Udon Thani Province
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| Capital: | Udon Thani |
| Area: | 11,730.3 km² Ranked 11th |
| Inhabitants: | 1,467,158 (2000) Ranked 8th |
| Pop. density: | 125 inh./km² Ranked 32nd |
| ISO 3166-2: | TH-41 |
| Governor: | Charuek Parinyaphon (since 2004) |
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Udon Thani (Thai: อุดรธานี) is one of the north-eastern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nong Khai, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Khon Kaen, Nong Bua Lamphu and Loei.
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[edit] Geography
Udon Thani is located in the heart of the Khorat Plateau between the provinces ofKhon Kaen to its south, and Nong Khai to its north. The city of Udon Thani is served by the railway line that goes northeast from Saraburi through Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) and Khon Kaen to the border of Laos on the outskirts of Nong Khai city. Regular direct trains including night sleepers connect the city with Bangkok. The provincial capital, Udon, often referred to as just ("Ooh-dorn") is Thailand's fifth-largest MSA. In Roman script it is also often spellt Udorn.
Strategically important for the Isan region's infrastructure, Udon Thani's airport was raised to international standard in 2006 with the opening of a new terminal to compliment its existing domestic arrival and departure building. At peak times of the year there may be as many as 20 scheduled flights per day operating in and out of Udon Thani thus making it one of the country's busiest domestic airports. Currently, two buget airlines and the national carrier operate scheduled daily morning, midday and evening flights and aircraft, some of them wide-bodied jets, are full. Direct international services are expected to start in 2007.
The city is bisected by the Mithraphap Highway, the road linking Bangkok with the Northeast and Laos. A modern, multi-lane ringroad system enables through traffic to bypass the city centre to the west or the east and connects to the airport and to the main roads to Nong Bua Lamphu province in the west and Sakhon Nakhon in the east.
[edit] History
The 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 Udon. Udon 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 the Udon Royal Thai Air Force Base as a joint-force military base during the Vietnam War (the Mel Gibson film Air America refers to Udon and includes shots from the Udon military base).
The U.S. turned the base over to the Thai military in 1976, but there were three significant after effects 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 ties, including a US Consulate in Udon which was closed in 1995, and a VFW (veterans of foreign wars) Post. Finally, the base and the consulate caused the city to be viewed as a regional hub, and this impression has continued.
In recent years the province has received international attention due to the discovery of a large potash deposit in the area and some anticipate that the region will become a major exporter of the mineral. Beginning the mining process of gaining licensure has been substantially delayed due to public opposition to the mine. Many of the villagers who live directly above the proposed mine site have expressed concern that the company and its Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) have not adequately addressed concerns of salinization of groundwater and soil or land subsidence. Both would threaten the economic stability of local communities that rely primarily on income derived from rice farming.
[edit] Symbols
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The provincial seal shows a Hindu mythological giant (yakṣa in Thai yak), referring to Thao Kuwane (Vaiśravaṇa or Kubera), 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). |
[edit] Administrative divisions
The 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. The missing numbers 12-16 are Amphoe which formed the province Nongbua Lamphu in 1993.
| Amphoe | King Amphoe | |
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[edit] External links
- Official website of the province
- Province page from the Tourist Authority of Thailand
- Potash Mining in Udon Thani Province
