page_title: Khun Tan Range
hierarchical_section_title: Khun Tan Range
caption_attribution_description: English: The photo shows the smoke coming off from several wildfires in the mountains of northern Thailand. Farmers in northern Thailand always set fire to the forests in the mountains nearing the end of the dry season. This is done mainly so that the Astraeus asiaticus (English: false earthstar; Thai script: เห็ดเผาะ; Thai het pho) fungus (which fetches a high price on the Thai market) are easier to find. The fires completely denude the undergrowth and affects the wildlife but most of the trees are not really affected. The yearly wildfires (February to April) are the main cause of the intense air pollution in the north of Thailand. This photo was taken above Mae Tha District of Lamphun Province on a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
context_page_description: The Khun Tan Range is a mountain range that occupies a central position in Northern Thailand. Most of the range is located in Chiang Mai, western Chiang Rai, Lampang and Lamphun Provinces.
  The geological composition of the Khun Tan mountains is different from the neighboring Thanon Thong Chai Range in the west and the Daen Lao Range in the north. Precambrian rocks are absent in this mountain chain which is thus not part of the Shan Hills system. The geology of the Khun Tan Range is homogeneous with the Phi Pan Nam Range further east and some scholarly works designate the Khun Tan as the "Western Phi Pan Nam Range", including it as part of the Phi Pan Nam Mountain System.
context_section_description: The Khun Tan Range (Thai: ทิวเขาขุนตาน or, erroneously, ทิวเขาขุนตาล) is a mountain range that occupies a central position in Northern Thailand. Most of the range is located in Chiang Mai, western Chiang Rai, Lampang and Lamphun Provinces.
  The geological composition of the Khun Tan mountains is different from the neighboring Thanon Thong Chai Range in the west and the Daen Lao Range in the north. Precambrian rocks are absent in this mountain chain which is thus not part of the Shan Hills system. The geology of the Khun Tan Range is homogeneous with the Phi Pan Nam Range further east and some scholarly works designate the Khun Tan as the "Western Phi Pan Nam Range", including it as part of the Phi Pan Nam Mountain System.
caption: Aerial view of yearly deliberate wildfires on the Khun Tan Range between Lamphun and Lampang
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