Are US forces still based in Udon Thani?

[Kenny202]

A Thai friend told me last night after the Thai Army took control of the country the US forces left. I know there was tough talk etc but didn't think it happened.

[SpokaneAl]

What US forces are you referring to? The U.S. played a part in this year's Cobra Gold exercises but there were and are no U.S. forces stationed here outside, I suppose, of a few at the US embassy.

[Kenny202]

I thought there had been a US base here since the Nam war

[happynthailand]

There was a base out side of Udon,when the war was going on,there were no unforms ,it was some kind of top secret radio base ,it was run by the us army

everybody knew it was there but nobody knew what went on there,had a freind who was CID there,there might be some army people still there

can't miss the base as it had a large circle of antenna's and staellite dish's

air amercia was in udon when the war was going on,there were a lot of air america plane's stationed there

I was with air rescure there the last of HH-43's

Edited February 22, 2015 by happynthailand

[macksview]

thre is still the voice of america station out ban dung way, father in law pointed out where s0me americans were housed on the kumphawapi road close to the transport office, during the war

[NickJ]

That station is still there. I had a friend who was walking near the gate and he was asked to turn around and go back the way he had come.this was about six years ago

[Smokin Joe]

I thought there had been a US base here since the Nam war

Are you serious? There hasn't been a US base here for about 40 years now.

[jdinasia]

That station is still there. I had a friend who was walking near the gate and he was asked to turn around and go back the way he had come.this was about six years ago

It is not a US facility.

[KhunBENQ]

A Thai friend told me last night after the Thai Army took control of the country the US forces left. I know there was tough talk etc but didn't think it happened.

Lost in translation I guess

Don't tell a Thai that the US forces had control of the country.

That the US air force had bases in U-Tapao, Khorat and Udon Thani during the Vietnam war does not need to be mentioned?

Maybe legally it were always Royal Thai AFBs, but technically the US air force was operating "freely" to bomb Laos e.g.

So the answer to the question in the topic title is a clear NO.

Long gone.

Edited February 22, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[macksview]

off topic but also aussies at the RTAB in ubon, americans also in nakon phanom, sakhon nakon, all related to the domino theory

[NeverSure]

There is a 20 page thread on here titled "Thailand and the Vietnam War" if anyone is interested.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/657693-thailand-and-the-vietnam-war/

[koo wallety tourist]

its crawling with 'em. so many its good enough reason to give the place a wide miss

[Torrens54]

Maybe it's Thailand's version of GITMO?

[manxninja]

I stumbled across a us air base about 50 clicks from udon. Had a load of B2 bombers and spitfires.

Something strange going on still.

[Kenny202]

Any Navy here?

[ScarpoFongness4U]

US Navy are the only war ships that stop in Thailand

China was invited by the US to participate in the recent drills

[Toknarok]

During the Vietnam war Udon was the supply base for the American Air Force that were operating in Laos with Hmong fighting the communists. It was a clandestine operation as Laos was supposedly a 'neutral' country. For a good history of this operation I reccommend a book by Christopher Robbinson called "The Ravens". Ravens was the name given to the American pilots who flew light aircraft (FAC) who directed bombers and jet fighters onto targets.

There was also an American air force base at Ubon from which sorties were flown over the Delta.

[DILLIGAD]

That's probably why so many special forces guys sit in bars in Pattaya! LOL

[lopburi3]

1. As said US forces departed, at the request of Thailand, some 40 years ago. Only exercise/special type joint operations have been conducted since then.

2. There were a number of RTAFB facilities used by US forces, including Udorn (Udon).. But there have always been occasional support and training type flights from many nationals into RTAFB and Navy facilities.

3. As said there was a large Wullenweber antenna facility outside of Udorn thet you passed on train journey to Bangkok.

[houlicha]

I was stationed at the radio facility, Ramasun Station, outside Udon Thani in 1972-1973 as a Chinese linguist in the US Air Force. It wasn't all that secret, just a radio intercept station. We had no helipad or any special forces going out on secret forays or anything like that. Other than VD and bad food, very little danger there. Except that I did once have to jump over a cobra while running the perimeter road. Really.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/boondocks/250864895/

[Smurkster]

maybe US forces aren't based here, but do not doubt for one minute that Uncle Sam still has his hands all over this place....Thailand in many ways is an extension of America....just look at the roads...who do you think funded those??

