Northern Thailand

North Thailand is bound by the Salween River in the west and the Mekong in the east. The basins of rivers Ping, Wang, Yom, and Nan, 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 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) for the highest summits. Although formerly forested, many of these mountains are now denuded.[5]

Parallel mountain ranges extend from the Daen Lao Range (ทิวเขาแดนลาว), in the southern region of the Shan Hills, in a north–south direction, the Dawna Range (ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู) forming the western border of Thailand between Mae Hong Son and the Salween River.[6] To the east the Thanon Thong Chai Range (เทือกเขาถนนธงชัย), the Khun Tan Range (ทิวเขาขุนตาน), the Phi Pan Nam Range (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.[7]

These high mountains are incised by steep river valleys and upland areas that border the central plain. A series of rivers, including the Nan, Ping, Wang, Yom, and Nan, flow southwards through mountain valleys and join to form the Chao Phraya in Nakhon Sawan Province in the central region. Sirikit Dam is on the Nan River in Uttaradit Province. The northeastern part is drained by rivers flowing into the Mekong 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 90,228 km² (34,837 sq mi) or 52.5 percent of this four-region area.[1]

Map of Thailand highlighting the provinces of the northern region in the six-region system

Northern Thailand according to the four-region grouping system

The northern region, as defined by the National Geographical Committee in 1978, consists of nine provinces. Geographically the division, in conformance with the six-region system, includes most of the mountainous natural region of the Thai highlands.

In the four-region classification system, northern Thailand gains the eight upper-central-region provinces: Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Phetchabun, Phichit, Phitsanulok, 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".

Upper and Lower Northern provinces

Flag	Seal		Province	Capital	DOPA	Population	Area (km2)	Density	ISO
		1	Chiang Mai	Chiang Mai	14	1,779,254	22,135	79	TH-50
		2	Lamphun	Lamphun	54	405,075	4,478	92	TH-51
		3	Lampang	Lampang	53	738,316	12,488	59	TH-52
		4	Uttaradit	Uttaradit	75	453,103	7,906	58	TH-53
		5	Phrae	Phrae	41	441,726	6,483	68	TH-54
		6	Nan	Nan	26	478,227	12,130	40	TH-55
		7	Phayao	Phayao	34	472,356	6,189	76	TH-56
		8	Chiang Rai	Chiang Rai	13	1,298,304	11,503	113	TH-57
		9	Mae Hong Son	Mae Hong Son	45	284,138	12,765	23	TH-58
		10	Nakhon Sawan	Nakhon Sawan	23	1,059,887	9,526	111	TH-60
		11	Uthai Thani	Uthai Thani	76	328,618	6,647	50	TH-61
		12	Kamphaeng Phet	Kamphaeng Phet	5	725,867	8,5123	86	TH-62
		13	Tak	Tak	17	665,620	17,303	39	TH-63
		14	Sukhothai	Sukhothai	66	595,072	6,671	89	TH-64
		15	Phitsanulok	Phitsanulok	38	865,247	10,589	82	TH-65
		16	Phichit	Phichit	37	536,311	4,319	124	TH-66
		17	Phetchabun	Phetchabun	40	992,451	12,340	80	TH-67

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.[8]

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.

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 (Thai: เหน่อ). Because there are no significant Thai Chinese communities in Northern Thailand, the Krung Thep accent (prestige dialect) is not commonly found in Northern Thailand.

The main language is Northern Thai, which is a southwestern Tai language spoken in the 9 changwat 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, Palaungic, Southwestern Mandarin.

• There was no population survey in 2020 due to COVID-19.

• Ethnic communities in northern Thailand
• 
  Kayan woman
• 
  Hmong women
• 
  River woman
• 
  Akha woman

• Regional classification of Northern Thailand

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northern Thailand.

• North (Thailand) travel guide from Wikivoyage

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