Pua (, ) is a district (''

amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', th, อำเภอ, )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to countie ...

'') in the central part of Nan province, northern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Geography

Neighboring districts are, from the north clockwise, Chiang Klang, Thung Chang, Chaloem Phra Kiat, Bo Kluea, Santi Suk, and Tha Wang Pha.

Doi Phu Kha National Park Doi Phu Kha National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยภูคา) covers a part of 8 districts in the Luang Prabang Range, Nan Province, Northern Thailand and has rich natural resources. It is Northern Thailand's l ...

is Thailand's largest national park, covering several districts of Nan Province. The national park office as well as the 1,980 m high Doi Phu Kha in the

Luang Prabang Range The Luang Prabang Range ( th, ทิวเขาหลวงพระบาง, ), named after Luang Prabang, is a mountain range straddling northwestern Laos and Northern Thailand. Most of the range is located in Sainyabuli Province (Laos), as ...

itself are within Pua District.ดร.กระมล ทองธรรมชาติ และคณะ, สังคมศึกษา ศาสนาและวัฒนธรรม ม.1, สำนักพิมพ์ อักษรเจริญทัศน์ อจท. จำกัด, 2548, หน้า 24-25

Administration

Central administration

Pua is divided into 12 sub-districts (''

tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province (''changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' ...

s''), which are further subdivided into 107 administrative villages (''

muban Muban ( th, หมู่บ้าน; , ) is the lowest administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74,944 administrative mu ...

s''). Missing numbers belong to ''tambon'' which are now part of Bo Kluea District.

Local administration

There are two sub-district municipalities (''

thesaban tambon Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

s'') in the district: * Pua (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Pua and parts of the sub-districts Sathan, Chai Watthana, Wora Nakhon. * Sila Laeng (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Sila Laeng. There are 10 sub-district administrative organizations (SAO) in the district: * Ngaeng (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Ngaeng. * Sathan (Thai: ) consisting of parts of sub-district Sathan. * Sila Phet (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Sila Phet. * Uan (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Uan. * Chai Watthana (Thai: ) consisting of parts of sub-district Chai Watthana. * Chedi Chai (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Chedi Chai. * Phu Kha (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Phu Kha. * Sakat (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Sakat. * Pa Klang (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Pa Klang. * Wora Nakhon (Thai: ) consisting of parts of sub-district Wora Nakhon.

Economy

Pua district is heavily agricultural. It is a significant

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

-growing area. Farmer's zeal to clear more land for maize cultivation has led to deforestation of vast tracts of hillsides, resulting in "bald mountains" (; ). A by-product of the land clearing is smoke from field burning, contributing to the northern region's significant air pollution.

Charoen Pokphand The Charoen Pokphand Group Company, Ltd. (CP) (; ) is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and the largest privately held Royal Warrant holder of the Thai Royal Family. The company describes itself as havi ...

(CP) Group, Thailand's largest agro-industrial and food conglomerate, and the leading purchaser of Pua District maize, in March 2016 announced an "agricultural social enterprise" to steer district villagers away from maize farming. CP Group has incurred criticism for the way it purchases maize harvests for animal feed from farmers in Nan and other provinces. Suphachai Chearavanont, vice-chairman of CP Group, said that corn planters will be encouraged to grow cash crops such as coffee, which requires less farmland and makes a higher profit than maize. Not only will this address the bald-mountain problem, he said, but it will also help reduce the spring haze in the north which is caused by slash-and-burn practices to prepare land for the next maize season. Mr Suphachai said crops like coffee take about three-and-a-half years to show a yield, but stated that CP Group would stand by farmers and provide assistance in the meantime.

Gallery

File:2013 Wat Rong Ngae 01.jpg, Wat Rong Ngae File:2014 1121 Wat Ban Ton Laeng 01.JPG, Wat Ban Ton Laeng File:Wat Phra That Bueng Sakat 2014 a.jpg, Wat Phra That Bueng Sakat File:Nan z doi phuka 2006 1003.jpg, Road number 1256 on a ridge near Doi Phu Kha File:2013 Pua countryside.jpg, Countryside east of Pua File:Doi Phu Kha mountains.jpg, The mountains of Doi Phu Kha National Park

References

External links

amphoe.com
(Thai) {{Amphoe Nan

Pua PUA or Pua Science and technology * Potentially unwanted application, a type of privacy-invasive software * Private Use Areas, in Unicode * Pua (spider), ''Pua'', a genus of spider in the family Anapidae * Pua Aloalo, the state flower of Hawaii * ...