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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.

  1. Nakhon Ratchasima 2,582,089
  2. Ubon Ratchathani 1,813,088
  3. Khon Kaen 1,767,601
  4. Chiang Mai 1,640,479
  5. Buri Ram 1,553,765
  6. Udon Thani 1,544,786
  7. Nakhon Si Thammarat 1,522,561
  8. Si Sa Ket 1,452,471
  9. Surin 1,381,761
  10. Songkhla 1,357,023
  11. Chon Buri 1,316,293
  12. Roi Et 1,309,708
  13. Chiang Rai 1,198,218
  14. Samut Prakan 1,185,180
  15. Chaiyaphum 1,127,423
  16. Sakon Nakhon 1,122,905
  17. Nonthaburi 1,101,743
  18. Nakhon Sawan 1,073,495
  19. Surat Thani 1,000,383
  20. Phetchabun 996,031
  21. Pathum Thani 985,643
  22. Kalasin 982,578
  23. Maha Sarakham 940,911
  24. Nakhon Pathom 860,246
  25. Phitsanulok 849,692
  26. Suphan Buri 845,850
  27. Kanchanaburi 839,776
  28. Ratchaburi 839,075
  29. Ayutthaya 782,096
  30. Lampang 761,949
  31. Lop Buri 755,854
  32. Narathiwat 737,162
  33. Kamphaeng Phet 727,093
  34. Nakhon Phanom 703,392
  35. Chachoengsao 673,933
  36. Pattani 655,259
  37. Rayong 626,402
  38. leoy 624,066
  39. Trang 622,659
  40. Saraburi 617,384
  41. Sukhothai 608,820
  42. Phichit 552,690
  43. Sa Kaow 544,100
  44. Yasothon 539,257
  45. Tak 525,684
  46. Chanthaburi 514,616
  47. Phatthalung 509,534
  48. Nong Khai 509,395
  49. Prachuap Khiri Khan 509,134
  50. Nong Bualumpu 502,868
  51. Samut Sakhon 491,887
  52. Chumphon 489,964
  53. Yala 487,380
  54. Phayao 486,304
  55. Nan 476,363
  56. Prachin Buri 466,572
  57. Phetchaburi 464,033
  58. Uttaradit 462,618
  59. Phrae 460,756
  60. Krabi 432,704
  61. Lamphun 404,560
  62. Beung Khaf 403,542
  63. Umnatjalern 372,137
  64. Phuket 345,067
  65. Mukdahan 339,575
  66. Chai Nat 334,934
  67. Uthai Thani 327,959
  68. Satun 297,163
  69. Ang Thong 284,970
  70. Phangnga 253,112
  71. Nakhon Nayok 252,734
  72. Mae Hong Son 242,742
  73. Trad 220,921
  74. Sing Buri 214,661
  75. Samut Songkhram 194,057
  76. 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.


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About Chris

Chris founded LivingThai.org in 2011 and has received over 3 million visitors. He has lived here for over 10 years and speaks reads and writes very good Thai.

2 Responses to Census – Populations for cities in Thailand

  1. norman October 7, 2014 at 11:47 am #

    A bit confusing, you use the heading “Major Cities”, then give figures for the state/province.

    • Chris October 8, 2014 at 3:46 pm #

      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.

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