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

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

(''changwat'') lies in lower northern Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nakhon Sawan, Chai Nat, Suphan Buri, Kanchanaburi and Tak. It lies somewhat off the route between Bangkok, 200 km distant and

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

Geography

The province stretches from the upper plains of the

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya River 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. Etymology Written evidence of the river being referred to by the ...

valley, to forested mountains in the west. The Sakae Krang River, 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 World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

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

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

s and

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

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

Sukhothai Kingdom The Sukhothai Kingdom was a post-classical Siamese kingdom (Mandala (political model), ''maṇḍala'') in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai Historical Park, Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thaila ...

, but it was later abandoned when the river changed course. The Patabeut people, of Karen ethnicity, revived the settlement at its current site during the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai people, Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city), Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. Europe ...

. It served as a fort protecting the boundary of the kingdom. Uthai Thani is the hometown of the father of King Rama I. He later changed the city's old name ''Uthai'' to ''Uthai Thani''. In 1892, King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

(Rama V) added the area of Uthai Thani to the Monthon 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 Rama I 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''). Giant gourami (''Osphronemus goramy'') is the provincial aquatic animal. 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 is the current reigning dynasty of the Thailand, Kingdom of Thailand. The head of the house is the Monarchy of Thailand, king, who is head of state. The family has ruled Thailand since the founding of the Rattanakosin era and ...

, symbolizing

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. The green colour at the bottom is the colour of King Rama I as he was born on a Wednesday, which is associated with green in the Thai 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'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the Provinces of Thailand, provinces, and are analogous to count ...

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

tambon ''Tambon'' (, ) 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 ''khwaeng'' of Bangkok, whi ...

s'') and 642 villages (''

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

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

thesaban tambon Thesaban (, , , Pali, Pali: desapāla (protector of region) 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 ''thesa ...

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

Human achievement index 2022

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 (HAI), a composite index covering all the eight key areas of human development. National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDB) has taken over this task since 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