Phi Pan Nam Range

The Phi Pan Nam Range, also Pee Pan Nam, (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.

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.