Uthai Thani
Thailand's tiger heartland—89 tigers in UNESCO Huai Kha Khaeng sanctuary, 51.4% forest cover, 622,200 hectares protected, 77% of mainland SE Asia's large mammals.
Uthai Thani protects mainland Southeast Asia's largest intact seasonal tropical forest. The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary—combined with Thung Yai Naresuan—covers 622,200 hectares of UNESCO World Heritage wilderness. This is where Thailand's tigers live: 89 individuals roam the sanctuaries as of 2021, more than double the 42 counted a decade earlier. The forest shelters 77% of the region's large mammals, 50% of large birds, and one-third of all mainland Southeast Asian land vertebrates.
Forest comprises 51.4% of provincial territory—3,419 square kilometers of protected wilderness 200 kilometers from Bangkok. Access requires special permission and four-wheel drive vehicles beyond Lansak; only certain ranger stations open to visitors. The restrictions preserve biodiversity: 120 mammal species, 400 birds, 96 reptiles, 43 amphibians, and 113 freshwater fish inhabit the sanctuary complex.
The province otherwise runs on agriculture and small-scale industry unremarkable compared to central Thailand neighbors. What matters is what Uthai Thani doesn't do: develop, log, expand. The wildlife corridor connecting Myanmar to Cambodia depends on this restraint. By 2026, Uthai Thani's value proposition remains preservation—measuring success by tiger counts rather than GDP.