Why Thailand has only one city of over 1million population?

[sfbandung]

Because there isn't.

Because it's Thailand.

Because it's not New Zealand.

Because it's a largely agricultural country where most people are farmers and don't live in cities.

Because not everywhere wants to be a mirror image of where you come from.

Because it's getting slightly pissed off of strangers turning up and telling it how they think it ought to run itself.

A pretty savage attack on what appears to be a rather benign question. Why the aggro?

[nzvic]

Because there isn't.

Because it's Thailand.

Because it's not New Zealand.

Because it's a largely agricultural country where most people are farmers and don't live in cities.

Because not everywhere wants to be a mirror image of where you come from.

Because it's getting slightly pissed off of strangers turning up and telling it how they think it ought to run itself.

A pretty savage attack on what appears to be a rather benign question. Why the aggro?

I was not upset as can see how my question might have been interpreted as criticism.

Ha...I grew up planting cabbages in Poverty Bay (east coast of NZ); have travelled through miles of empty rural space through both islands. All of us (six siblings) moved to cities for education and work.

For me inner Auckland city living is lovely...walk the harbour/viaduct Wynyard Qtr enjoying the sunshine/clean air with boats bobbing on the lovely blue waters of the Waitemata Harbour, then choice of 55 free libraries for books, magazines, cds/videos, internet etc, with uni lectures just up the road, art exhibitions, music school recitals etc. Of course it's a big cost for tax and rates payers as all is free to those who have never worked too, which is why the country has difficulty keeping its population stable...an immigration employee told me that he was reprimanded for applying the criteria strictly as "approval" rate was too low! NZ is usually bottom of the list for well-qualified immigrants wanting to live in an OECD country.

Love being in BKK (more lively in some ways) where one son works....other off to USA permanently soon so I shall probably move to Thailand.

Was it last year, or this, that stats indicate more people live in urban, than rural, areas worldwide?

[sfbandung]

Because there isn't.

Because it's Thailand.

Because it's not New Zealand.

Because it's a largely agricultural country where most people are farmers and don't live in cities.

Because not everywhere wants to be a mirror image of where you come from.

Because it's getting slightly pissed off of strangers turning up and telling it how they think it ought to run itself.

A pretty savage attack on what appears to be a rather benign question. Why the aggro?

I was not upset as can see how my question might have been interpreted as criticism.

Ha...I grew up planting cabbages in Poverty Bay (east coast of NZ); have travelled through miles of empty rural space through both islands. All of us (six siblings) moved to cities for education and work.

For me inner Auckland city living is lovely...walk the harbour/viaduct Wynyard Qtr enjoying the sunshine/clean air with boats bobbing on the lovely blue waters of the Waitemata Harbour, then choice of 55 free libraries for books, magazines, cds/videos, internet etc, with uni lectures just up the road, art exhibitions, music school recitals etc. Of course it's a big cost for tax and rates payers as all is free to those who have never worked too, which is why the country has difficulty keeping its population stable...an immigration employee told me that he was reprimanded for applying the criteria strictly as "approval" rate was too low! NZ is usually bottom of the list for well-qualified immigrants wanting to live in an OECD country.

Love being in BKK (more lively in some ways) where one son works....other off to USA permanently soon so I shall probably move to Thailand.

Was it last year, or this, that stats indicate more people live in urban, than rural, areas worldwide?

I'm Sydney born and bred and whilst I love visiting BKK I'd never want to live there. If work forced me to then so be it, but while I have a choice a few days at Lebua does it for me.

Your question surprised me as I assumed that lots of cities in Thailand had more than a million people. I would have guessed even Udon Thani would have, but checked and apparently it only has 400k. Seems more when we drive around there that's for sure. And Chiang Mai seems huge, it has this urban sprawl that feels like it goes on and on.

Looks can be deceiving or the published numbers are rubbish. Who knows?

[umbanda]

Because Thailand is not selling its land to foreigners and foreign corporations, helping its people to create its own small farming and industry. In most Western countries, foreigners and foreign corporation owns prime land, and are using it for speculation and control....forcing farmer's families to become cities's low paying laborers, commonly called "slaves" in the past. Poor people and farmers still living with dignity in Thailand. That is the prize it got from its past....... A free land never colonized by the Western Imperies.

Edited June 21, 2014 by umbanda

[Justanotherpassword]

And they are not going sell land either because they teach the myth that no part of Thailand has ever been colonized. They conveniently overlook the Japanese and the French before them. Bangkok is on the way out....it is sinking and expansion to other parts of the country is inevitable and in many ways sad.

[monkey4u]

I was not wanting Thailand to change...it was my ignorance about other countries with similar populations having the same; always thought UK had several 1plus million cities.

NZ is a primarily agricultural country also with just 4.4 mlln, with 1.4 living in Auckland, so lots of empty spaces like Thailand.

I obviously have been making false assumptions!

With lots of men wearing rubber boots calling the sheep Shirley

[AyG]

Because Thailand is not selling its land to foreigners and foreign corporations, helping its people to create its own small farming and industry. In most Western countries, foreigners and foreign corporation owns prime land, and are using it for speculation and control....forcing farmer's families to become cities's low paying laborers, commonly called "slaves" in the past. Poor people and farmers still living with dignity in Thailand. That is the prize it got from its past....... A free land never colonized by the Western Imperies.

What twaddle. Thailand has already sold much of its land to ethnic Chinese. That's why almost 60% of farmers don't own the land they work and have to pay a large chunk of their income to their landlords. That's why the average debt of land-owning farmer is 85,000 Baht, and of tenant farmers, 105,000 Baht. (2010 figures.)

And "poor people and farmers" aren't living "with dignity" - they're living lives of insecurity and desperation, as do poor people everywhere. It's hardly dignified not to be able to earn enough to survive from your farm and have to take hard labouring jobs in big cities to supplement your income. The rural idyll no longer exists - if it ever did.

[Greg Nixon]

Because Thailand is still dominated by agriculture. Most people must live in the country if their primary skill is farming. With an expanding auto manufacturing sector that may change.

Short answer: Because most people live in the country. Do you have a better question regarding what you are really trying to ask?

[Jaggg88]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Similar to the UK then.

No, it's not. Ridiculous comparison. Britain has many large regional centres with a full range of high-quality services, e.g. Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, etc etc. Thailand has only Chiang Mai as a provincial city of quality, and even that is no great shakes.

I think he meant that the biggest concentration of the the populous and the largest part of the economy is centred on London and the south east just like Bangkok in the south of Thailand.

[AyG]

just like Bangkok in the south of Thailand.

Might want to check your geography there.

[1FinickyOne]

Often times the population is counted by where the person was born - if someone from my village went to live and work in a city, they would still be counted as a person from my village, not from the city where they are living and working.

But I do think CM area and korat are both over 1 MM… ??

[realfunster]

Similar to the UK then.

The UK's 2nd city, Birmingham, is more than a million (just). West Mids & Greater Manchester conurbations both around 3 million.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited June 24, 2014 by realfunster

[lujanit]

The difference between what official figures say and what appears to actually be has to do with the fact that many people who work in cities or industrialised centres are not registered where they live and/or work. If you live in BKK this is very evident at holiday periods such as Songkran. Bangkok literally empties as people go home for the holiday period.

I know plenty of Thais who live/work in one place and are registered in another, usually a northern farming district.