Lampang province

Lampang (Thai: ลำปาง, pronounced [lām.pāːŋ]; Northern Thai: ᩃᩣᩴᨻᩣ᩠ᨦ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (changwat), lies in upper northern Thailand. The old name of Lampang was Khelang Nakhon.

Lampang province
"Lampang" in Thai language (top) and
Northern Thai with Tai Tham script (bottom)
Thai name
Thaiลำปาง
RTGSLampang
Northern Thai name
Northern Thaiᩃᩣᩴᨻᩣ᩠ᨦ
(Lam phuang)

Lampang
ลำปาง
ᩃᩣᩴᨻᩣ᩠ᨦ
Province
จังหวัดลำปาง · ᨧᩢ᩠ᨦᩉ᩠ᩅᩢᨯᩃᩣᩴᨻᩣ᩠ᨦ
From left to right, top to bottom : Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, Chae Son National Park, Wat Sri Chum, Wat Phra Kaeo Don Tao, Wang River, The Thai Elephant Conservation Center
Flag of Lampang
Flag
Official seal of Lampang
Seal
Nickname(s): 
Khelang Nakhon
Kukuta Nakhon
(white rooster city)
Mueang Rot Ma
(horse carriage city)
Map of Thailand highlighting Lampang province
Map of Thailand highlighting Lampang province
CountryThailand
CapitalLampang
Government
 • GovernorSithichai Jindaluang
(since October 2021)
Area
[1]
 • Total12,488 km2 (4,822 sq mi)
 • RankRanked 9th
Population
 (2019)[2]
 • Total738,316
 • RankRanked 33rd
 • Density59/km2 (150/sq mi)
  • RankRanked 70th
Human Achievement Index
[3]
 • HAI (2017)0.6450 "high"
Ranked 9th
Time zoneUTC+7 (ICT)
Postal code
52xxx
Calling code054
ISO 3166 codeTH-52
Vehicle registrationลำปาง
Websitewww.lampang.go.th

Geography

Lampang is in the broad river valley of the Wang River, surrounded by mountains. In Mae Mo district lignite is found and mined in open pits. To the north of the province is the 1,697-metre (5,568 ft) high Doi Luang.

Within the province are Chae Son and Doi Khun Tan National Parks in the Khun Tan Range, as well as Tham Pha Thai, Doi Luang National Park, and the Huai Tak Teak Biosphere Reserve in the Phi Pan Nam Range.[4] The total forest area is 8,747 km2 (3,377 sq mi) or 70 percent of provincial area.[1]

National parks

There are a total of eight national parks, six of which are in region 13 (Lampang branch), Doi Luang in region 15 (Chiang Mai), and Wiang Kosai in region 13 (Phrae) of Thailand's protected areas.

Wildlife sanctuaries

There are two wildlife sanctuaries, Doi Pha Muang in region 13 (Lampang branch) and Tham Chao Ram in region 14 (Tak) of Thailand's protected areas.

  • Doi Pha Muang Wildlife Sanctuary, 687 km2 (265 sq mi)[7]: 20 
  • Tham Chao Ram Wildlife Sanctuary, 341 km2 (132 sq mi)[7]: 21 

History

Starting in the 7th century Lampang was part of the Dvaravati period Hariphunchai Kingdom of the Mon. In the 11th century the Khmer Empire occupied the Lampang area, but it was King Mengrai of Lanna who incorporated the complete Haripunchai Kingdom into his kingdom in 1292. Lampang or Nakhon Lampang or Lakhon, was under Burmese rule after the fall of Lanna Kingdom from the 16th century to 18th century. During the uprising against Burmese rule by Siam's new kings in the late-18th century, a local Lampang leader became Siam's ally. After the victory, the leader, Kawila, was named the ruler of Chiang Mai, the former center of Lanna, while his relative ruled Lampang. The city continues to be one of the important economic and political centers in the north. Lampang became a province of Thailand in 1892.[8]

Transport

The city is an important highway hub, with a four lane highway link to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, as well as a major highway to Phrae and the eastern Lanna provinces. Lampang is roughly a 1.5 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai. Lampang is a stop for the Chiang Mai-bound train, approximately 10 hours from Bangkok.

Lampang Airport is served by Bangkok Airways (three flights daily to Suvarnabhumi Airport) and Nok air (four flights daily to Don Mueang) (Oct 2015).

Health

The main hospital of Lampang is Lampang Hospital, operated by the Ministry of Public Health.

