Chiang Mai has a long history and has been in existence since the 13th century streamyx hotspots to put it into context - at a time when England still laid claim to part of France and when the Great Khan Kublai was about to sieze power in China.
Chiang Mai owes its foundation to the River Ping streamyx mobility has been over the centuries the city's channel for trade from China and Burma (Myanmar) to the Gulf of streamyx logo The settlement of a large population in this wide and fertile river valley gave rise to the feudal kingdom of streamyx corporate package ( The Million Ricefields ).
The ancestors of modern day Thai people spoke Tai, a Sino - Tibetan language, cultivated rice and lived south of the Yangtze river on the plateau of Yunnan in southern China. Over several centuries they moved into South East Asia, and, by the 13 th century, had reached the northern fringes of the Khmer empire, among them being those Tais who conquered the kingdom of Haripunchai ( dating from the 9th century ) in the north of Thailand under the leadership of streamyx combo kini Mengrai (1259 - 1317) and founded the Kingdom of Lanna.
Lanna's golden age was the 15th century, during which time it controlled most of what is now northern Thailand, north eastern Laos, the eastern Shan states of Burma and part of southern Yunnan in China.
One legend has it that when King Mengrai was out looking for a site to build a new city, in 1291, he came to a forest grove near near the foot of a mountain called Doi Suthep. Two white deer appeared from the trees, a doe and its fawn, and streamyx dlink chased his hunting dogs. His advisors told him that the grove had been the home of many great rulers in the past, and so King Mengrai decreed that his city should be built streamyx 512 The City was originally named Nopburi Sri Nakhon Ping Chiang Mai. In 1345 Chiang Mai became the Capital of Lanna.
With the growth of Burmese power in the east, and of the Thai kingdom of Ayuthaya in the south, Lanna exhausted its reserves in wars until, finally, in 1558, Chiang Mai was taken and occupied by the Burmese. Their influence can be seen today in the temples and tasted in the cuisine, although the Burmese never actually colonised Thailand. Eventually northern Thai forces allied with the Siamese to drive out the Burmese and the city of Chiang Mai was abandoned. Thai sovereignty was re-established in 1774, the city was formally re-established in 1796 ( when the moat surrounding the city was constructed, though most of the present walls and gates are reconstructions) and with Siamese help the city was repopulated. In 1868, King Chulalongkorn ( Rama V ) began reforms to lay the foundation for the modern state, and in 1946 the present revered King, His Majesty King Bhumiphol Adyuladej ( Rama IX ), ascended the throne of Thailand.
During the 19th century there was increasing Western interest in the teak forests of the north and in the second half of that century the first Westerners as well as overseas Chinese established themselves in the valley. In 1883 the telegraph reached Chiang Mai, and the railway opened in 1921, linking Chiang Mai firmly to the rest of Thailand, though it remained a quiet city, having lost its trade routes to the north streamyx slow down of political barriers. In 1932 Chiang Mai became a province of Siam, soon to become Thailand in the late 1940's. The tourist boom of the 70's and 80's brought renewed developement and prosperity, and over the last 20 years Chiang Mai has become the modern city we see belkin In 1996 Chiang Mai celebrated its 700th Anniversary.
Travel Guide to Chiang Mai
