Phrae (; ) is a 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 ...

'') in 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 ...

, capital of Phrae Province. The town occupies ''

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'' ...

'' Nai Wiang of Mueang Phrae District. It has an area of nine kilometres² and a population of 17,971 (2005). Phrae is 555 km north of Bangkok by road. Yom River in Phrae Province

Geography

Phrae lies on the

Yom River The Yom River ( th, แม่น้ำยม, , ) is a river in Thailand. It is the main tributary of the Nan River (which itself is a tributary of the Chao Phraya River). The Yom River has its source in the Phi Pan Nam Range in Pong District, ...

, at an elevation of . The town is mostly built on the east side of the river, but some outlying parts are built on the west side of the river and are connected to the main part by bridges. There are hills both to the east and west of the town; the

Phlueng 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 ...

to the east are higher, reaching about above sea level, whereas 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 ...

to the west are about above sea level. At

Phae Muang Phi Phae Mueang Phi ( th, แพะเมืองผี, ) is a place with original rock formations in the Phi Pan Nam Range, Thailand. It is about eight kilometres northeast of Phrae town in Mueang Phrae District, Phrae Province. Named after the ...

, a few kilometres north of Phrae, there is an impressive landscape of

mushroom rocks A mushroom rock, also called rock pedestal, or a pedestal rock, is a naturally occurring rock whose shape, as its name implies, resembles a mushroom. The rocks are deformed in a number of different ways: by erosion and weathering, glacial action ...

and distinctive pillars shaped by natural erosive action.

Climate

Phrae 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 ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Aw''). Winters are dry and warm. Temperatures rise until April, which is very hot with the average daily maximum at . The

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season runs from May through October, with heavy rain and somewhat cooler temperatures during the day, although nights remain warm.

Culture

Wat Chorm Sawan and Wat Phra That Cho Hae are two important

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

s in Phrae. The latter is on a hill, nine km away from the town center.

Transportation

The main road through Phrae is Route 101, which begins in

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 ...

to the north, passes through Phrae, and leads to Sawankhalok, Sukhothai, and finally

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. ...

Phrae Airport Phrae Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานแพร่) is an airport serving Phrae, a town in the Phrae Province of Thailand. History Phrae Airport was built during World War 2 with a gravel runway. After the war ended, the air ...

is a small airport in Mueang Mo, on the east side of town. It handles only domestic flights from Don Mueang (DMK).

References

External links

*{{Wikivoyage-inline, Phrae Populated places in Phrae province Cities and towns in Thailand