Chiang Mai is a city built on the roots of a traditional heritage that dig deep into the soil of time. It's a city with a beautiful cultural personality of its own. In addition, it's been blessed with much majestic beauty in nature. The people themselves are an unforgettable part of Chiang Mai. Handicrafts of silk, silver and wood are timeless souvenirs for visitors from all over the globe. Along with all this, a wide variety of accommodations, restaurants, and entertainment all help to make Chiang Mai one of Thailand's prime tourist attractions.
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| The history of Chiang Mai can be traced to the reign of King Mengrai (1259-1317) who established the Kingdom of Lanna in the northern region. In 1296 the King cooperated with King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai and King Ngam Muang of Phayao to choose an appropriate site for founding the capital of Lanna. The present location of Chiang Mai was selected. It took about 4 months to complete the building task. That's how Chiang Mai became the capital of Lanna. |
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In 1558, Chiang Mai town was captured by Burengnong, a very competent King of Burma. But 38 years later, King Naresuan of Ayutthaya seized Chiang Mai back from the Burmese. Later the town fell to the hands of the Burmese again before King Narai of Ayutthaya succeeded in its recovery. Ayutthaya took control of the town for 20 years. After that Chiang Mai was alternately ruled by the Burmese and became independent.
In 1774, King Taksin of Thon Buri, who reestablished Thai sovereignty after Ayutthaya had been defeated in the war with Burma in 1767, realized the vital strategic importance of Chiang Mai, made an attack on the town and took it as a vassal town. In the reign of King Rama V (1868-1910), Chiang Mai's status was elevated from a vassal town to be part of a monthon (an administrative unit used at that time). When the Thai government abolished this unit, Chiang Mai became a province in 1933.
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With a population of 1,547,085 Chiang Mai is one of Thailand's largest provinces. Of the above number, 170,348 are currently living in Chiang Mai's city area with the rest distributed throughout Chiang Mai's 21 districts, 2 sub-districts. 80% of the people in Chiang Mai are locals by birth, and speak a sialext that is a slight variation of the central Thai language. The remaining 20% is made up of Thai nationals and foreigners who have moved to Chiang Mai to work, study, or retire.
There are many hilltribe people living in the mountainous districts surrounding Chiang Mai such as Omkoi, Mae Jam, Chiang Dao, and Mae Ai. Statistics reported by the Tribal Research Institute of Chiang Mai stated that in the year 1992 there were 1,049 hilltribe villages in the Chiang Mai province, constituting a total of 174,195 people. Of this amount, 106,116 were from the Karen tribe, 27,392 from the Lahu (Musur) tribe, 17,198 from the Hmong (Meo) tribe, 10,873 form the Lisu tribe, 8,862 from the Lua tribe, 2,609 from the Akha tribe, 1,145 from the Mien (yao) tribe, and 485 from the Palong tribe. The hilltribe people are agricultural; planting fields, raising animals, and hunting for a living. Since each tribe has its own culture and language, they blanket the hills of Chiang Mai with an interesting patchwork quilt of diverse variety.
The majority (80%) of the Chiang Mai people earn a living through agriculture and agricultural related professions. The second largest vocation is tourism and its directly and indirectly related jobs. General commerce and industry-mainly in the form of handicrafts, and of processing agricultural products-are the two other major professions in which the Chiang Mai people are involved. |
