Doi Suthep (ดอยสุเทพ), is a mountain ("doi") west 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 ...

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 elevation and is one of the twin peaks of 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 ...

mountain. The other peak is known as Doi Pui and is slightly higher (). HS4-West-Pan-180deg

Doi Suthep is from

city centre. The vegetation below is mostly

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

forest, with evergreen forest above this elevation. Pano CM 2010 0928a3-1

Geography

The Doi Suthep - Doi Pui mountain is part of the Thanon Thong Chai Range, the southernmost subrange of the Shan Highland system. Other high peaks of the same range are

Doi Luang Chiang Dao Doi Chiang Dao ( th, ดอยเชียงดาว, ), also known as Doi Luang Chiang Dao (, ), is a high mountain in Chiang Dao District of Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. It is one of the highest peaks of the Daen Lao Range on the Thai sid ...

(), Doi Pui (), and

Doi Inthanon Doi Inthanon ( th, ดอยอินทนนท์, ) is the highest mountain in Thailand. It is in Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province. This mountain is an ultra prominent peak, known in the past as ''Doi Luang'' ('big mountain') or '' ...

, the highest point in Thailand, at . Creeks flowing eastward down from Doi Suthep include

Huai Kaew The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east. ...

(ห้วยแก้ว), Huai Kok Ma (ห้วยคอกม้า),

Huai Pha Lat The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east. ...

(ห้วยผาลาด),

Huai Mae Nai The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east. ...

(ห้วยแม่ใน), and others. The creeks all flow into the

Ping River The Ping River ( th, แม่น้ำปิง, , ), along with the Nan River, is one of the two main tributaries of the Chao Phraya River. It originates at Doi Thuai in the Daen Lao Range, in Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province. After pa ...

. Waterfalls located east of the summit of Doi Suthep include: * Monthathan Waterfall (น้ำตกมณฑาธาร), located in the evergreen rainforest * Sai Yoi Waterfall (น้ำตกไทรย้อย), located in the evergreen rainforest *

Huai Kaew Waterfall The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east. ...

(น้ำตกห้วยแก้ว), located just downstream of Pha Ngoep (ผาเงิบ) cliff and Wang Bua Ban (วังบัวบาน) pond *Maa Hai Waterfall (น้ำตกรตาดหมาไห้), located on the southern slopes of Doi Suthep

Geology

The mountain consists of uniform

Lower Carboniferous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

which was originally formed underground 330 million years ago. It was uplifted 50 million years ago during the Himalayan Orogeny. Mid-

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. ...

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especia ...

, 475 million years old, is located south of the peak in the southern part of the national park.

Temple

The temple Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is on top of a hill (around ) forming Doi Suthep. This Buddhist place of worship dates back to the 13th century. It is an important venue for the devout and a legend featuring a

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, sch ...

is connected to this revered site. There are views of Chiang Mai city and its surroundings from the top of this mountain.

National park

This mountain is part of the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park. The park was established in 1981 and has an area of that includes the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep temple as well as Bhubing Rjanives Palace, further up the mountain. Doi Pui, the other peak of the massif, is close by via a paved road as well as through forest paths. Hmong hill tribe people live in the surrounding area.

Environment

The chief of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park voiced his concerns in 2018 about the increasing amount of garbage produced by the large number of tourists visiting Doi Suthep temple, a must-see site for Chiang Mai tourists. Untreated water and garbage from more than 300 shops and a large number of tourists is damaging the area's natural environment. Untreated waste water flows directly into the Huai Rap Sadet Waterfall. The annual

Visakha Bucha Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival commemora ...

pilgrimage up Doi Suthep leaves more than 30

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s of garbage in its wake.

Housing Project

The Thai government began building a customary housing project for justice officials on forested land owned by the Treasury Department in 2015. The project was going to include 13 flats for general staff in one area and 45 houses for judges and senior officials in another. There was media based activism and street protests mobilizing against the project because of environmental concerns. As of May 2018 the Thai government has agreed to stop the infrastructural project and reforestation began.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Doi Suthep Thanon Thong Chai Range Geography of Chiang Mai province Mountains of Thailand