Nong Bua Lamphu ( th, หนองบัวลำภู, , ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

(''changwat'') lies in upper northeastern Thailand also called

Isan Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...

. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise)

Udon Thani Udon Thani ( th, อุดรธานี, ) is a city in Isan (Northeast Thailand), the capital of Udon Thani Province and with a population of approximately 430,000 in its urban area the 7th largest city in the country. The city municipality ...

Khon Kaen Khon Kaen ( th, ขอนแก่น, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, also known as the "big four of Isan", the others being Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Ubon Ratchathani. It is the capital of Khon Kaen province and ...

, and

Loei Loei (; ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeast Thailand. Loei covers the whole ''tambon'' of Mueang Loei district and is the capital of Loei province. In 2017, Loei had a population of 21,013. Loei lies 545 km north-northeast of B ...

Geography

Nong Bua Lamphu is in the heart of the

Khorat Plateau The Khorat Plateau ( th, ที่ราบสูงโคราช) is a plateau in the northeastern Thai region of Isan. The plateau forms a natural region, named after the short form of Nakhon Ratchasima, a historical barrier controlling access ...

. The total forest area is , or 11.7 percent of the area of the province.

National parks

There is one national park and one national park (preparation), along with five other national parks, make up region 10 (Udon Thani) of Thailand's protected areas. * Phu Kao–Phu Phan Kham National Park, * Phu Hin Chom That–Phu Phra Bat National Park,

Paleontological remains

Chalawan ''Krai Thong'' or ''Kraithong'' ( th, ไกรทอง, ) is a Thai folktale, originating from Phichit Province. It tells the story of Chalawan, a crocodile lord who abducts a daughter of a wealthy Phichit man, and Kraithong, a merchant from No ...

'', an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of crocodylin, is known solely from its

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

collected in the early-1980s from a road-cut near the town of

Nong Bua Lam Phu Nong Bua Lam Phu () is a town in Thailand, capital of Nong Bua Lamphu Province. It is on the central eastern border of the province, approximately 45 kilometers south-west of the city of Udon Thani and from there, accessed by route 210. The town l ...

, in the upper part of the Phu Kradung Formation. This single specimen is the most well preserved vertebrate fossil that has been found from the formation. It contains a single species, ''Chalawan thailandicus''.

History

Nong Bua Lam Phu is famous as the spot where in the 16th century

Naresuan King Naresuan the Great (( th, สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช, , ) or Sanphet II ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๒), ( my , နရဲစွမ် (သို့) ဗြနရာဇ်); 1555/1556 – ...

, the king-liberator of Siam, came to learn of the outcome of a war between the Lao and Burmese in the area of

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

. This place was long a Lao

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. During the existence of the Lao Kingdom of

Lan Xang existed as a unified kingdom from 1353 to 1707. For three and a half centuries, Lan Xang was one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The meaning of the kingdom's name alludes to the power of the kingship and formidable war machine of the ea ...

(1354–1707), Nong Bua Lam Phu was traditionally given to the crown prince ( Uparat) to rule. It was the birthplace of the principal wife of Chao Siribunyasan (), the last independent king of Vientiane. In 1827, Chao Anou of

designated Phagna Narin to be governor at the onset of the

Laotian Rebellion __NOTOC__ Lao may refer to: Laos * Something of, from, or related to Laos, a country in Southeast Asia * Lao people (people from Laos, or of Lao descent) * The Lao language * Lao script, the writing system used to write the Lao language ** Lao ...

of 1826–1828. Under Thai rule, the province originally consisted of five

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 ...

(districts) in

Udon Thani province Udon Thani province ( th, อุดรธานี, ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat'') which lies in Isan#Administrative divisions, upper northeastern Thailand, also called Isan. It is bordered by the provinces of Nong K ...

. In 1993 Udon was decentralized and a separate province of Nong Bua Lam Phu was created. It is one of the newest provinces of Thailand, together with Amnat Charoen province,

Sa Kaeo province Sa Kaeo ( th, สระแก้ว, ) is one of the 76 provinces (''changwat'') and lies in eastern Thailand about 200 km from Bangkok. Neighboring provinces are (from south clockwise) Chanthaburi, Chachoengsao, Prachinburi, Nakhon Ratcha ...

, and

Bueng Kan province Bueng Kan ( th, บึงกาฬ, , ), also spelled Bung Kan, is the 76th province (''changwat'') of Thailand, established by the Act Establishing Changwat Bueng Kan, BE 2554 (2011) on 23 March 2011. The province, consisting of the districts ...

. On 6 October 2022, a mass murder occurred at and near a daycare center in Uthai Sawan, a town located in the province. A total of 36 people were killed, and 10 others were injured, before the attacker committed suicide. It was the deadliest mass murder by a single perpetrator in the modern history of Thailand.

Economy

Nong Bua Lamphu is the poorest province in Thailand according to the ''Bangkok Post''. Incomes, as of 2018, average 41,000 baht annually. The province is largely agricultural. Sticky rice has long been the area's traditional crop, although there has been a shift to sugarcane due to low rice prices and sugarcane's resistance to flooding. In 2016, more than one third of the available agricultural land in Nong Bua Lamphu was used for sugarcane plantations. According to the provincial Office of Agricultural Economics, sugarcane cultivation is expected to rise. In contrast, the area devoted to rice farming shrunk by 73 percent from 2000 to 2016.

Symbols

Administrative divisions

Provincial government

The province is divided into six districts (''

''). The districts are further divided into 59 subdistricts (''

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'' ...

'') and 636 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 ...

'').

Local government

As of 26 November 2019 there are: one Nong Bua Lamphu Provincial Administration Organisation (') and 24 municipal (''thesaban'') areas in the province. Nong Bua Lamphu has town (''

thesaban mueang 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 ...

'') status. Further 23 subdistrict 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 ...

''). The non-municipal areas are administered by 43 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations – SAO (''ongkan borihan suan tambon'').

Human achievement index 2017

Since 2003, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at the sub-national level using the

Human Achievement Index Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

(HAI), a composite index covering eight key areas of human development. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.

References

External links

Province page from the Tourist Authority of Thailand
Golden Jubilee Network province guide
currently empty-->
Website of province
(Thai only)

{{Coord, 17, 10, N, 102, 23, E, region:TH_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki, display=title Isan Provinces of Thailand