Tourism

Lampang province is not visited by many tourists, only about 900,000 per year, most of them passing through. In early 2019, the provincial governor rolled out a program called "Lampang: Dream Destination" to raise the number of visitors to two million within two years.[9]

Economy
Rice harvest in Wang Nuea District with the mountains of the Phi Pan Nam Range in the distance

Lampang is known for the production of ceramic goods and its mining operations. A great deal of ball clay, china stone, and lignite are extracted from the surrounding mountains. There are more than 200 ceramic factories in and around Mueang Lampang District. Most are small- to medium-sized operations producing novelties (plant pots, dolls), tableware, and building materials (tiles, railings). The largest coal fired power plant in Southeast Asia[10] is in Mae Mo District near the lignite mining area. The plant uses lignite as fuel. The largest concrete plant is also north of Mueang Lampang. This is also powered by lignite. Limestone is another abundant rock mined in Lampang. Agriculturally, the province produces rice and pineapples.

Symbols

The provincial seal shows a white rooster inside the entrance to the Phra That Lampang Luang Temple. According to local legend, Buddha visited the province. The god Indra worried that the people would not wake up by themselves to show respect to Buddha, and therefore woke them by transforming himself into a white rooster.

The provincial flower is the Heliconia (Heliconia sp.), and the provincial tree is the Indian Elm (Holoptelea integrifolia). According to the legend, this tree was planted in the temple during Buddha's visit.

Administrative divisions
Map of 13 districts

Provincial government

The province is divided into 13 districts (amphoes). These are further divided into 100 subdistricts (tambons) and 855 villages (mubans).

  1. Mueang Lampang
  2. Mae Mo
  3. Ko Kha
  4. Soem Ngam
  5. Ngao
  6. Chae Hom
  7. Wang Nuea
  1. Thoen
  2. Mae Phrik
  3. Mae Tha
  4. Sop Prap
  5. Hang Chat
  6. Mueang Pan

Local government

As of 26 November 2019 there are:[11] one Lampang Provincial Administration Organisation (ongkan borihan suan changwat) and 42 municipal (thesaban) areas in the province. Lampang has city (thesaban nakhon) status. Khelang Nakhon, Lom Raet and Phichai have town (thesaban mueang) status. Further 38 subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambon). The non-municipal areas are administered by 60 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations - SAO (ongkan borihan suan tambon).[2]

Human achievement index 2017
Health Education Employment Income
69 13 35 48
Housing Family Transport Participation
33 27 22 4
Province Lampang, with an HAI 2017 value of 0.6450 is "high", occupies place 9 in the ranking.

Since 2003, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at sub-national level using the Human achievement index (HAI), a composite index covering all the eight key areas of human development. National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.[3]

RankClassification
  1 - 15"high"
16 - 30"somewhat high"
31 - 45"average"
45 - 60"somewhat low"
61 - 77"low"

References
  1. "ตารางที่ 2 พี้นที่ป่าไม้ แยกรายจังหวัด พ.ศ.2562" [Table 2 Forest area Separate province year 2019]. Royal Forest Department (in Thai). 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2021, information, Forest statistics Year 2019, Thailand boundary from Department of Provincial Administration in 2013{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. รายงานสถิติจำนวนประชากรและบ้านประจำปี พ.ส.2562 [Statistics, population and house statistics for the year 2019]. Registration Office Department of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior. stat.bora.dopa.go.th (in Thai). 31 December 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. Human achievement index 2017 by National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), pages 1-40, maps 1-9, retrieved 14 September 2019, ISBN 978-974-9769-33-1
  4. UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory - Huai Tak Teak Biosphere Reserve
  5. "ข้อมูลพื้นที่อุทยานแห่งชาติ (เตรียมการ) 22 แห่ง" [Information of 22 National Parks Areas (Preparation)]. Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (in Thai). December 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  6. "ข้อมูลพื้นที่อุทยานแห่งชาติ ที่ประกาศในราชกิจจานุบกษา 133 แห่ง" [National Park Area Information published in the 133 Government Gazettes]. Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (in Thai). December 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  7. "ตาราง 5 พื้นที่เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่า พ.ศ. 2562" [Table 5 Wildlife Sanctuary Areas in 2019] (PDF). Department of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Plant Conservation (in Thai). 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  8. Burmese-influenced Architecture in lampang
  9. Svasti, Pichaya (24 January 2019). "Northern Star Rising". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  10. Kongrut, Anchalee (21 October 2015). "Sustaining environmental activism". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  11. "Number of local government organizations by province". dla.go.th. Department of Local Administration (DLA). 26 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019. 52 Lampang: 1 PAO, 1 City mun., 3 Town mun., 38 Subdistrict mun., 60 SAO.
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