History[edit]
Udon Thani first marked its name in the Bangkok era's history when Anuwong staged an uprising and marched Laotian troops to Nakhon Ratchasima during the period 1826–1828. Met with fierce resistance from the local troops led by Lady Mo, wife of the Nakhon Ratchasima governor. Anuwong was forced to retreat back to Nong Bua Lamphu, a city close to present-day Udon Thani. The Laotians eventually lost to Siam's troops and the Nong Bua Lamphu militia.[3]
Formerly known as Ban Mak-kaeng, Udon Thani was first settled as a military base established by Prince Prachak to crack down on an uprising in the northeastern state of Lao Puan. Ban Mak-kaeng has evolved from a rural city eventually into what is present-day Udon Thani.
The province is best known for the archeological site Ban Chiang and its Bronze Age remains, located in what is now a hamlet about 50 kilometres (31 mi) 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 base.) Udon Thani was also the largest base in the region for the CIA's anti-communism campaign.[citation needed]
The US turned the base over to the Thai military in 1976, but there were three significant after-effects of the US presence. First, a number of the natives in the area were well paid 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, closed in 1995, and a US 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. Some anticipate that the region will become a major exporter of the mineral. The granting of the necessary approvals, however, has been substantially delayed due to public opposition to the mine. Many 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.