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In past centuries Chiang Mai served as an entrepôt for a flourishing caravan trade in opium, silks and timber. Today it is Thailand’s second-largest city and the north’s principal hub for tourism, transport, education and cross-border commerce. In a period of rapid development, Chiang Mai – crowned to the west by Doi Suthep mountain and its sacred temple, and centred on a moated old town – has managed to retain its charm and laid-back feel. Find ancient chedi (stupas) side by side with modern architecture, a delicious and distinctive cuisine, accommodation ranging from back-packing digs to boutique hotels, as well as great shopping, pampering spas and a myriad of courses to try out.
Outside of the provincial capital, Chiang Mai Province boasts more natural forest cover than any other province in the north. In addition, two of Thailand’s highest mountain peaks are in Chiang Mai Province: Doi Inthanon (2565m) and Doi Chiang Dao (2195m). Cycling, hiking, elephant trekking, bird-watching and river rafting attract those interested in Chiang Mai Province’s natural surrounds, while visitors keen on learning more about the region’s fascinating ethnic minorities can visit semi-remote villages on mountain slopes.
The kingdom of Lanna, covering much of Northern Thailand, was a thriving state longbefore the rise of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya.
Chiang Mai traces its history back more than
700 years,
making it one of the most historic cities in Thailand. In 1296 King Mengrai founded
Nophaburi Sri Nakorn Ping Chiang Mai as
the new capital of his thriving Kingdom
known as Lanna (million rice fields).
Previously he had ruled from Chiang Saen, then an important trading town on the banks of the Mekhong river, as well as at Fang and Chiang Rai. Later he moved south, eventually overrunning the older state of Haripunchai (presently known as Lamphun, 50kms to the south of Chiang Mai). However, the first attempt to found a new city in the Ping valley was thwarted by the flooding of the river and the site was abandoned. Seven centuries later these ruins to the southeast of the city were uncovered and today form an important tourist history attraction in Chiang Mai, known as Wiang Khum Kham.
King Mengrai was a powerful and successful ruler and Lanna prospered under his rule (1259 to 1317). He formed a great friendship with King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai and King Ngam Muang of Phayao, enjoying considerable support from these allies in the face of the southward Mongol invasions which caused so much upheaval in Asia during the 13th century. The Mon, who had inhabited the valleys of the Ping, Wang and other rivers of the region since the 8th century, were absorbed into the Lanna kingdom, along with their culture and skills.
Over time a distinctive people would emerge, known as Khon Mueng, with their own dialect of Thai language.
d religious centre and remained so for several centuries. The city was laid out over roughly a square mile, temples were built (Wat Chiang Man, dating back to the early 14th century, still remains and Wat Phra Singh followed in 1345), and the distinctive moat and bastions were added. The wealth of the kingdom left behind legacies such as Wat Suan Dawk, with its towering chedis and Wat Jet Yod, which was built for the Eight World Buddhist council in 1477.Chiang Mai and the greater Lanna Kingdom reached its zenith under King Tilokarat in the middle of the 16th century, expanding east as far as present day Nan province, south to Sukhothai and as far north as the present Myanmar/China border. It was during his reign that Chedi Luang was completed, towering an astonishing 96 metres. Despite an earthquake in 1545, which brought it down to 42 metres, it remained the tallest structure in the city until the 1950s.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries Chiang Mai lacked effective leadership, which resulted in a series of invasions and occupations from Burma and Ayutthaya, and control of the city remained elusive to the people of Lanna for over 200 years, despite multiple attempts to recapture the city. At one point the city was even evacuated and nearly deserted. Control of Chiang Mai was briefly returned to the Northern Kingdom between 1727 and 1763, but was to be conquered by the Burmese one last time.
The period of Burmese occupation finally ended in 1774, when King Taksin (Rama I) of Thonburi (Bangkok) realised the necessity of driving the foreigners out of Lanna to prevent them from further attacking Siam. King Taksin sent forces under Chao Kawila, a jâo meuang (nobleman) from Lampang, who finally sent the Burmese packing.
Following the capture of Chiang Mai, Taksin appointed Kawila as the city's viceroy. Under his leadership the city went from strength to strength, with the reconstruction (c. 1800) of the monumental brick walls that are still standing to this day, and the establishment of a river port at the end of what is today Thapae Road. During this period Chiang Mai entered into prosperous trade relations with Burma and China.
The earliest record of foreign visitors to Chiang Mai comes from a Mr Ralph Fitch, who recorded visiting a place called 'Jamahey' in his voyages from Goa to Pegu and beyond (1583 - 1591), remarking that is was 'a fair and great town'. In 1614, traders Thomas Samuel and Thomas Driver arrived in Chiang Mai (probably overland from Burma) as representatives of the East India Company.
By the 1850s the British had a firm grip on Burma and the Bowring treaty, negotiated between the Siamese crown and British Consulate in Bangkok, gave British traders in Northern Thailand extra-territorial rights for teak logging along the Salween river in the Shan states. Towards the end of the century this was to drive a wedge between Bangkok and Chiang Mai as the British constantly pressured the Royal Siamese Government to force compensation out of the impoverished Chiang Mai Prince in return for lawlessness on the frontier. In fact in 1869, two years after the first missionaries arrived, some of their first Christian converts were clubbed to death, instigating a reaction from King Chulalongkorn.
As Siam modernised, Chiang Mai become less isolated from the rest of the Rattanakosin kingdom that now controlled much of the area of present day Thailand. Lanna had enjoyed a degree of autonomy, but with the arrival of a postal service (1883), and later telegraph and railway (1921), Chiang Mai found itself increasingly drawn into the politics of the entire country. Finally, after the bloodless revolution of 1932, Siam (it only became officially known as Thailand in 1949) ceased to be an absolute monarchy and Chiang Mai became a province of the country.
Caught up in the events of the era, Chiang Mai was to lose its true independent nature and innocence. Under Japanese occupation during WWII, many Northern Thais were conscripted to build roads to open up the Asian interior. The legacy of their toil remains today in the form of roads that penetrate impossible mountainous terrain, allowing today's visitors to truly appreciate the region.
However, the area hasn't always been welcoming and safe to foreigners. The succession of military governments during the fifties, sixties and seventies alienated many Northerners. After the student uprisings of 1973 were brutally put down, many took to the hills of Northern Thailand and formed a communist insurgency that rendered much of the rural areas unsafe. As the political theatre of the region gradually changed, these groups laid down their weapons in amnesty programmes during the 1980s and the area finally opened up to tourism.
The 1990s saw a spectacular boom for Chiang Mai as the tourist industry took off and many of Thailand's visitors began favouring the North for its laid back charm, mountainous beauty and value for money. It wasn't long before speculating Bangkok property developers marched in and snapped up the land.
In 1992 the city proudly celebrated its 700 year anniversary and hosted the SEA Games in 1998. Even the financial crash of 1997 hasn't stopped Chiang Mai from becoming a cosmopolitan centre in Thailand, attracting a sizeable ex-pat community and enough tourists to swell its population by up to a quarter each season. Despite all this, Chiang Mai retains its individual Lanna character and distinctive easy-going charm, making it unique among all Thai cities.
