| Nong Bua Lamphu | |
| Native Name: | หนองบัวลำภู |
| Native Name Lang: | th |
| Settlement Type: | Province |
| Motto: | ศาลสมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช อุทยานแห่งชาติภูเก้า ภูพานคำ แผ่นดินธรรมหลวงปู่ขาว เด่นสกาวถ้ำเอราวัณ นครเขื่อนขันธ์กาบแก้วบัวบาน ("Shrine of King Naresuan the Great. Phu Kao National Park. Phu Phan Kham. Land of Dharma and Luang Pu Khao. Famed Erawan cave. Nakhon Khuean Khan Kab Kaew Bua Ban.") |
| Mapsize: | frameless |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Thailand |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Nong Bua Lam Phu |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Siwaporn Chuasawas (since October 2020)[1] |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Total Km2: | 4,099 |
| Area Rank: | Ranked 54th |
| Population Footnotes: | [3] |
| Population Total: | 512,780 |
| Population As Of: | 2019 |
| Population Rank: | Ranked 53rd |
| Population Density Km2: | 125 |
| Population Density Rank: | Ranked 37th |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP |
| Demographics2 Footnotes: | [4] |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics2 Info1: | baht 25 billion (US$0.9 billion) (2019) |
| Demographics Type1: | Human Achievement Index |
| Demographics1 Footnotes: | [5] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | HAI (2022) |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 0.6098 "low" Ranked 75th |
| Timezone1: | ICT |
| Utc Offset1: | +7 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 39xxx |
| Area Code Type: | Calling code |
| Area Code: | 042 |
| Iso Code: | TH-39 |
Nong Bua Lamphu (Thai: หนองบัวลำภู,, in Thai pronounced as /nɔ̌ːŋ būa̯ lām pʰūː/) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (changwat). It lies in upper northeastern Thailand, a region also known as Isan or Isaan (Thai: อีสาน, being the Thai word for 'northeast'). Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise from North) Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, and Loei. Nong Bua Lamphu is one of the eight quadruply-landlocked Thai provinces, as its neighboring provinces are triply-landlocked.
Nong Bua Lamphu is in the heart of the Khorat Plateau. The total forest area is 480km2, or 11.7 percent of the area of the province.[2]
There is one national park and one national park (preparation), along with five other national parks, make up region 10 (Udon Thani) of Thailand's protected areas.
Chalawan, an extinct genus of crocodylin, is known solely from its holotype collected in the early-1980s from a road-cut near the town of Nong Bua Lam Phu, in the upper part of the Phu Kradung Formation. This single specimen is the most well preserved vertebrate fossil that has been found from the formation. It contains a single species, Chalawan thailandicus.[8]
Nong Bua Lam Phu is noted for it being the area where in the 16th century, Naresuan, the king-liberator of Siam, came to learn of the outcome of a war between the Lao and Burmese in the area of Vientiane. This place was formerly a Lao stronghold and named "Nakhon Khuean Khan Kab Kaew Bua Ban" . During the existence of the Lao Kingdom of Lan Xang (1354–1707), Nong Bua Lam Phu was traditionally given to the crown prince (Uparat) to rule. It was the birthplace of the principal wife of Chao Siribunyasan (Thai: พระเจ้าศิริบุญสาร), the last independent king of Vientiane.[9] In 1827, Chao Anou of Vientiane designated Phagna Narin to be governor at the onset of the Laotian Rebellion of 1826–1828.
Under Thai rule, the province originally consisted of five amphoe (districts) in Udon Thani province. In 1993 Udon was decentralized and a separate province of Nong Bua Lam Phu was created. It is one of the newest provinces of Thailand, together with Amnat Charoen province, Sa Kaeo province, and Bueng Kan province.
On 6 October 2022, a mass murder occurred at and near a daycare center in Uthai Sawan, a town located in the province. A total of 36 people were killed, and 10 others were injured, before the attacker committed suicide. It was the deadliest mass murder by a single perpetrator in the modern history of Thailand.[10]
Nong Bua Lamphu is the poorest province in Thailand according to the Bangkok Post. Incomes, as of 2018, average 41,000 baht annually.[11]
The province is largely agricultural. Sticky rice has long been the area's traditional crop, although there has been a shift to sugarcane due to low rice prices and sugarcane's resistance to flooding. In 2016, more than one third of the available agricultural land in Nong Bua Lamphu was used for sugarcane plantations. According to the provincial Office of Agricultural Economics, sugarcane cultivation is expected to rise. In contrast, the area devoted to rice farming shrunk by 73 percent from 2000 to 2016.[12]
| The seal of the province shows King Naresuan in a shrine. This shrine was built to commemorate the visit of King Naresuan to the city of Nong Bua Lam Phu in 1574 when he was gathering troops to fight the Burmese kingdoTaungoo. Behind the shrine is a pond with lotus flowers (Nymphaea lotus), which is the provincial flower. The provincial tree is the Siamese rosewood (Dalbergia cochinchinensis). |
The province is divided into six districts (amphoe). The districts are further divided into 59 subdistricts (tambon) and 636 villages (muban).
As of 26 November 2019 there are:[13] one Nong Bua Lamphu Provincial Administration Organisation (Thai: ongkan borihan suan changwat) and 24 municipal (thesaban) areas in the province. Nong Bua Lamphu has town (thesaban mueang) status. Further 23 subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambon). The non-municipal areas are administered by 43 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations – SAO (ongkan borihan suan tambon).[3]
| Health | Education | Employment | Income | |
| 34 | 64 | 52 | 73 | |
| Housing | Family | Transport | Participation | |
| 20 | 13 | 18 | 76 | |
| Nong Bua Lamphu, with a 2022 HAI value of 0.6098 is "low", occupies place 75 in the ranking. | ||||
| Rank | Classification | |
| 1 – 13 | "high" | |
| 14–29 | "somewhat high" | |
| 30–45 | "average" | |
| 46–61 | "somewhat low" | |
| 62–77 | "low" |