[slipperylobster]

I was stationed at the radio facility, Ramasun Station, outside Udon Thani in 1972-1973 as a Chinese linguist in the US Air Force. It wasn't all that secret, just a radio intercept station. We had no helipad or any special forces going out on secret forays or anything like that. Other than VD and bad food, very little danger there. Except that I did once have to jump over a cobra while running the perimeter road. Really.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/boondocks/250864895/

Yep...looks like the same setup we had in Iraklion Crete in 72

[thrilled]

I was in the AF stationed at Udon.There were 5 AF bases in Thailand.The AF you might as well say was kind of kicked

Out I believe in 1975.

[Barin]

1. As said US forces departed, at the request of Thailand, some 40 years ago. Only exercise/special type joint operations have been conducted since then.

2. There were a number of RTAFB facilities used by US forces, including Udorn (Udon).. But there have always been occasional support and training type flights from many nationals into RTAFB and Navy facilities.

3. As said there was a large Wullenweber antenna facility outside of Udorn thet you passed on train journey to Bangkok.

The Wullenweber antenna is a receiving antenna used for direction finding on Short Waves?

[lopburi3]

maybe US forces aren't based here, but do not doubt for one minute that Uncle Sam still has his hands all over this place....Thailand in many ways is an extension of America....just look at the roads...who do you think funded those??

Prior to 1975 US AID supplied funding for many of the two lane roads to upcountry areas - but that was long, long ago. Thailand has rebuilt all of them many times over since that period (and greatly improved them). And unfortunately I know from having used them when they were two lane death runs (with humpback bridges blocking all view of oncoming traffic).

[lopburi3]

The Wullenweber antenna is a receiving antenna used for direction finding on Short Waves?

Yes. And was very accurate. Anyone having been through Clark Field in the Philippines probably remember the "elephant cage".

[thrilled]

I miss counted.At times there were 6 major Bases.Not sure about small ones.

[KhunBENQ]

3. As said there was a large Wullenweber antenna facility outside of Udorn thet you passed on train journey to Bangkok.

Very interesting.

Some grass has grown over it but still good to recognize from the satellite:

https://goo.gl/maps/VuP9T

Coordinates found at the WiKi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/FLR-9

17.2917333°N 102.868850°E

Edited February 23, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[kalbz]

The US doesn't need to have boots on the ground in Thailand, the Thai military is obedient to the US. The CIA are still located at Ramasun, which is also where they tortured the muslim terror suspects during the Extraordinary Renditions & Detentions about 10 or so years ago.

Udon Thani is an important location for the US. With Communist Laos, Vietnam and China nearby.

[BarnicaleBob]

I know there are no U.S. military bases currently in Thailand. However, between 1961 to 1975 the U.S. Military did have a presence here as guests to the Royal Thai Military. I served here during part of that time and my job took me to many of the Royal Thai Air Force bases that the U.S. Air Force were stationed at. The ones I visited during that time were Takhil, and at that time they had about 70 F-105s, about 12 KC-135s, 6 F-111s, about 15 EB-66s; Korat Royal Thai AFB which had F105s, U-Tapao which had B-52s and KC-135s, Don Muang RTAFB, which was mostly a resupply base for the U.S. with some C-130s and C-47s, and Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, was a search and rescue base for the most part. Two other bases that I never visited during my stay were Ubon RTAFB which I was told at the time had F-4 Phantoms and Udorn which I was told also had F-4 Phantoms at the time. I also visited a U.S. Army special forces detachment that was at the Royal Thai Army base in Lopburi that gave advanced training to Thai troops for deployment to Vietnam. The Thai Amry troops I met in Lopburi were from the Thai Army's special forces group called the Queen's Cobras. I believe about 50,000 Thai Army troops served along side the U.S. troops in Vietnam. There were also several U.S. Army special forces units assigned to Thai units serving along the border with Laos to counter communist insurgency that was a major problem during that time. Also there were numorus small units of U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force manning listening stations near border areas including a good sized post in Chiang Mai. There was also a secret base in Laos that was run by Air America/CIA, it is a tourist site today. Note my observations of this were made during the 1967 1968 times. This is what was in place at that time.