Phi Pan Nam Range

Phi Pan Nam Range
ทิวเขาผีปันน้ำ
The Phi Pan Nam Range and the Yom River in Long District, Phrae Province
Highest point
Peak	Doi Luang
Elevation	1,694 m (5,558 ft)
Coordinates	19°8′04″N 99°45′29″E / 19.13444°N 99.75806°E / 19.13444; 99.75806
Dimensions
Length	400 km (250 mi) NE/SW
Width	135 km (84 mi) SE/NW
Geography
Countries	Thailand and Laos
Range coordinates	18°48′0″N 99°50′30″E / 18.80000°N 99.84167°E / 18.80000; 99.84167
Parent range	Thai highlands
Geology
Age of rock	Triassic
Type of rock	Sandstone and laterite

The Phi Pan Nam Range, also Pee Pan Nam,^[1] (Thai: ทิวเขาผีปันน้ำ, pronounced [tʰīw kʰǎw pʰǐː pān náːm]) is a 400 km (249 mi) long system of mountain ranges in the eastern half of the Thai highlands. The range lies mostly in Thailand, although a small section in the northeast is within Sainyabuli and Bokeo provinces of Laos.

In Thailand the range extends mainly across Chiang Rai, Phayao, Lampang, Phrae, Nan, Uttaradit and Sukhothai Provinces, reaching Tak Province at its southwestern end. The population density of the area is relatively low. Only two sizable towns, Phayao and Phrae, are within the area of the mountain system and both have fewer than 20,000 inhabitants each. Larger towns, like Chiang Rai and Uttaradit, are near the limits of the Phi Pan Nam Range, in the north and in the south, respectively.

Phahonyothin Road, part of the AH2 Highway system, crosses the Phi Pan Nam Range area from north to south, between Tak and Chiang Rai. There are two railway tunnels of the Northern Line across the Phi Pan Nam mountains. Both are on the south side of the range: the 130.2 m Huai Mae Lan Tunnel in Phrae Province and the 362.4 m Khao Phlueng Tunnel in Uttaradit and Phrae Provinces.^[2]

In the mountains north of Thoeng, at the northeast end of the range, Hmong people live in small villages such as Ban Saen Than Sai and Ban Phaya Phripak, the latter on top of a mountain pass.