River

Ping River

800 km from source to mouth · Thailand.

ThailandFlows into Chao Phraya River1st longest in Thailand

Follow the river Month by month

SourceMouthChiang Mai

The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

800km

Average flow

260m³/s

Basin

44,688km²

Drop

588m

from 611 m to 23 m

Country

The journey

From source to mouth

800 km of river and 19 stops on the way: 8 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

611 m23 m

Sourceat 611 m0 km

Chiang Mai127,240 people144 km

Pa Sang15,607 people185 km

Khuean Bhumiphol Reservoir222 km²456 km

Wang Rivertributary485 km

Kamphaeng Phet58,787 people607 km

Wat Wang Phra That625 km

Chao Phraya Riverat 23 m800 km

0200400600800 km

0 kmSourceat 611 m
131 kmMae Sa Waterfall
144 kmChiang Mai127,240 people
144 kmChan Som bridge
145 kmNawarat Bridge
149 kmMengrai Anuson bridge
185 kmPa Sang15,607 people
224 kmChom Thong12,488 people
456 kmKhuean Bhumiphol Reservoir222 km²
456 kmBhumibol Dam
468 kmWat Chonlaprathan Rangsan
485 kmWang Rivertributary
497 kmBan Tak18,384 people
502 kmWat Wiset Wanit
528 kmTak24,149 people
607 kmKamphaeng Phet58,787 people
625 kmWat Wang Phra That
693 kmKhanu Woralaksaburi21,889 people
766 kmLake Boraphet44 km²
768 kmNakhon Sawan82,305 people
800 kmChao Phraya Riverat 23 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in northern Thailand

At the mouth it carries 256 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 9.8 seconds. It drops from 611 m to 23 m, 0.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 44,688 km², about the size of EE. 8.0 million people live in it. Highest water: from September to October; lowest: from January to April. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 144% of a year's flow.

Where to start

Chiang MaiLargest city on its banks · 127,240 people
Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 4 km from the cityCar hire at CNX airport (Chiang Mai)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
On the water1 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
From November to FebruaryThe best months to visit

Ping River, month by month

Highest water: from September to October

Lowest water: from January to April. Best months to visit: from November to February.

430

22°11 mmJan

170

25°10 mmFeb

150

28°20 mmMar

190

30°50 mmApr

470

29°158 mmMay

670

28°122 mmJun

860

28°137 mmJul

1,100

27°163 mmAug

1,400

27°232 mmSep

1,500

27°165 mmOct

1,200

25°43 mmNov

880

23°14 mmDec

Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 150 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,500 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at CNX airport (Chiang Mai)Discover CarsSee

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Ping River: the basin in numbers

110,481 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 144% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.

8.0millionpeople live in the basin
73/km²people per km²
429maverage altitude of the basin
1,181mmof rain a year (basin average)
25.6°Caverage air temperature
23%protected areas
0.6%covered by lakes
25km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

31% Forest
22% Cropland
3% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Ping River: what you find on the way

17DamsNong Salik Dam, Bhumibol Dam and 15 more
26WeirsPhaya Kham Weir, Pratu Rabai Nam Nai Lamnam Ping and 24 more
12Locks
1WaterfallsSri Sangwan Waterfall
1Boat rentalsSUP CNX Stand-up Paddleboard Chiang Mai

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Ping River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
24mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (1)

On the river, by Cascadyas

Mae Sa Waterfallkm 108

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (2)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

Khuean Bhumiphol Reservoirkm 378222km²
Lake Boraphetkm 63644km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (24)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

Doi Chiang Dao12 km away2,175m
Doi Pha Daeng13 km away
Doi Khun Mae Ra-ngong6.4 km away
Doi Phae Ban Don14 km away
Doi Mae Mae Ngae Khwa10 km away
Doi Kio Lom10 km away
Doi Ku1.3 km away
Doi Khun Mae Mae13 km away

16 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Ping River: satellite view of the source — **The source**14 km across

Ping River: satellite view of the mouth — **The mouth**45 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Ping River in pictures

Ping River cruise north of Chiang Mai, Thailand — Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Ping river near Bhumibol dam — Love Krittaya · Public domain

Ping River in Tak 1 — PumpkinSky · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Chao Phraya River

Thailand372 km840 m³/s

Tributaries (5)

Also: Wang River, Nam Mae Li, Mae Taeng River, Mae Ngat river, Mae Kuang River

In the same basin

Yom River

Thailand600 km430 m³/s Pa Sak River

Thailand513 km220 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Yom River

Thailand600 km430 m³/s25 km away Pa Sak River

Thailand513 km220 m³/s155 km away Salween River

Myanmar2,815 km4,900 m³/s280 km away Mae Klong

Thailand140 km590 m³/s258 km away Sittaung River

Myanmar560 km1,200 m³/s386 km away Nam Ngum

Laos354 km670 m³/s418 km away Chi River

Thailand765 km290 m³/s495 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, places	Wikidata (Q592383) · CC0
Course, profile, basin	RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
Flow	WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the river	WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, dams	Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlases	Cascadyas, Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here

canyons

Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit