History of Chiang Mai

Early History

Long before it became one of the most thriving medical tourism destinations in Asia, Chiang Mai enjoyed a reputation as one of the most beautiful regions in Thailand.  Ringed by mountains that shield it from the heat of the lowlands, Chiang Mai is almost the exact opposite of hectic Bangkok.  

The city was founded in 1296 by King Mengrai, at a time when Thailand benefited from massive influxes of Chinese immigrants from the Northeast.  The two biggest kingdoms in Thailand at this time were the Lanna and the Sukothai. Chiang Mai quickly became the capital of the Lanna kingdom, which was spread across Northern Thailand, Laos, and Southern China. 

In the fifteenth century, Chiang Mai became a prominent center for Buddhist culture, and in 1477 the Seventh World Buddhist Conference was held here.  It was also a key market for goods arriving from and going to China and India, though the Yunnan route. 

All this changed in 1557 when the Burmese launched a series of assaults.  Chiang Mai took a long time to recover from the devastation that followed, and spent the next two centuries in a dilapidated economic condition, ignored by the rest of the world.  In 1767, the Burmese attacked again, and this time, they destroyed the Thai capital, Ayuthaya. When Siam finally recovered from the rampage, Chiang Mai began attracting settlers and investments, helping the region to climb out of its economic depression.  The ruler of Chiang Mai pledged allegiance to Siam, and peace returned.  

Modern History

British teak companies had begun sniffing around Chiang Mai’s rich reserves, and they managed to secure grants and trade relief through a combination of treaties and deceit.  Tensions between Christian missionaries, who by this time had entered the city, and the teak companies led to Siam taking control of Chiang Mai in the late nineteenth century.  Through the next few years, the city became closely integrated with Siam, boosted by new railway lines in the mountains encircling the city.  By the time Siam was renamed Thailand in 1949, Chiang Mai was already officially part of the kingdom   

Life continued in an unremarkable fashion until the tourist boom of the seventies. Advances in medical tourism and health care helped the region secure an even strong reputation in the international community (especially among backpackers). Today, Chiang Mai is part of the Thai medical tourism triumvirate, along with Bangkok and Phuket.

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