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.

From the year 2465 (1922)

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.

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

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?

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

Built, financed & donated by the US.

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.

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.

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...

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

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

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Udorn Thani History

Udorn Thani History

udon 1960s