 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Northern Thailand" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Northern Region ภาคเหนือ | |
|---|---|
   .jpg)  From upper-left to lower-right:Doi Inthanon,Doi Pha Hom Pok,Wat Phra That Doi Suthep,Fourth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge andPhu Chi Fa | |
 Northern Region in Thailand | |
| Largest city | Chiang Mai |
| Provinces | |
| Area | |
• Total | 96,077 km2 (37,096 sq mi) |
| Population (2019)[2] | |
• Total | 12,119,572 |
| • Density | 66/km2 (170/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Khon Muang |
| GDP | |
| • Total | US$41.9 billion (2019) |
| Time zone | UTC+07:00 (ICT) |
| Language | |
Northern Thailand, or more specificallyLan Na, is aregion of Thailand. It is geographically characterized by several mountain ranges, which continue from theShan Hills in borderingMyanmar toLaos, and the river valleys that cut through them. Like most ofThailand, it has atropical savanna climate, but its relatively high elevation and latitude contribute to more pronounced seasonal temperature variation, with cooler winters than the other regions.
Historically, northern Thailand has been linked to theHariphunchai Kingdom, which emerged as a powerful state in the region in the 7th century. This kingdom was related to theDvaravati that existed from the 6th to 11th centuries. The Hariphunchai culture later influenced the development of theLanna Kingdom, which emerged in the 13th century and lasted until the 18th century.[4][5]
North Thailand is bound by theSalween River in the west and theMekong in the east. The basins of riversPing,Wang,Yom, andNan, all tributaries of theChao Phraya River, in the central part run from north to south and are mostly very wide. The basins cut across the mountains of two great ranges, theThanon Range in the western part and thePhi Pan Nam in the eastern. Their elevations are generally moderate, a little above 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) for the highest summits. Although formerly forested, many of these mountains are now denuded.[6]
Parallel mountain ranges extend from theDaen Lao Range, in the southern region of theShan Hills, in a north–south direction, theDawna Range forming the western border of Thailand betweenMae Hong Son and theSalween River.[7] To the east theThanon Thong Chai Range, theKhun Tan Range, thePhi Pan Nam Range, as well as the western part of theLuang Prabang Range, form the natural region of the Thai highlands together with the former.[8]
The high mountains are incised by steep river valleys and upland areas that border the central plain. A series of rivers, including theNan,Ping,Wang,Yom, andNan, flow southwards through mountain valleys and join to form theChao Phraya inNakhon Sawan Province in the central region.Sirikit Dam is on the Nan River in Uttaradit Province. The northeastern part is drained by rivers flowing into theMekong basin, like theKok andIng.
The four-region system includes the northern parts of thecentral plain as well as some mountainous areas bordering the western and the northeastern limits. The total forest area is 90,228 km2 (34,837 sq mi) or 52.5 percent of this four-region area.[1]
Within the northern region there are some sixtynational parks. Chiang Mai Province has nine national parks of whichDoi Inthanon National Park with the country's highest mountain andOp Luang National Park have a scenic river canyon, waterfalls, and caves.Doi Khun Tan National Park, which is located midway between the two provincial capitals of province Lampang and Lamphun, is best known for Thailand's longest railroad tunnel, which is 1,352 metres (4,436 ft) long.Doi Phu Kha National Park in province Nan is northern Thailand's largest national park.
The northern region, as defined by the National Geographical Committee in 1978, consists of nineprovinces. Geographically the division, in conformance with the six-region system, includes most of themountainousnatural region of theThai highlands.
In thefour-region classification system, northern Thailand gains the eight upper-central-region provinces:Kamphaeng Phet,Nakhon Sawan,Phetchabun,Phichit,Phitsanulok,Sukhothai,Uthai Thani andTak, bringing the total to 17 provinces.
In 2019 it is common to subdivide the northern region into: nine provinces of the upper northern region and eight provinces of the lower northern region. All websites of these eight provinces state: "located in the lower northern region".
