Phong Thổ

Phong Tho lies in the northern mountain country of the Tai, near the routes to Yunnan. The valley of Muong So was one of the principalities associated with the Twelve Tai Cantons, an alliance of local rulers in the highlands. Each lord retained authority over his own communities, while relations among the principalities were maintained through marriage and warfare. The Tai settled in river valleys where wet rice could be grown, amid a wider landscape also inhabited by other peoples of the hills.