Udon Thani

Udon Thani is a city in northeastern Thailand, in the Isan region.  It has a population which in 2005 was estimated at 247,000. Udon Thani is also the provincial capital of the province of Udon Thani.

The city lies about 600 km northeast of Bangkok. It has good flight connections and can also be reached via four-lane highway. The distance to the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong to Laos, the neighboring country to the north, is about 50 km.

The main industry in the area  is agriculture, particularly rice and sugar plantations.

The Udon Thani area was developed around 6000 years BC. Thailand’s oldest settlement, Ban Chiang, is located about 50 km east of Udon Thani.

For a long time the area was controlled by Laos (Lan Xha Empire) or the Khmer Empire. In the 1700s the area was under Burmese domination.

During a large part of the Vietnam War, many American soldiers were stationed here, and it had only positive economic consequences. Eventually, the bars serving the soldiers have been closed, and it is returning to an atmosphere better suited to attracting family tourism.