Mae Hong Son

Mae Hong Son lies in a mountainous region west of Chiang Mai, where forested ridges and river valleys extend towards the Salween. Shan communities lived in this borderland alongside other upland peoples. In 1831 an expedition from Chiang Mai gathered scattered Shan settlers and captured wild elephants here for training. The name Mae Hong Son recalls the stream beside which the elephants were taught and the settlement that grew around it.