| Flag | Seal | Province | Capital | DOPA | Population | Area (km2) | Density | ISO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | 1 | Chiang Mai | Chiang Mai | 14 | 1,779,254 | 22,135 | 79 | TH-50 |
 |  | 2 | Lamphun | Lamphun | 54 | 405,075 | 4,478 | 92 | TH-51 |
 |  | 3 | Lampang | Lampang | 53 | 738,316 | 12,488 | 59 | TH-52 |
 |  | 4 | Uttaradit | Uttaradit | 75 | 453,103 | 7,906 | 58 | TH-53 |
 | .svg) | 5 | Phrae | Phrae | 41 | 441,726 | 6,483 | 68 | TH-54 |
 |  | 6 | Nan | Nan | 26 | 478,227 | 12,130 | 40 | TH-55 |
 |  | 7 | Phayao | Phayao | 34 | 472,356 | 6,189 | 76 | TH-56 |
 |  | 8 | Chiang Rai | Chiang Rai | 13 | 1,298,304 | 11,503 | 113 | TH-57 |
 |  | 9 | Mae Hong Son | Mae Hong Son | 45 | 284,138 | 12,765 | 23 | TH-58 |
 |  | 10 | Nakhon Sawan | Nakhon Sawan | 23 | 1,059,887 | 9,526 | 111 | TH-60 |
 |  | 11 | Uthai Thani | Uthai Thani | 76 | 328,618 | 6,647 | 50 | TH-61 |
 |  | 12 | Kamphaeng Phet | Kamphaeng Phet | 5 | 725,867 | 8,512 | 86 | TH-62 |
 |  | 13 | Tak | Tak | 17 | 665,620 | 17,303 | 39 | TH-63 |
 | .svg) | 14 | Sukhothai | Sukhothai | 66 | 595,072 | 6,671 | 89 | TH-64 |
 |  | 15 | Phitsanulok | Phitsanulok | 38 | 865,247 | 10,589 | 82 | TH-65 |
 |  | 16 | Phichit | Phichit | 37 | 536,311 | 4,319 | 124 | TH-66 |
 |  | 17 | Phetchabun | Phetchabun | 40 | 992,451 | 12,340 | 80 | TH-67 |
For FY 2018, Northern Thailand Region had a combined economic output of 1,266 trillion baht (US$40.8 billion), or 7.7 percent of Thailand's GDP. Lamphun province had an economic output of 84.395 billion baht (US$2.7 billion). This equates to a GPP per capita of 211,489 baht (US$6,822), half more than for Chiang Mai province, next in the ranking and double than for Lampang province, which is third in the ranking.[9]
| Rank | Province | GPP (million baht) | Population (x 1000) | GPP per capita (baht) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamphun | 84,395 | 399 | 211,489 |
| 2 | Chiang Mai | 247,831 | 1,805 | 137,316 |
| 3 | Lampang | 71,950 | 714 | 100,709 |
| 4 | Phayao | 37,298 | 383 | 97,306 |
| 5 | Chiang Rai | 110,815 | 1,156 | 95,895 |
| 6 | Uttaradit | 39,190 | 416 | 94,260 |
| 7 | Phrae | 30,403 | 388 | 78,276 |
| 8 | Nan | 33,674 | 445 | 75,676 |
| 9 | Mae Hong Son | 13,728 | 235 | 58,370 |
| Upper provinces | 669,284 | 5,941 | 112,655 |
Kamphaeng Phet province had an economic output of 117.705 billion baht (US$3.8 billion). This amounts to a GPP per capita of 150,783 baht (US$4,864), half more than for Tak province, which is fifth in the ranking.
| Rank | Province | GPP (million baht) | Population (x 1000) | GPP per capita (baht) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kamphaeng Phet | 117,705 | 781 | 150,783 |
| 2 | Nakhon Sawan | 116,147 | 938 | 123,865 |
| 3 | Phitsanulok | 100,286 | 896 | 111,872 |
| 4 | Uthai Thani | 29,879 | 281 | 106,369 |
| 5 | Tak | 52,720 | 532 | 99,026 |
| 6 | Phichit | 48,347 | 518 | 93,265 |
| 7 | Phetchabun | 81,909 | 921 | 88,971 |
| 8 | Sukhothai | 50,384 | 613 | 82,147 |
| Lower provinces | 597,377 | 5,480 | 109,010 |
Central Thai is the sole official language in Thailand. However, in the six-region classification system, it is the second largest native language in Northern Thailand, amounting to roughly two hundred thousand people, found in the lower part ofUttaradit Province. Central Thai spoken in southern regions of Northern Thailand in the four-region classification system comprise a group of dialects classified as Ne.
The main language isNorthern Thai, which is asouthwestern Tai languagespoken in the 9changwat of Northern Thailand. It is spoken by roughly six million people. There are also various hill tribe languages such asLolo-Burmese,Karenic,Mienic,Mienic,Palaungic,Southwestern Mandarin.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
North (Thailand) travel guide from Wikivoyage | Four-region division system |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Six-region division system | |||
