Northern Thailand, or more specifically
Lanna
The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...
, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the
Shan Hills
The Shan Hills ( my, ရှမ်းရိုးမ; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous mountain ranges separated ...
in bordering
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
to
Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of
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 b ...
, it has a
tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
, its relatively high elevation and latitude contribute to more pronounced seasonal temperature variation, with cooler winters than the other regions. Historically it is related to the
Lanna Kingdom and its culture.
Geography
North Thailand is bound by the
Salween River
, ''Mae Nam Salawin'' (
, name_etymology =
, image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar
, map ...
in the west and the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...
in the east. The basins of rivers
Ping
Ping may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Ping, a domesticated Chinese duck in the illustrated book '' The Story about Ping'', first published in 1933
* Ping, a minor character in ''Seinfeld'', an NBC sitcom
* Ping, a c ...
,
Wang
Wang may refer to:
Names
* Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname
* Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname
* Titles in Chinese nobility
* A title in Korean nobility
* A title in Mongolian nobility
Places
* Wang River in Thai ...
,
Yom
Yom ( he, יום) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The word means day in both Modern and Biblical Hebrew.
Overview
Although ''yom'' is commonly rendered as day in English translations, the word yom can be used in differ ...
, and
Nan
Nan or NAN may refer to:
Places China
* Nan County, Yiyang, Hunan, China
* Nan Commandery, historical commandery in Hubei, China
Thailand
* Nan Province
** Nan, Thailand, the administrative capital of Nan Province
* Nan River
People Given name
...
, all tributaries of the
Chao 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, the
Thanon Range in the western part and the
Phi Pan Nam in the eastern. Their elevations are generally moderate, a little above for the highest summits. Although formerly forested, many of these mountains are now denuded.
Parallel mountain ranges extend from the
Daen Lao Range (ทิวเขาแดนลาว), in the southern region of the
Shan Hills
The Shan Hills ( my, ရှမ်းရိုးမ; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous mountain ranges separated ...
, in a north–south direction, the
Dawna Range (ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู) forming the western border of Thailand between
Mae Hong Son and the
Salween River
, ''Mae Nam Salawin'' (
, name_etymology =
, image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar
, map ...
. To the east the
Thanon Thong Chai Range (เทือกเขาถนนธงชัย), the
Khun Tan Range (ทิวเขาขุนตาน), the
Phi Pan Nam Range
The Phi Pan Nam Range, also Pee Pan Nam, ( th, ทิวเขาผีปันน้ำ) is a long system of mountain ranges in the eastern half of the Thai highlands. It is mostly in Thailand, although a small section in the northeast is w ...
(ทิวเขาผีปันน้ำ), as well as the western part of the
Luang Prabang Range (ทิวเขาหลวงพระบาง), form the natural region of the Thai highlands together with the former.
These high mountains are incised by steep river valleys and upland areas that border the central plain. A series of rivers, including the
Nan
Nan or NAN may refer to:
Places China
* Nan County, Yiyang, Hunan, China
* Nan Commandery, historical commandery in Hubei, China
Thailand
* Nan Province
** Nan, Thailand, the administrative capital of Nan Province
* Nan River
People Given name
...
,
Ping
Ping may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Ping, a domesticated Chinese duck in the illustrated book '' The Story about Ping'', first published in 1933
* Ping, a minor character in ''Seinfeld'', an NBC sitcom
* Ping, a c ...
,
Wang
Wang may refer to:
Names
* Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname
* Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname
* Titles in Chinese nobility
* A title in Korean nobility
* A title in Mongolian nobility
Places
* Wang River in Thai ...
,
Yom
Yom ( he, יום) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The word means day in both Modern and Biblical Hebrew.
Overview
Although ''yom'' is commonly rendered as day in English translations, the word yom can be used in differ ...
, and
Nan
Nan or NAN may refer to:
Places China
* Nan County, Yiyang, Hunan, China
* Nan Commandery, historical commandery in Hubei, China
Thailand
* Nan Province
** Nan, Thailand, the administrative capital of Nan Province
* Nan River
People Given name
...
, flow southwards through mountain valleys and join to form the
Chao Phraya
The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand.
E ...
in
Nakhon Sawan Province in the central region.
Sirikit Dam
Queen Sirikit ( th, สิริกิติ์; ; ); born ''Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara ( th, สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; ; 12 August 1932) is the queen mother of Thailand. She was Queen of Thailand as the wif ...
is on the Nan River in Uttaradit Province. The northeastern part is drained by rivers flowing into the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...
basin, like the
Kok and
Ing.
The four-region system includes the northern parts of the
central plain as well as some mountainous areas bordering the western and the northeastern limits. The total forest area is or 52.5 percent of this four-region area.
National parks
Within the northern region there are some sixty
national parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
. Chiang Mai Province has nine national parks of which
Doi Inthanon National Park with the country's highest mountain and
Op 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 long.
Doi Phu Kha National Park in province Nan is northern Thailand's largest national park.
Regional classification of northern Thailand
The northern region, as defined by the National Geographical Committee in 1978, consists of nine
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 ou ...
. Geographically the division, in conformance with the six-region system, includes most of the
mountainous
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
natural region
A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate.
From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...
of the
Thai highlands.
In the
four-region classification system, northern Thailand gains the eight upper-central-region provinces:
Kamphaeng Phet
Kamphaeng Phet is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, former capital of the Kamphaeng Phet Province. It covers the complete ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of the Mueang Kamphaeng Phet district. As of 2020, it has a population of 28,817.
...
,
Nakhon Sawan,
Phetchabun
Phetchabun is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Thailand, capital of Phetchabun Province. It covers the ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of the Phetchabun District, along the Pa Sak River. As of 2005, it had a population of 23,823. Phetchabun lies north o ...
,
Phichit,
Phitsanulok
Phitsanulok ( th, พิษณุโลก, ) is an important, historic city in lower northern Thailand and is the capital of Phitsanulok Province. Phitsanulok is home to Naresuan University and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, as well a ...
,
Sukhothai,
Uthai Thani and
Tak, 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".
Economy
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.
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.
Languages
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 of
Uttaradit Province. Central Thai spoken in southern regions of Northern Thailand in the four-region classification system comprise a group of dialects classified as Ne ( th, เหน่อ). Because there are no significant
Thai Chinese
Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin ( th, ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; ''exonym and also domestically''), endonym Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย), are Chinese descenda ...
communities in Northern Thailand, the Krung Thep accent (
prestige dialect) is not commonly found in Northern Thailand.
The main language is
Northern Thai
Kam Mueang ( nod, , กำเมือง) or Northern Thai language ( th, ภาษาไทยถิ่นเหนือ) is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Southwestern Tai language that is closely rela ...
, which is a
southwestern Tai language
spoken in the 9
changwat
The provinces of Thailand are part of the government of Thailand that is divided into 76 provinces ( th, จังหวัด, , ) proper and one special administrative area ( th, เขตปกครองส่วนท้องถิ่� ...
of Northern Thailand. It is spoken by roughly six million people. There are also various hill tribe languages such as
Lolo-Burmese,
Karenic,
Mienic,
Mienic and
Palaungic.
Notes
* There was no population survey in 2020 due to COVID-19.
File:Kayan woman with neck rings.jpg, Karen woman
File:Hmong women at Coc Ly market, Sapa, Vietnam.jpg, Hmong women
File:River Woman (304461401).jpg, River woman
File:Akha Dress.JPG, Akha woman
See also
*
Regional classification of Northern Thailand
References
External links
*
{{coord, 19, N, 99, E, scale:10000000_region:TH, display=title
Regions of Thailand