Udon Thani province
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right"\n! colspan="2" align=center bgcolor="#DEFFAD"|Statistics\n|-\n||Capital:||
Udon Thani\n|-\n||Area:||valign=top|11,730.3
km²Ranked 11th\n|-\n||Inhabitants:||valign=top|1,467,158
(2000)Ranked 8th\n|-\n||
Pop. density:||valign=top|125 inh./km²
Ranked 32nd\n|-\n||
ISO 3166-2:||TH-41\n|-\n!colspan="2" align=center bgcolor="#DEFFAD"|Map\n|-\n|colspan="2" align=center|
\n|}\n
Udon Thani (
Thai อุดรธานี) is one of the
north-eastern provinces (
changwat) of
Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise)
Nong Khai,
Sakhon Nakhon,
Kalasin,
Khon Kaen,
Nongbua Lamphu and
Loei.
Geography
\nUdon Thani is located in the heart of the Khorat Plateau. It is located between Khon Kaen and Nong Khai on the railway line that goes north from Khorat to the border of Laos, Vientiene. The provincial capital, which we'll just call Udorn ("Ooh-dorn") to prevent confusion, is Thailand's fifth-largest MSA. In English, Udon/Udorn can be spelled either way.
History
\nThe province is most famous for the archeological site Ban Chiang with its remains of the Bronze age, located in what is now a hamlet about 85 miles east of Udorn. Udorn is one of the more bustling markets for agricultural goods in the relatively dry northeast of Thailand, and received its biggest economic boost in the 1960s when the US built a joint-force military base there during the Vietnam War (the Mel Gibson film Air America refers to Udorn and includes shots from the Udorn military base).
The U.S. turned the base over to the Thai military in 1976, but there were three significant afteraffects of the base's US presence. First, a number of the natives in the area were paid well and learned English, which helped them become more marketable to the outside world (a significant percentage of the more educated group now work in the Middle East oilfields). Second, the base created permanent ties, including a US Consulate in Udorn. Finally, the base and the consulate caused the city to be viewed as a regional hub, and this impression has continued.
Symbols
\n{|\n|- valign=top\n||
\n||The provincial seal shows a mythological giant (yak), referring to Thao Kuwane, the god of the North.
The provincial tree is the Teng (Shorea obtusa), and the provincial flower is the Flame of the forest (Butea monosperma).\n|}
Administrative divisions
\nThe province is subdivided into 18 districts (Amphoe) and 2 minor districts (King Amphoe). The districts are further subdivided into 155 communes (tambon) and 1682 villages.\n{|\n!|Amphoe\n!|\n!|King Amphoe\n|---valign=top\n||\n#Mueang Udon Thani\n#Kut Chap\n#Nong Wua So\n#Kumphawapi\n#Non Sa-at\n#Nong Han\n#Thung Fon\n#Chai Wan\n#Si That\n||\n\n- Wang Sam Mo\n
- Ban Dung\n
- Ban Phue\n
- Nam Som\n
- Phen\n
- Sang Khom\n
- Nong Saeng\n
- Na Yung\n
- Phibun Rak\n
\n||\n#Ku Kaeo\n#Prachaksinlapakhom\n|}
External links
\n*Province page from the Tourist Authority of Thailand\n*Golden Jubilee Network province guide
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