science

Khon Kaen

Khon Kaen is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Khon Kaen rather than just read about it. In short: Khon Kaen (Thai: ขอนแก่น, pronounced [kʰɔ̌(ː)n kɛ̀n]) is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the "big four of Isan", the others being Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Ubon Ratchathani.

Key takeaways

Khon Kaen belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Khon Kaen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Khon Kaen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Khon Kaen (Thai: ขอนแก่น, pronounced [kʰɔ̌(ː)n kɛ̀n]) is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the "big four of Isan", the others being Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Ubon Ratchathani. The city municipality of Khon Kaen (thesaban nakhon) acts as the governmental seat of the province, as well as the Mueang Khon Kaen district and lies 450 kilometres (280 mi) northeast of Bangkok. Since the late 20th century, urban development has expanded beyond the municipal boundary into neighbouring local government areas, forming a continuous urban area.

Geography and demography Khon Kaen is on the Khorat Plateau, elevation 187 m, and is the center of the mid-northeastern provincial group of Thailand, according to the Thai government. Its coordinates are 16°26′N 102°50′E. The city municipality has a population of 114,459, while the Mueang Khon Kaen district, forming the city's urban area, has a population of 416,988. Khon Kaen therefore ranks as the fourth-largest city in Thailand after Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Korat.

Location Khon Kaen is a city in the northeastern region of Thailand. The city is bisected by Mithraphap Road, also known as the "Friendship Highway", or "Highway 2", the road linking Bangkok to the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge. Highway 230, a modern, multi-lane by-pass enables through-traffic to avoid the city center to the west, and connects to the airport, the new main bus station (BKS3).

Smart City The province of Khon Kaen's 2017 population was 1.8 million with a GDP of 190 billion baht. Its Smart City development plan aims to double its GDP per person to 394,000-493,000 baht by 2029 from an average of about 192,000 baht in 2016. Khon Kaen's plan has been incorporated into Thailand's 12th national social and economic plan (2017–2021). The plan has been driven largely by the Khon Kaen Think Tank (KKTT), a group of involved citizens. The Smart City's signature project is the Khon Kaen Transit System Co (KKTS), founded in 2017. Its plans for a 26 km light rail network from Samran to Tha Phra in the Mueang Khon Kaen District are complete and awaiting Thai Cabinet approval before bidding on the project can begin. The light rail system will feature 18 to 21 stations, take two years to complete, and will cost 15 billion baht. The Land Traffic Management Commission (LTMC), a national think tank for transportation policy, has already blessed the plan.

Culture

Thailand's 2014 EU Film Festival included Khon Kaen, together with Chiang Mai and Bangkok, as host locations. A selection of six films were shown in the city, including the Spanish film The Pelayos, and the Polish film Walesa, Man of Hope.

Administration

The municipality of Khon Kaen was established on 20 August 1935, with an area of 4 square kilometers. It was later upgraded to a city municipality on 24 September 1995. The municipality is coterminous with Nai Mueang Subdistrict in Mueang Khon Kaen district and administers an area of approximately 46 km2. It is divided into 95 communities (chumchon), which are grouped into four administrative zones for the coordination of municipal services and community development. Khon Kaen City Municipality is governed under the Municipalities Act by an elected mayor and the Khon Kaen City Municipal Council. The municipality is responsible for local public services, including urban planning, public works, environmental management, waste management, public health, primary education, parks, and local infrastructure within its jurisdiction.

Urban development

Since the late 20th century, Khon Kaen has experienced rapid urban expansion driven by population growth, regional economic development, the expansion of Khon Kaen University, and improvements to the highway network centred on Mittraphap Road. As a result, the city's built-up area has expanded beyond the administrative boundary of Khon Kaen City Municipality into adjacent municipalities and subdistrict administrative organizations within Mueang Khon Kaen district. The contiguous urban area today extends across several municipalities surrounding the city centre, including Sila, Ban Pet, , Ban Thum, Mueang Kao, Phra Lap, and Tha Phra, while suburban development has also continued into adjacent subdistrict administrative organizations (SAOs: องค์การบริหารส่วนตำบล). Remote sensing studies have identified a substantial increase in built-up land between 1990 and 2015, largely through the conversion of agricultural land. This pattern of outward urban expansion has been accompanied by increasing landscape fragmentation and linear development along major transport corridors, particularly Mittraphap Road.

Climate Khon Kaen's climate is categorized as tropical savanna (Köppen climate classification Aw), with winters that are dry and very warm. Temperatures rise until April, a very hot month, with an average daily maximum of 36.3 °C (97.3 °F). The monsoon season runs from May until October, with heavy rain and somewhat cooler temperatures during the day, although nights remain warm.

Notable people Thaiboy Digital - musician Kaoklai Kaennorsing - Muay Thai fighter Tee Ritson - rugby league player Nadech Kugimiya - actor Tin Sritrai - racing driver Mimi Tao, fashion model

References

External links Khon Kaen travel guide from Wikivoyage Tourism Thailand official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Khon Kaen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Khon Kaen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Khon Kaen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Khon Kaen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Khon Kaen

In research: Khon Kaen appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Khon Kaen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Khon Kaen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cities and towns in Thailand, Isan, Khon Kaen, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Khon Kaen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Khon Kaen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Khon Kaen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Khon Kaen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Khon Kaen in simple terms?

Why does Khon Kaen matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Khon Kaen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Khon Kaen.