Census – Populations for cities in Thailand
If you're like me and you thought that Chiang Mai is Thailand's second biggest city then think again. In fact it doesn't even rate third by population. It is however the second biggest tourist destination in Thailand which may make it seem larger than it is. This made me think what are the biggest cities and biggest populations in Thailand.
Populations by cities in Thailand are difficult to count. Thailand has what they call the "house book". The house book is the Official count of how many people live at a certain address and every single Thai person must have one. This makes counting the population of Thailand easy, but when it comes to counting populations of cities in Thailand get's difficult. If you ask a Thai person where they live they will always most certainly tell you the address in their "House Book". However in fact they may not even live anywhere near that address. People are reluctant to change their information on their House Book unless they get married and start a new Family. So they might move from say Chiang Mai to Bangkok but according to the government and the Thai person in Question they still live in Chiang Mai. You could say this is OK though because almost certainly they will go back to live there.
List of Major cities in Thailand by Population
This is a list of populations by region, in Thailand they say Jungwat almost like a state, Thailand has 76 states, so the cities within Thailand might have more people than the other but it's easier to look at it by state or Jungwat.
Thailand doesn't recognize Bangkok as a state, it's considered a National Territory therefore there are really only 76 states in Thailand and Bangkok being the capital territory. Bangkok has 10,326,093 inhabitants registered as of 2010. The figure is probably at least 20% more than that if you include those not registered, illegals, and tourists.
- Nakhon Ratchasima 2,582,089
- Ubon Ratchathani 1,813,088
- Khon Kaen 1,767,601
- Chiang Mai 1,640,479
- Buri Ram 1,553,765
- Udon Thani 1,544,786
- Nakhon Si Thammarat 1,522,561
- Si Sa Ket 1,452,471
- Surin 1,381,761
- Songkhla 1,357,023
- Chon Buri 1,316,293
- Roi Et 1,309,708
- Chiang Rai 1,198,218
- Samut Prakan 1,185,180
- Chaiyaphum 1,127,423
- Sakon Nakhon 1,122,905
- Nonthaburi 1,101,743
- Nakhon Sawan 1,073,495
- Surat Thani 1,000,383
- Phetchabun 996,031
- Pathum Thani 985,643
- Kalasin 982,578
- Maha Sarakham 940,911
- Nakhon Pathom 860,246
- Phitsanulok 849,692
- Suphan Buri 845,850
- Kanchanaburi 839,776
- Ratchaburi 839,075
- Ayutthaya 782,096
- Lampang 761,949
- Lop Buri 755,854
- Narathiwat 737,162
- Kamphaeng Phet 727,093
- Nakhon Phanom 703,392
- Chachoengsao 673,933
- Pattani 655,259
- Rayong 626,402
- leoy 624,066
- Trang 622,659
- Saraburi 617,384
- Sukhothai 608,820
- Phichit 552,690
- Sa Kaow 544,100
- Yasothon 539,257
- Tak 525,684
- Chanthaburi 514,616
- Phatthalung 509,534
- Nong Khai 509,395
- Prachuap Khiri Khan 509,134
- Nong Bualumpu 502,868
- Samut Sakhon 491,887
- Chumphon 489,964
- Yala 487,380
- Phayao 486,304
- Nan 476,363
- Prachin Buri 466,572
- Phetchaburi 464,033
- Uttaradit 462,618
- Phrae 460,756
- Krabi 432,704
- Lamphun 404,560
- Beung Khaf 403,542
- Umnatjalern 372,137
- Phuket 345,067
- Mukdahan 339,575
- Chai Nat 334,934
- Uthai Thani 327,959
- Satun 297,163
- Ang Thong 284,970
- Phangnga 253,112
- Nakhon Nayok 252,734
- Mae Hong Son 242,742
- Trad 220,921
- Sing Buri 214,661
- Samut Songkhram 194,057
- Ranong 183,079
Interesting facts about populations in Thailand
- For the most part most of the states have the same populations as they did 10 years ago, many states in Thailand are actually losing population.
- Bangkok has grown it's population by 3 million people over the past 10 years, most of these people have moved in from the countryside.
- Pathum Thani is the fastest growing state in all of Thailand, it's grown it's population from 700,000 10 years ago to over 1 million inhabitants today.
- The population of Thailand in 2011 is over 64,000,000 million citizens.
- Beung Khaf is Thailand's newest state (making up 77) since 2010 and has 400,000 thousand people living there. This made a dent in the Nong Kai which used to have 900,000 people living there but now only has 500,000 thousand because of the split.
- Ranong has the smallest number of people living in it, but that's because it's also the smallest state.
The information in this post was gleaned from wikipedia Thai language version.
A bit confusing, you use the heading “Major Cities”, then give figures for the state/province.
I understand what you’re saying, the reason this is because most people living in the city are registered elsewhere in the province, when the Thai government do their census they are based on the house book (pretty much where their family live). Hope that makes sense.