A Look at the Region's Past--In the late 13th century, King Mengrai united several Tai tribes that had migrated from southern China and built the first capital of the Lanna Kingdom in Chiang Rai. Mengrai, whose brilliant rule was characterized by strategic alliances, saw a threat in the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan's incursions into Myanmar (Burma) and quickly forged ties with the powerful Kingdom of Sukhothai in the south. The Lanna Thai king moved swiftly to consolidate his position when he vanquished the vestiges of the Mon Empire in Lamphun (Nakorn Hariphunchai), and in 1296 moved his new capital south to what is now Chiang Mai. There is a monument to King Mengrai, across from Chiang Mai's Wat Phan Tao, where he is said to have been struck by lightning and killed in 1317.
For the next century, Chiang Mai prospered and the Lanna Kingdom grew, absorbing most of the present-day northern provinces. In alliance Chiang Mai and Sukhothai were able to repulse any significant attacks from Khmer and Mon neighbors. After the ascendant of Ayutthaya absorbed Sukhothai, Ayutthaya forces tried repeatedly to take Chiang Mai, but the kingdom did not yield. Instead, Chiang Mai strengthened itself, and from the late 14th century until its eventual fall to the Burmese in 1556, it enjoyed tremendous affluence and influence.
After 2 centuries of relentless warfare, the Burmese captured Chiang Mai in 1556, and for the next 2 centuries the Lanna Kingdom was a Burmese vassal -- the Burmese cultural influence is still evident today. After Siam's King Taksin recaptured Chiang Mai from the Burmese in 1775, the city was so weakened that Taksin moved its surviving citizens to nearby Lampang. For 2 decades Chiang Mai was literally a ghost town. Though the city was still nominally under the control of local princes, their power continued to decline, and in 1939, Chiang Mai was formally incorporated into the modern Thai nation.
