Place:Chiang Mai, Thailand

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Chiang Mai is the largest Province (changwat) of Thailand. It lies in upper northern Thailand. It is bordered by Chiang Rai to the northeast, Lampang and Lamphun to the south, Tak to the southwest, Mae Hong Son to the west, and Shan State of Burma to the north. The capital, Chiang Mai, is north of Bangkok.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Chiang Mai the capital of Chiang Mai province was capital of the Lanna Kingdom after its founding in 1296, during the same period of time as the establishment of the Sukhothai Kingdom. From then, Chiang Mai not only became the capital and cultural core of the Lanna Kingdom, it was also the centre of Buddhism in northern Thailand and King Meng Rai built innumerable temples.

In 1558, Chiang Mai became a colony of the First Toungoo Empire. Chiang Mai remained its colony for more than 200 years, until in the Burmese–Siamese War (1775–1776). In 1774 the Burmese colonial regime were finally driven out of Chiang Mai by a coalition of Lanna and Siamese forces and it then became a tributary state of Siam, which later installed a Lanna chieftain ally, Kawila, to independently rule over Lampang and Chiang Mai region as a monarch.

In the reign of King Rama V of Siam, under his administrative centralization policy and due to inept of Chiang Mai ruling family, Chiang Mai eventually lost her independent, was annexed and became a second level subdivision of Siam as an administrative unit of Monthon Phayap, the remains of the Lanna Kingdom, was dissolved.

From 1933 on, Chiang Mai received its status as a "province" of Siam and remained so until the present day.

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