Doi Inthanon ( th, ดอยอินทนนท์, ) is the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

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 b ...

. It is in Chom Thong District,

Chiang Mai Province Chiang Mai ( th, เชียงใหม่, ; nod, , ) is the largest Province ('' changwat'') of Thailand. It lies in upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It is bordered by Chiang Rai province, Chiang R ...

. This mountain is an

ultra prominent peak An ultra-prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of or more; it is also called a P1500. The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or fr ...

, known in the past as ''Doi Luang'' ('big mountain') or ''Doi Ang Ga'', meaning the 'crow's pond top'. Near the mountain's base was a pond where many crows gathered. The name ''Doi Inthanon'' was given in honour of Inthawichayanon, last King of

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 i ...

, who was concerned about the forests in the north and tried to preserve them. He ordered that, after his death, his remains be interred at Doi Luang, which was then renamed in his honour. Today, the summit of Doi Inthanon is a popular tourist destination for both foreign and Thai tourists, with a peak of 12,000 visitors visiting the summit on New Year's Day. In addition to a range of tourist facilities on the summit, there is also a

Royal Thai Air Force "Royal Thai Air Force March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 9 April 1937 (Royal Thai Air Force Day) , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles ...

weather radar Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly puls ...

station at the summit and the

Thai National Observatory Thai National Observatory (TNO) is in Doi Inthanon National Park, Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand A top Thailand's highest mountain, Doi Inthanon, this observatory is part of the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thai ...

(TNO) at km44.

Geography

Doi Inthanon is the highest peak of the Inthanon Range ( th, ทิวเขาอินทนนท์) of the Thanon Thong Chai Range, a subrange of the

Shan Hills The Shan Hills ( my, ရှမ်းရိုးမ; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous mountain ranges separated ...

in the

Thai highlands The Thai highlands or Hills of northern Thailand is a mountainous natural region in the north of Thailand. Its mountain ranges are part of the system of hills extending through Laos, Burma, and China and linking to the Himalayas, of which they ma ...

stretching southwards from the

Daen Lao Range The Daen Lao Range ( th, ทิวเขาแดนลาว,
; my, Loi La) is a mountain range of t ...

. This range, the southwesternmost of the Shan Highland system, separates the Salween watershed from the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annuall ...

watershed. Other high peaks of the Daen Lao Range are Doi Luang Chiang Dao (), Doi Pui (), and Doi Suthep (). In 1954, the forests around Doi Inthanon were conserved, creating

Doi Inthanon National Park Doi Inthanon National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยอินทนนท์), nicknamed "the roof of Thailand", is in the Thanon Thong Chai Range, Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand. It in ...

, as one of the original 14

national parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

of Thailand. This park now covers 482.4 km² and spreads from the lowlands at elevation up to the peak at . Given the varied climatic and ecological areas regions, the park supports a range of animal species, including over 360 bird species. On the lower slopes of Doi Inthanon, near the Karen hill tribe village, Ban Sop Had, are the Wachirathan waterfalls ( th, น้ำตกวชิรธาร), where the Wachirathan (lit. "Diamond Creek") tumbles over a granite

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

. ()

Climate

The climate is typically tropical and fairly cool on the summit of Doi Inthanon. In the winter, the average temperature is in January and temperatures can sometimes drop below . On 21 December 2017, an all-time low temperature of was recorded at 06:30 at km 44.4. From March to June, temperatures are pleasant, especially at higher altitudes. The rainy season runs from April to November, when it sometimes rains for more than two hours per day.

Geology

Geologically the mountain is a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate rock types, su ...

in a north-south oriented mountain range. The second-highest peak of this range is Doi Hua Mot Luang at .

Environmental issues

In 2014, visitors to the mountain left behind of rubbish.

Places

* On the main road to the summit of Doi Inthanon stand two adjacent chedis, one called ''Naphamethinidon'' (นภเมทินีดล), meaning 'by the strength of the land and air', and the other, ''Naphaphonphumisiri'' (นภพลภูมิสิริ), meaning 'being the strength of the air and the grace of the land'. These temples were built to honor the 60th birthday anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1987, and the 60th birthday anniversary of Queen Sirikit in 1992, respectively. * Kio Mae Pan Nature Trail * The Inthanon Royal Project Research Station: The agricultural station was a King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; ( Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Grea ...

project to help eliminate

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy '' Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which ...

cultivation. It contains a rhododendron garden, and greenhouses for growing ferns, flowering plants, and vegetables.

Gallery

File:Doi Inthanon, View of the mountains, Thailand.jpg , View west from Doi Inthanon Doi Inthanon, View from Royal Pagoda, Thailand.jpg, View from the Royal pagoda Doi Inthanon, Vegetation on the slopes, Thailand.jpg, Vegetation on the slopes of Doi Inthanon File:A waterfall in Doi Inthanon National Park.jpg, Wachirathan Waterfall Doi Inthanon, King’s Pagoda, Mural, Carving, Art relief 2, Thailand.jpg, Mural carvings on King’s Pagoda File:Doi Inthanon, Royal Chedi, Thailand.jpg, Royal Chedi File:Doi Inthanon, Royal Stupa 2, Thailand.jpg, View from the top File:Doi inthanon control and reporting center.JPG, Doi Inthanon control and reporting center on the summit.

References

External links

*
thaibirding.com on Doi Inthanon

www.DoiInthanon.net

"Doi Inthanon, Thailand" on Peakbagger
{{Authority control Mountains of Thailand Thanon Thong Chai Range Geography of Chiang Mai province Two-thousanders of Asia Highest points of countries