the benefit of Thai citizens, either directly or via the construction of hospitals and clinics. Ajahn Maha Bua died in January 2011.
The city became a bustling support center for the nearby 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.
In the mid-1900s, about 46,700 Vietnamese war refugees immigrated to Udon Thani. Their descendants still reside in Udon Thani and communicate with each other in Vietnamese.[1] Today, Udon Thani has the largest Vietnamese community in all of Thailand.
It also became the site of a Voice of America relay station alleged to have been a CIA black site.[2]
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.
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 |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.0 (86.0) |
32.4 (90.3) |
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 (90.4) |
| 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) |
16.4 (61.5) |
22.0 (71.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 6.3 (0.25) |
16.1 (0.63) |
39.3 (1.55) |
102.7 (4.04) |
199.3 (7.85) |
159.6 (6.28) |
145.8 (5.74) |
184.9 (7.28) |
235.0 (9.25) |
123.3 (4.85) |
20.0 (0.79) |
8.7 (0.34) |
1,241 (48.85) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm) | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 118 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 65 | 63 | 60 | 63 | 74 | 78 | 78 | 81 | 81 | 76 | 69 | 67 | 71 |
| Source: Thai Meteorological Department (Normal 1981-2010), (Avg. rainy days 1961-1990) | |||||||||||||
Facilities
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. CentralPlaza Udon Thani was reopened 27 March 2012 after a massive renovation and expansion. Landmark Plaza has the second largest cineplex in Udon Thani, SF Cinema City. The third cineplex is Nevada at IT Plaza.[3] The shopping mall, UDTOWN, opened in winter 2009. In a park-like setting on an area of 38,000 m² (24 rai), UDTOWN is Thailand's largest open air shopping center.
References
- ^ Paanchiangwong, Songgot (Sep 2009). "A Note On Interference of Thai Reduplication on Vietnamese Spoken in Udon Thani Province of Thailand" (PDF). Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. 2: 241–245. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
- ^ Crispin, Shawn W (2008-01-25). "US and Thailand: Allies in Torture". Asia Times. Asia Times Online. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
- ^ http://udon-news.com/en/company/it-plaza
External links
Udon Thani travel guide from Wikivoyage
