Phrae แพร่ ᨻᩯᩖ᩵ | |
|---|---|
| จังหวัดแพร่ ·ᨧᩢ᩠ᨦᩉ᩠ᩅᩢᨻᩯᩖ᩵ | |
 Phae Mueang Phi (Ghost Canyon) - Thailand's "Grand Canyon" near Phrae | |
 Flag .svg) Seal | |
| Mottoes: หม้อห้อมไม้สัก ถิ่นรักพระลอ ช่อแฮศรีเมือง ลือเลื่องแพะเมืองผี คนแพร่นี้ใจงาม ("Mo hom fabric and teak wood. Place ofPhra Lo's love. Home of (Phra That) Cho Hae. Famed Phae Mueang Phi. The generous people of Phrae.") | |
 Map of Thailand highlighting Phrae province | |
| Country | Thailand |
| Capital | Phrae |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Somchai Lertprasitthiphan |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,483 km2 (2,503 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 32nd |
| Population (2024)[2] | |
• Total |  421,745 |
| • Rank | 62nd |
| • Density | 65/km2 (170/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 67th |
| Human Achievement Index | |
| • HAI (2022) | 0.6552 "somewhat high" Ranked 19th |
| GDP | |
| • Total | baht 28 billion (US$1.0 billion) (2019) |
| Time zone | UTC+7 (ICT) |
| Postal code | 54xxx |
| Calling code | 054 |
| ISO 3166 code | TH-54 |
| Website | phrae |
Phrae Provincial Administrative Organization องค์การบริหารส่วนจังหวัดแพร่ | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of Phrae Provincial Administrative Organization | |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local administrative divisions |
| • Body | Phrae Provincial Administrative Organization |
| • President | Anuwat Wongwan |
| Website | phraepao |
| Phrae province | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Thai name | |
| Thai | แพร่ |
| RTGS | Phrae |
| Northern Thai name | |
| Northern Thai | ᨻᩯᩖ᩵ (Phae) |
Phrae (Thai:แพร่,pronounced[pʰrɛ̂ː];Northern Thai: ᨻᩯᩖ᩵,pronounced[pɛ̂ː]) is one of Thailand's seventy-sixProvinces (changwat) and lies inupper northern Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (clockwise from north)Phayao,Nan,Uttaradit,Sukhothai, andLampang.
Phrae is in the valley of theYom River. ThePhi Pan Nam Range runs across the province from north to south in the west. ThePhlueng Range is in the east. The total forest area is 4,204 km2 (1,623 sq mi) or 64.8 percent of provincial area.[1]
There are four national parks, of which three inregion 13 (Phrae) and Lam Nam Nan inregion 11 (Phitsanulok), they are the protected areas in Phrae province.[5] (Visitors in fiscal year 2024)[6]
| Lam Nam Nan National Park | 999 km2 (386 sq mi) | (37,174) |
| Mae Yom National Park | 455 km2 (176 sq mi) | (5,445) |
| Wiang Kosai National Park | 410 km2 (160 sq mi) | (16,616) |
| Doi Pha Klong National Park | 189 km2 (73 sq mi) | (2,553) |
There are two wildlife sanctuaries inregion 13 (Phrae) and they are the protected areas in Phrae province.
| Lam Nam Nan Fang Khwa Wildlife Sanctuary | 235 km2 (91 sq mi) |
| Doi Luang Wildlife Sanctuary | 97 km2 (37 sq mi) |
| Overview protected areas of Phrae | ||||||||||||||||
|
The history of Phrae dates back to theHaripunchai kingdom of theMon. It became part ofLan Na in 1443, when KingTilokaraj was on an expedition to capture Nan.
Provincial seal: According to legend the two cities of Phrae and Nan were once ruled by brothers. When they met to divide the land between them the one from Phrae rode on a horse, the one from Nan on a buffalo to the meeting point on top of a mountain. Hence Phrae uses a horse in their seal, while Nan uses a buffalo. When the provincial government proposed the seal in 1940, the Fine Arts Department suggested adding a historic building to the seal in addition to the horse, thus it now has thestupa of Phra Tat Cho Hae on the back of the horse. This temple is about nine kilometers southeast of the city of Phrae.[7]
The provincial flower andtree is theBurmese Almondwood (Chukrasia tabularis). The provincial fish isblack sharkminnow (Labeo chrysophekadion).
The main road through Phrae is Route 101, which begins inNan to the north, passes through Phrae, and leads toSawankhalok,Sukhothai, and finallyKamphaeng Phet.
Phrae Airport is a small airport in Mueang Mo, on the east side of town. It handles only domestic flights fromDon Mueang (DMK).[8]
The provincial railway station isDen Chai in Den Chai District, 24 km (14.9 mi) fromPhrae town, since the town of Phrae does not have a rail to reach.[9]
Wiang Kosai National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติเวียงโกศัย) contains two waterfalls, theMae Koeng Luang (น้ำตกแม่เกิ๋งหลวง), and theMae Koeng Noi (น้ำตกแม่เกิ๋งน้อย). Streams from the falls flow into the Yom River.[10]Tham Pha Nang Khoi Cave (ถ้ำผานางคอย). At the end of the cave is a stalagmite shaped like a woman holding a small child. In front of the Nang Koi (waiting woman) stone is a heart-shaped stalactite. They are the source of the legend of the love of a woman who waited for her lover until she turned to stone.[11]
Mae Yom National Park[12] and well-knownPhae Mueang Phi Forest Park.
In addition, Phrae is also a province full of historic buildings. These buildings, all over 100 years old, were built in theRattanakosin period or being used in the wood trading business that was once prosperous in the past.[13]
The province is divided into eight districts (amphoes). These are further divided into 78 subdistricts (tambons) and 645 villages (mubans).
As of 26 November 2019 there are:[14] one Phrae Provincial Administration Organisation (ongkan borihan suan changwat) and 26 municipal (thesaban) areas in the province. Phrae has town (thesaban mueang) status. Further 25 subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambon). The non-municipal areas are administered by 57 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations - SAO (ongkan borihan suan tambon).
| Health | Education | Employment | Income |
 |  |  |  |
| 75 | 18 | 57 | 48 |
| Housing | Family | Transport | Participation |
 |  |  | .png) |
| 18 | 34 | 16 | 5 |
| Province Phrae, with an HAI 2022 value of 0.6552 is "somewhat high", occupies place 19 in the ranking. | |||
Since 2003, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at sub-national level using theHuman achievement index (HAI), a composite index covering all the eight key areas of human development. National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.[3]
| Rank | Classification |
| 1–13 | "High" |
| 14–29 | "Somewhat high" |
| 30–45 | "Average" |
| 46–61 | "Somewhat low" |
| 62–77 | "Low" |
| Map with provinces and HAI 2022 rankings |
 |
, year 2024, provincial level, Excel File, no.54
, page 54
, 39 Phrae, 1 PAO, 1 Town mun., 25 Subdistrict mun., 57 SAO.
Phrae travel guide from Wikivoyage
Places adjacent to Phrae province | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
18°8′42″N100°8′26″E / 18.14500°N 100.14056°E /18.14500; 100.14056
