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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

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.

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	20,107.0	88	TH-50
		2	Lamphun	Lamphun	54	405,075	4,505.9	90	TH-51
		3	Lampang	Lampang	53	738,316	12,534.0	59	TH-52
		4	Uttaradit	Uttaradit	75	453,103	7,838.6	58	TH-53
		5	Phrae	Phrae	41	441,726	6,538.6	68	TH-54
		6	Nan	Nan	26	478,227	11,472.1	42	TH-55
		7	Phayao	Phayao	34	472,356	6,335.1	75	TH-56
		8	Chiang Rai	Chiang Rai	13	1,298,304	11,678.4	111	TH-57
		9	Mae Hong Son	Mae Hong Son	45	284,138	14,542.0	20	TH-58
		10	Nakhon Sawan	Nakhon Sawan	23	1,059,887	9,597.7	110	TH-60
		11	Uthai Thani	Uthai Thani	76	328,618	6,730.3	49	TH-61
		12	Kamphaeng Phet	Kamphaeng Phet	5	725,867	8,607.3	85	TH-62
		13	Tak	Tak	17	665,620	16,406.6	41	TH-63
		14	Sukhothai	Sukhothai	66	595,072	6,596.1	90	TH-64
		15	Phitsanulok	Phitsanulok	38	865,247	10,815.9	80	TH-65
		16	Phichit	Phichit	37	536,311	4,531.0	118	TH-66
		17	Phetchabun	Phetchabun	40	992,451	12,668.4	78	TH-67

• Populations as of 31 December 2019.[6]
• There was no population survey in 2020 due to Covid-19.
• Reports (data) from Thai government are "not copyrightable" (Public Domain), Copyright Act 2537 (1994), section 7.

• Ethnic communities in northern Thailand
• 
  Karen 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