Bangkok population number?

[ncr]

Hi all,

How many inhabitants would you estimate does our lovely City of Angels really have? Official numbers state something around 6.4 million, which is, frankly, rather ridiculous. But then you have to consider there are probably huge numbers of unregistered people living here. So, what is your best guess?

[Wisarut]

Khun NCR,

As far as I concern, the official census state that BKK Metro area
has 5.5 million citizens while Samut Prakarn has 1.2 million people,
Nonthaburi 0.8 million people ... people beyond these 3 provinces are not considered a part of Bangkokians .... even though many
of those people still commute between Bangkok and other provinces beyond Samut Prakan and Nonthaburi ....

Well, there are about 2-3 million people from Isan region scattering around Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samutprakarn
as well as another 1 million Isan people in neighbor province (Pathumthani, Nakhonpathom, Samut Sakhon, Nakhon Pathom, and Chachoengsao) . Those Isan folks have become virtually permanent Bangkokians even though their names are still registered in 19 Isan provinces.

Furthermore, there are 1 million legal and Illegal immigrants
from Burma, Cambodians and Laos scatterign around BKK and neighbours provinces ... Burmese fishermen have already set up an autonomous village in Mahachai ...

Just the official counts in these 3 provinces (Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and Samut Prakarn) alone is about 7.5 million citizens
but the unofficial account would reach 10 million Bangkokians
in 3 provinces ...

[Kiku99]

yeah, i am sure that there are more than 10 million people living in Bangkok. But the official number seems to be low because many people still have their name on other provinces.

Hmm...I actually didn't know that they also include Samut Prakan and Nonthaburi people as Bangkokian. Because if they do, what about Pathum Thani. It's just right next to Bangkok and so many universities and factories are located in the province and people often commute between the two cities. ?

I just wish that Bangkok can be a bit more decentralized. Too many good things in Bangkok, but not enough in other provinces.

[ncr]

The official population numbers from the year 2000 housing census can be found on the National Statistical Office's website (www.nso.go.th) at

http://www.nso.go.th/pop2000/finalrep/bangkok1.pdf

The document starts with some general figures, then continues with a detailed listing on pages 4 to 9 - pick your district!

(Did you know that Thonburi is biggest at 210,653 and Samphanthawong [roughly corresponds to "Chinatown"] is smallest at just 42,255 people?)

[Wisarut]

Khun Kiku99,

The reaspoin I put those who live in Samut Prakarn and Nonthaburi as "Bangkokians" is that some agencies (MEA and MWA) has a responsibility to distribute electricity and water
to BKK, Nonthaburi and Samutprakarn ...

The electricities and water supply for those in Samut Sakhon, Samut songkram, Nakhon Pathom, Pathumthani and Chachoengsao are doen by PEA and PWA ... whcih are outside the metropolitan area though ...

For the case of 2000 Census, the results show that:

BKK Metropolitan Area -> 6.3551 million - 100% Urban
Nonthaburi -> 0.8166 million - 66.1% Urban
Samut Prakarn -> 1.2084 million - 63.1% Urban
Pathumthani -> 0.6776 million - 46.8% Urban
Samut Sakhon -> 0.4663 million - 42% Urban


All the 5 provinces can be combined to form
"Greater Bangkok Area" -> the present form of
Monthon Krungthep (Bangkok Circle)

Chacheongsao is disqualified since it was in Prachinburi Circle
Nakhon Pathom and Samut Songkram were disqualified since
they were in Nakhon Chaisri Circle.

[ncr]

Khun Wisarut,

I agree with you that one could/should include Nonthaburi, Samut Prakarn, Pathum Thani, or even Samut Sakhon, in a Greater Bangkok Region. They have grown to become one big agglomeration and it's more than hard to draw a dividing line between them and Bangkok itself. And yes, Chachoengsao, Nakhon Pathom and Samut Songkhram are a different matter for sure. They aren't as dense/urban as the others, anyway.

Of course that is also a common problem in determining a city's size, apart from the difficulty of counting and the existence of specific national definitions (which makes it hard to compare figures on an international scale): where to draw the borderline, quite simply?

So, based on what you posted, if we sum up Bangkok and the two obvious cases - Nonthaburi and Samut Prakarn - , we get 8.38 million. When we still like to add Pathum Thani and Samut Sakhon to that, we end up with 9.52 million.

But when starting this thread I meant to focus on the actual city. What I actually wanted to say is: I'd estimate that even without the addition of adjoining provinces, Bangkok proper could well measure around 9 to 10 million people. Or don't you think so? I suspect the official figures could possibly be underestimated by a factor of up to 1.5, which would result in 9.5 million (but then, how to prove it?)

You see, in comparison to this giant, the population of Nonthaburi, for example, - and the question whether to include it or not - doesn't really matter that much anymore.....

[Wisarut]

Khun NCR,

Even we exclude Samut Prakarn and Nonthaburi out of the
figure, we'll have to count on those 2-3 million Isan folks
as well as the 1 million illegal immegrants in BMA section.
Therfore, 10 milllion people in Bangkok Metropolitan Area
is possible ...

If we count Nonthaburi and Samut Prakarn into
the figure, about 5 million Isan folks and 2 million
illegal immegrants will have to be counts
(all 3 provinces combined).... in addition
to the 2 million official citizen of Samut Prakarn and
Nonthaburi. Thus, 15 million people is possible.