Most Farang Populated Area Of Thailand

[barrybike]

Have they opened the first McDonalds in Udon Thani yet?

Unfortunately - yes.

I received a letter from a government department in Udon about three months ago, which included the statistic that there were 5000+ (can't remember the exact figure) farangs married to Thais in Udon Province.

Of course, not all farangs here are married, and some may no longer be married.

5000 plus seems more realistic but still a fair number in that area.....i plan on living in dan sai in a few years ..is udon far from here ???how many kms ????

[basjke]

Statistics, yes, funny thing! Apparently 78.6% of all Statistics are made up.

Is that statisticly proven or just made up?

[kurnell]

Didn't I read in the Bangkok post that there were 100,000 foreigners in Korat? Whoever is making these stats seems to be suffering from double vision.

[otherstuff1957]

If you included resident Lao people, you might actually have 40,000 foreigners in UT!

[mahtin]

And if you classify as foreigners all those whose first language is not Thai it gets close to 100%

[Farma]

The National Statistical Office carries out a Population and Housing Census every ten years.

The tables on this link for year 2000 are the most up to date I can find. http://web.nso.go.th/eng/en/pop2000/tables_e.htm

“Table 4 Population by citizenship, sex, area and region” shows statistics for Whole Kingdom and regions with 31 nationalities listed. Unfortunately it doesn’t list statistics for provinces or cities.

[DP25]

Do you think farangs actually eat Mcdonalds ??

Yeah, they certainly do. Go in to any McDonalds in an area with a large number of farang and it is packed full with them. If Udon really had 40,000 farang, the population of a mid size town, you can bet there would have been several of them for many years to cater to those who get sick of Isaan food. Especially if I lived in Isaan I would eat McDonalds a LOT more than living in BKK, Pattaya, Phuket, or Sumui, where there are endless options for Western food, and if the numbers were really that high they'd be there already.

And I agree, if foreigners doesn't mean farang but any foreigner, including Laos, then 40,000 certainly is possible, but it is still no where even close to having the most in Thailand.

[barrybike]

my wife said the tv show said cauccasians...ie white people ...so this rules out laos,cambodia and vietnamese.....where do ye go from there then (sorry for my spelling on cc )

[virtualtraveller]

I can confirm that in interview in a local Chiang Mai paper with the head of immigration this year revealed by his own admission that they had 'processed' 18,000 visa applications during the previous 12 months. Let's assume that the majority of those applying would find some way or other to remain in Thailand, add to that the fact that many residents here exist on Non Imm visas which get renewed every 3 months without being properly processed into a 1 year visa, and I would guestimate that Chiang Mai has about 25,000 foreign residents at any one time (excluding Burmese). There's more expats in Chiang Mai than you think, specifically missionaries and NGOs, but this would include the entire province. Remember, there are also 7 international schools here, and a great deal of retirees.

Someone recently told me there were as many as 100,000 foreigners scattered across Isarn, if this is true then that would account for up to 40,000 visas processed in Udon Thani perhaps.

I wouldn't use the official stats as a gauge since so many foreigners here still reside using Non-Imm visas or even tourist visas which they simply renew without properly upgrading to a 1 year visa.

I'd be interested to know which city has more expats, Chiang Mai, Pattaya or Phuket.

[diks]

I can confirm that in interview in a local Chiang Mai paper with the head of immigration this year revealed by his own admission that they had 'processed' 18,000 visa applications during the previous 12 months. Let's assume that the majority of those applying would find some way or other to remain in Thailand, add to that the fact that many residents here exist on Non Imm visas which get renewed every 3 months without being properly processed into a 1 year visa, and I would guestimate that Chiang Mai has about 25,000 foreign residents at any one time (excluding Burmese). There's more expats in Chiang Mai than you think, specifically missionaries and NGOs, but this would include the entire province. Remember, there are also 7 international schools here, and a great deal of retirees.

Someone recently told me there were as many as 100,000 foreigners scattered across Isarn, if this is true then that would account for up to 40,000 visas processed in Udon Thani perhaps.

I wouldn't use the official stats as a gauge since so many foreigners here still reside using Non-Imm visas or even tourist visas which they simply renew without properly upgrading to a 1 year visa.

I'd be interested to know which city has more expats, Chiang Mai, Pattaya or Phuket.

When I was at CM immigration recently for 90 day reporting there must have been at least 12 foreigners being processed in less than 1 hour. This was early in the morning and it may slow down later but nevertheless an interesting number to extrapolate.

Let's see, take an average of 10 foreigners (falangs and others!) for every 8 hours and 6 days a week, that would be 480 per week or about 25,000 in a year.

[NanLaew]

Have they opened the first McDonalds in Udon Thani yet? I remember it was supposed to be around this time. I trust McDonalds marketing research better than a government drone, 40,000 farang would support a ton of them, and it certainly wouldn't have taken this long for the first. It's just not possible as far as residents go.

Do you think farangs actually eat Mcdonalds ??

I took my wife and son there last Sunday to show them what not to eat and the place was chock full of Thai's and furreners. Even the drive-thru was getting a roaring trade.

There's a decent sized furrener population in the boonies that come in to town on market days and weekends and that makes the place seem to have more than average furreners. However, the numbers quoted in the blog in th OP needs to lose a zero.

