Thailand - Udon Thani
Photo Gallery of Udon Thani in Thailand.
Udon Thani is located in north-east of Thailand, about two hours from Khon Kaen and nine hours (about one hour by plane) from Bangkok .
Related to the colonialization of Laos by France, the town was born as a buffer area in nineteen century. There is nothing left of what Udon Thani used to be but it was developed much further as a town of US air forces during Vietnam War and the population was more than 10 million in those days.
There was an agrarian civilization around this area and ancient relics in prehistoric times were discovered in the archeological site Ban Chiang like in Ban Prasat in Korat of East Thailand, which you can see what they look like in Ban Chiang National Museum. This place has been registered as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
What's more, you'll see "Phu Phra Bat Historical Park" that shows big strange rocks as in Phu Pha Teab National Park of Mukdahan, the famous temple on the hill, "Wat Phra Phutthabat Bua Bok", and "Nakhon Shanode" believed to be the place of the border of the human world and the
dragon world.
As in Nong Khai, even if it's in Thailand, it's very cool or cold in early mornings and in evenings in winter. You should take a jacket with you. I thought this was the first time for me to see people wearing scarfs.
Udon Thani is located in north-east of Thailand, about two hours from Khon Kaen and nine hours (about one hour by plane) from Bangkok .Related to the colonialization of Laos by France, the town was born as a buffer area in nineteen century. There is nothing left of what Udon Thani used to be but it was developed much further as a town of US air forces during Vietnam War and the population was more than 10 million in those days.
There was an agrarian civilization around this area and ancient relics in prehistoric times were discovered in the archeological site Ban Chiang like in Ban Prasat in Korat of East Thailand, which you can see what they look like in Ban Chiang National Museum. This place has been registered as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
What's more, you'll see "Phu Phra Bat Historical Park" that shows big strange rocks as in Phu Pha Teab National Park of Mukdahan, the famous temple on the hill, "Wat Phra Phutthabat Bua Bok", and "Nakhon Shanode" believed to be the place of the border of the human world and the
dragon world.As in Nong Khai, even if it's in Thailand, it's very cool or cold in early mornings and in evenings in winter. You should take a jacket with you. I thought this was the first time for me to see people wearing scarfs.
[Udon Thani] The city Scenery |
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The scenery of a town in Udon Thani and its surroundings.We visited here from Bangkok by air, one hour flight, and then went to Nong Khai to the north. It was in January and much colder than we expected in the morning and at night. When you visit here, don't forget to take a jacket with you. The town was big and it had a lot of buildings and people. |
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| Scenery 1 (A lot of buildings and motorbikes.) |
Scenery 2 (A tuk-tuk is running.) |
Scenery 3 (Thai national flags are in a row.) |
The city 1 (The street is busy, viewed from above.) |
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| The city 2 (Another scenery viewed from above.) |
A street seller (Some is selling something on the street like in Bangkok.) |
Night scenery (It's not so busy at night.) |
Suburb (This kind of lands spread in the suburb.) |
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| Hungry (The picture left is a menu of this restaurant. The picture right shows "Kai Grata", the local famous food cooked with bread, eggs, meat and vegetables. Tastes very good.) |
Tuk-tuk (Tuk-tuks. Are they called Skylab like in Nong Khai ?) |
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[Udon Thani] the archeological site Ban Chiang |
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| This site, Ban Chiang, is considered to be a very important
area to show that there was a culture and society of human beings in the east-south Asia
in prehistoric times. Metal tools for agriculture or weapons were found as well. This place has been registered as a world heritage site, no.359 by UNESCO since 1992. |
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Ban Chiang National Museum |
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Ban Chiang National Museum built in 1975 displays the a lot of prehistoric
relics discovered around Ban Chiang.Various kinds of stone or bronze artifacts such as pots and ornaments were found and it looks like they were about 5,600 to 1,800 years ago. As you might know, bronze is made from copper and tin, and there is no place to mine them around here. It's said that copper had come from its environs in Thailand and tin had imported from Laos or Burma (Myanmar). Human bones were found also and you can see them at an outdoor museum nearby like at Ban Prasat in Korat. |
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| The museum (The view of the building.) |
Around (The red big circled point is Ban Chiang, and other small marked points shows ancients relics were found as well.) |
artifacts 1 (They were made about 5,600 to 3,000 years ago. An interesting shaped pot is displayed.) |
artifacts 2 (Elaborate stripe patterned pots.) |
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| artifacts 3 (Different shapes but they also have elaborate patterns.) |
artifacts 4 (This pattern looks like a big mouth.) |
artifacts 5 (Small, big and small pots. They were found around Ban Chiang.) |
accessories 1 (Made of glass or clay.) |
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| accessories 2 (Bronze bracelets or bells.) |
weapons (The edge parts of bronze axes and spears.) |
stamps ? (Looks like they are stamps made of clay but what were they for ? Trade ?) |
In front (There are gift shops in front of the museum. You can get ancients pots ? :D) |
[Udon Thani] Nakhon Shanode |
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People believe that this place, Nakhon Shanode in Udon Thani of North-East Thailand, is the border between the human world and the dragon world. (Nakhon: town, Shanode: a name of a tree) We visited here several years ago (The picture right) but the entrance had been greatly changed to a magnificent gate with two dragons with a lot of heads (the picture above as of January in 2008). |
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| Around 1 (Viewing scenery like in the picture, you'll get to the border soon.) |
The road of the dragon (The path leads you to the dragon world. You have to take off your shoes.) |
Around 2 (The side scenery from the rod of the dragon.) |
Forest (The entrance to the dragon world is in a forest.) |
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| Temple 1 (There is a temple in the forest and people are praying.) |
Temple 2 (Two gods (?) are housed like in the picture.) |
Temple 3 (People are praying in front of the temple.) |
Next to the temple (If you rub the gong and it sounds, good luck will come to you.) |
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| The entrance to the dragon world (There is a small pond and this is the entrance to the dragon world. Dragons come and go back through it. People put water onto their hands heads and wish good luck.) |
Around 3 (Around the entrance, there are a lot of shops in a row. When you are hungry, you can get something to eat or drink.) |
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