Udorn Thani History

General Udon Thani topics only!
Post Reply
User avatar
zenas
New Member
Posts: 7
Joined: October 30, 2006, 7:27 pm
Location: Philippines
Contact:

Udorn Thani History

Post by zenas » January 22, 2008, 3:40 pm

Udorn History - I am a former Udorn RTAFB airman writing a book about Udorn, hoping to locate a local historical society in Udon. Appreciate any help.



udongirl

Post by udongirl » January 22, 2008, 4:42 pm

How far back did you want to go? These are photos I took of paintings on display in the officers mess.

Image

From the year 2465 (1922)
Image

Year 2472 (1929)

Sorry Pic upload taking ages, more later if you want.

udongirl

Post by udongirl » January 22, 2008, 5:15 pm

Seems the net has speeded up a bit now. Try again.
Image

Year 2487 (1944)
The next . A Lockheed T33A in use 2498-2538 (1955-1995)

Image

westerby
udonmap.com
Posts: 3056
Joined: November 22, 2005, 3:06 pm

Post by westerby » February 3, 2008, 5:04 am

Was there an airfield at Udorn before the Americans turned up or was it built by the US?

User avatar
papaguido
udonmap.com
Posts: 3962
Joined: July 5, 2005, 12:28 am
Location: Udon

Post by papaguido » February 3, 2008, 8:24 am

Built, financed & donated by the US.

User avatar
Irish Alan
udonmap.com
Posts: 3610
Joined: April 1, 2007, 7:22 am
Location: ขอนแก่น

Post by Irish Alan » February 3, 2008, 10:16 am

westerby wrote:Was there an airfield at Udorn before the Americans turned up or was it built by the US?
wikipedia wrote: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.) Udon Thani was also the largest base in the region for CIA's anti-communism campaign.

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.

User avatar
mackayae
udonmap.com
Posts: 323
Joined: March 19, 2006, 12:55 pm
Location: Udon

Post by mackayae » February 3, 2008, 10:35 am

The Udon airbase existed during WWII. In 1940 the RTAF had american built Vought Corsairs flying out of Udon during the French-Thai War. There were also bases in Ubon, Nakon Phanom and Sisaket, among others. There is a Royal Thai Air Force museum in Don Muang which is quite interesting.

cw
udonmap.com
Posts: 31
Joined: April 9, 2006, 5:05 am
Location: US

Post by cw » February 3, 2008, 11:42 am

There were two US bases at Udorn that you maybe interested in, Udorn Air Base and Ramasun ICS. You can do a search on Google for TLC Brotherhood and another for Ramasun ICS. Some interesting reading if your interested in that sort of thing, and pictures taken at some of the sites. There was more going on during the 60's and 70's out of Udorn than was ever told of.

Regards...

User avatar
donthani
udonmap.com
Posts: 426
Joined: October 29, 2007, 7:57 pm
Location: Udon Thani

udon 1960s

Post by donthani » February 15, 2008, 11:57 am

Image Image http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org/pictures.html interesting site, worth a look, some good old photos and info :lol: :lol: :lol: [/img]

Post Reply

Return to “General Udon Thani Forum”