[Gaccha]

New quote to replace the overused Disraeli quote (see around reply #6):

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts -- for support rather than for illumination. "-- Andrew Lang

[Ricardo]

When I was at CM immigration recently for 90 day reporting there must have been at least 12 foreigners being processed in less than 1 hour. This was early in the morning and it may slow down later but nevertheless an interesting number to extrapolate.

Let's see, take an average of 10 foreigners (falangs and others!) for every 8 hours and 6 days a week, that would be 480 per week or about 25,000 in a year.

However in theory each one makes 4 visits per year, so that 25,000 could be only 6,250 farangs, four times each ?

But many farangs might well leave the country, for business or holidays, during the year, and thus re-start their 90-days at the border and not at the Immigration Office.

My brain hurts ... time for a beer !

[mijan24]

Lol was just talking to a girl from Udon (before I read this) and she says Udon is crawling with farangs.....and it looks like a buddy of mine will be joining that horde

Look up FBI real estate number of houses for sale something is happening up there.

[certified]

Well if there really are 40,000 farang living in Udon Thani, I would expect thai immigration to once again change their visa laws and reduce that number to about 3% of what it is now.

[barky]

Lol was just talking to a girl from Udon (before I read this) and she says Udon is crawling with farangs.....and it looks like a buddy of mine will be joining that horde

Quick Thais run for your life its a white hord coming to take over " your" country, kill the kids, rape the women etc etc ...xenophobic sensationalism spread by dumbas*es. Pathetically sad really.

The smart people ingnore this scare tactic sillyness.

[Tanaka]

Look up FBI real estate number of houses for sale something is happening up there.

You are right! They found out that I moved here!

[barrybike]

there reallyt seems to be alot of farangs living in udt.....besides robinsons and mccdonalds ...tell me what other good stuff is there ??????????? is there loads of good restaurants ,bars ,hotels ...cinemas etc..........?????????????

[Birdman]

Be patient. Over time there will be Little Switzerland, Aussietown and Isaansoho.

[barrybike]

Be patient. Over time there will be Little Switzerland, Aussietown and Isaansoho.

[needforspeed]

I can confirm that in interview in a local Chiang Mai paper with the head of immigration this year revealed by his own admission that they had 'processed' 18,000 visa applications during the previous 12 months. Let's assume that the majority of those applying would find some way or other to remain in Thailand, add to that the fact that many residents here exist on Non Imm visas which get renewed every 3 months without being properly processed into a 1 year visa, and I would guestimate that Chiang Mai has about 25,000 foreign residents at any one time (excluding Burmese). There's more expats in Chiang Mai than you think, specifically missionaries and NGOs, but this would include the entire province. Remember, there are also 7 international schools here, and a great deal of retirees.

Someone recently told me there were as many as 100,000 foreigners scattered across Isarn, if this is true then that would account for up to 40,000 visas processed in Udon Thani perhaps.

I wouldn't use the official stats as a gauge since so many foreigners here still reside using Non-Imm visas or even tourist visas which they simply renew without properly upgrading to a 1 year visa.

I'd be interested to know which city has more expats, Chiang Mai, Pattaya or Phuket.

When I was at CM immigration recently for 90 day reporting there must have been at least 12 foreigners being processed in less than 1 hour. This was early in the morning and it may slow down later but nevertheless an interesting number to extrapolate.

Let's see, take an average of 10 foreigners (falangs and others!) for every 8 hours and 6 days a week, that would be 480 per week or about 25,000 in a year.

Hello EINSTEIN it is a 90 days report so that is only 12.86 weeks x 480 would be only 6,173.

[barrybike]

I can confirm that in interview in a local Chiang Mai paper with the head of immigration this year revealed by his own admission that they had 'processed' 18,000 visa applications during the previous 12 months. Let's assume that the majority of those applying would find some way or other to remain in Thailand, add to that the fact that many residents here exist on Non Imm visas which get renewed every 3 months without being properly processed into a 1 year visa, and I would guestimate that Chiang Mai has about 25,000 foreign residents at any one time (excluding Burmese). There's more expats in Chiang Mai than you think, specifically missionaries and NGOs, but this would include the entire province. Remember, there are also 7 international schools here, and a great deal of retirees.

Someone recently told me there were as many as 100,000 foreigners scattered across Isarn, if this is true then that would account for up to 40,000 visas processed in Udon Thani perhaps.

I wouldn't use the official stats as a gauge since so many foreigners here still reside using Non-Imm visas or even tourist visas which they simply renew without properly upgrading to a 1 year visa.

I'd be interested to know which city has more expats, Chiang Mai, Pattaya or Phuket.

When I was at CM immigration recently for 90 day reporting there must have been at least 12 foreigners being processed in less than 1 hour. This was early in the morning and it may slow down later but nevertheless an interesting number to extrapolate.

Let's see, take an average of 10 foreigners (falangs and others!) for every 8 hours and 6 days a week, that would be 480 per week or about 25,000 in a year.

Hello EINSTEIN it is a 90 days report so that is only 12.86 weeks x 480 would be only 6,173.

[lennya12threh]

I actually saw on the news that the figure was about 40,000.

But the news was a little show about a foreign farmer and his Thai wife in Udon Thani, living just like the Thais.

The foreigner mentioned this figure.