Nong Bua Lam Phu
Thailand's poorest province (41,000 baht/year income)—split from Udon Thani 1993, shifting from rice to sugarcane, climate change may paradoxically help agriculture.
Nong Bua Lam Phu is Thailand's poorest province. Average annual incomes reached just 41,000 baht as of 2018—the lowest per capita GPP in Isan, where neighboring Loei earns nearly double. Established on December 1, 1993, as Thailand's 76th province by splitting from Udon Thani, it carries the familiar markers of rural underdevelopment: agricultural dependency, labor migration to Bangkok, and persistent gaps that development programs haven't closed.
The economy adapts within these constraints. Sticky rice was the traditional crop, but farmers shifted to sugarcane as rice prices collapsed and floods became more frequent—sugarcane resists waterlogging that destroys rice paddies. Mangoes, coconuts, and oranges supplement household income. Ironically, Nong Bua Lam Phu is among the ten Thai provinces projected to benefit most from climate change, as warming temperatures extend growing seasons.
In 2023, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced mobile cabinet meetings here to spotlight northeastern development. The 2025 provincial administrative elections saw Pheu Thai victories across Isan, including here—the rural base that has repeatedly backed Shinawatra-aligned parties since 2001. But political support hasn't translated into economic convergence. Nong Bua Lam Phu represents what happens when a new province inherits an old economy: the boundaries are redrawn, the poverty persists.