Uthai Thani ( th, อุทัยธานี, ), one of Thailand's seventy-six

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 ...

(''changwat'') lies in lower northern Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise)

Nakhon Sawan Nakhon Sawan ( th, นครสวรรค์, ) is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Thailand, the name literally means "Heavenly City". The city is the capital of Nakhon Sawan Province, and covers the complete subdistrict (''tambon'') Pak Nam P ...

, Chai Nat,

Suphan Buri Suphan Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand. It covers ''tambon'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town ...

, Kanchanaburi and Tak. It lies somewhat off the route between Bangkok, 200 km distant and

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

Geography

The province stretches from the upper plains of the

Chao Phraya River 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. ...

valley, to forested mountains in the west. The

Sakae Krang River The Sakae Krang River ( th, แม่น้ำสะแกกรัง, , ) is a tributary of the Chao Phraya River. It originates in Mae Wong National Park, Nakhon Sawan Province. It is long, with most of its length in Uthai Thani Province. It ...

, a tributary of the

, is the main watercourse of in the province. The total forest area is or 51.4 percent of provincial area.
The Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife sanctuary, at the western boundary bordering Tak province, was declared a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 1991. It is home to most of the forest animals of Southeast Asia, including

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

s and

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

s.
Huai Kha Kaeng wildlife sanctuary, along with one other wildlife sanctuary, make up region 12 (Nakhon Sawan) of Thailand's protected areas. * Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary,

History

Originally

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

and Lawa settled in the area. The first Thai settlement in the area was Muang U Thai during the

Sukhothai Kingdom The Sukhothai Kingdom ( th, สุโขทัย, , IAST: , ) was a post-classical Thai kingdom ( mandala) in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thailand. The kingdom was ...

, but it was later abandoned when the river changed course. The Patabeut people, of

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...

ethnicity, revived the settlement at its current site during the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is consi ...

. It served as a fort protecting the boundary of the kingdom. Uthai Thani is the hometown of the father of King

Rama I Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok Maharaj (, 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), personal name Thongduang (), also known as Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom and the first monarch of the reigning Chakri dynasty of Siam (now T ...

. He later renamed the city from its old name ''Uthai'' to ''Uthai Thani''. In 1892, King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...

(Rama V) added the area of Uthai Thani to the

Monthon ''Monthon'' ( th, มณฑล) were administrative subdivisions of Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century. The Thai word ''monthon'' is a translation of the word ''mandala'' (', literally "circle"), in its sense of a type of political for ...

Nakhon Sawan and in 1898 formed the province.

Symbols

The provincial seal depicts the pavilion at Wat Khao Sakae Krang. It houses the statue of Thongdee, the father of King

and a Buddha footprint. The mountain in the background symbolizes the location of the pavilion on top of Khao Sakae Krang. The provincial flower is the yellow cotton tree (''Cochlospermum regium''). The provincial tree is the neem (''Azadirachta indica v. siamensis''). The flag of Uthai Thani depicts the provincial seal of Uthai Thani in the middle. The yellow colour at the top of the flag is the colour of the

Chakri dynasty The Chakri dynasty ( th, ราชวงศ์ จักรี, , , ) is the current reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Thailand, the head of the house is the king, who is head of state. The family has ruled Thailand since the founding of t ...

, symbolizing

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

. The green colour at the bottom is the colour of King

as he was born on a Wednesday, which is associated with green in the

Thai calendar In Thailand, two main calendar systems are used alongside each other: the Thai solar calendar, based on the Gregorian calendar and used for official and most day-to-day purposes, and the Thai lunar calendar (a version of the Buddhist calendar, ...

. The text below the seal says ''Uthai Thani province''.

Administrative divisions

Provincial government

The province is divided into eight districts (''

amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', th, อำเภอ, )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to count ...

s''). These are further divided into 70 subdistricts (''

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 '' khwaen ...

s'') and 642 villages (''

muban Muban ( th, หมู่บ้าน; , ) is the lowest administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74,944 administrative mu ...

s'').

Local government

As of 26 November 2019 there are: one Uthai Thani Provincial Administration Organisation (') and 14 municipal (''thesaban'') areas in the province. Uthai Thani has 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 m ...

'') status. There are a further 13 subdistrict municipalities (''

thesaban tambon 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 ...

''). The non-municipal areas are administered by 49 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations (SAO) (''ongkan borihan suan tambon'').

Human achievement index 2017

In 2003, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand began tracking progress on human development at the sub-national level using the

Human Achievement Index Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

(HAI), a composite index covering eight key areas of human development. The

National Economic and Social Development Board The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council ( th, สำนักงานสภาพัฒนาการเศรษฐกิจและสังคมแห่งชาติ), also known as NESDC, is a national economi ...

(NESDB) took over this task in 2017.

References

External links

* Golden Jubilee Network province guide
currently empty-->
Website of the province
(Thai only) {{Coord, 15, 22, 24, N, 100, 02, 19, E, region:TH_type:adm1st, display=title Provinces of Thailand