Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai lies beside the Kok River on a fertile plain between mountain ranges in the far north of Thailand. King Mangrai founded the city in 1262 and used it as an early capital while uniting the Tai principalities that became Lan Na. The walls enclosed the hill of Doi Chom Thong, and the name simply identified it as Mangrai's city. After the court moved to Chiang Mai in 1296, Chiang Rai remained a fortified provincial centre and a base for routes toward the Mekong.

The discovery of the Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaeo in 1434 gave the city lasting religious prestige. Its monasteries, markets and links with the Tai Yuan, Shan and upland peoples reflected Lan Na's position between mainland Southeast Asian courts. Burmese armies conquered Lan Na in 1558 and governed Chiang Rai through appointed officials. For more than two centuries the town stood within a contested frontier, exposed to campaigns from Burma, Chiang Mai and Siam.

Warfare in the late eighteenth century emptied much of the northern countryside. After Chiang Mai and its allies captured Chiang Saen, Chiang Rai lay abandoned with few residents and decaying walls. Its setting near the Kok, Mekong and mountain passes continued to give the site strategic value, but the older Lan Na city had ceased to function as a settled urban community by the early nineteenth century.