Independent but impoverished, 19th-century Lanna was governed by the family of Kawila, nominally a vassal of Thailand, but in fact autonomous. Not until 1874 was a Thai High Commissioner sent to administer the north and during the reign of King Rama V the region was slowly incorporated into the Thai kingdom. Laos, east of the [...]
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In 1615, the Burmese King of Ava reestablished control over Lanna, which lasted for more than a century. Actual Burmese presence in the north, however, remained minimal and had very little effect on most of the population. The darkest period in the history of the north began with the rebellion of General Thip, who defeated [...] Quarrels over the possession of a powerful talisman, and image of the Buddha, led to a Burmese invasion in 1558 and Lanna became a vassal state of the King of Pegu, governed by Burmese-appointed rulers. king Naresuan of Ayutthaya, fighting the Burmese who and invaded Siam, expelled these rulers from Lanna in 1598 and for [...] The 15th century saw the flowering of the Lanna kingdom, which was powerful enough to host an international buddhist gathering in 1455. Trade, art and education flourished, despite the occasional feudal battles between vassals and princes. The west bank of the Mekong (today parts of Laos, Burma and Thailand) was also ruled by the King [...] Unification of the small northern principalities was achieved by King Mengrai, a Ngong Yang chief of mixed Thai and Lawa blood. Embarking on a grand scheme for conquering the whole region, he founded Chiang Rai, seized Haripunchai in 1292, annexed Payao and, in 1296, founded his new capital of Chiang Mai. He thus established the [...] Mon immigrants from the Dvaravati kingdom of Lopburi founded the city of Haripunchai in the 7th century, as well as a string of fortified towns around it. Devout Buddhists, the Mons were a key force in the conversion of the Thais in the north and Haripunchai remained and important cultural center for centuries. Haripunchai (Lumphun) Northern Thailand, which has a history largely independent from the rest of the country, appears to have been populated by different groups of Thais, who assimilated with local inhabitants and settled in the fertile valleys of the north around the first millennium. Present-day Chiang Saen was the seat of the Ngong Yang kingdom, and was [...] Several spectacular species of butterfly are found in the mountain ranges of north and northwest Thailand, near Chiang Rai, Pai, Mae hong Son, and in the national park northwest of Chiang Mai. In the cultivated zones, ricefields and rubber plantations, few species have survived the process of deforestation. The entire zone from Lampang to Chiang [...] |
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