Ranong

Ranong covers an area of 3,298 square kilometres, of which about 53.5 percent is forest and 67 percent is mountainous terrain, giving the province a rugged, thinly settled character. The provincial capital shares its name with the province and sits at the mouth of the Pak Chan River estuary, historically important as a trading port with connections to Myanmar. The province's offshore islands, including Ko Phayam and the Mu Ko Ranong National Park archipelago, shelter coral reefs and mangrove ecosystems that draw divers and nature travellers. With an estimated population of around 257,700, Ranong remains the least populated of all Thailand's 77 provinces, preserving a frontier atmosphere rare in southern Thailand.