Nowadays the ancient northern Thai Kingdom of Lan Na - literally the ‘One Million Rice Fields’, together with its capital, the venerable city of Chiang Mai, is very much an integral part of the Thai polity. It was not always so, however. Union with Siam took place just two centuries ago, and Bangkok's absolute control was not fully established until the first decades of the 20th century. Five centuries ago, in the time King Tilokarat (1441-87), Lan Na was independent and enjoying a golden age. To the east lay the Kingdom of Lan Chang, or ‘One Million Elephants’, centred on modern Laos. To the south Ayutthaya flourished as the capital of Siam, whilst to the west the Kingdoms of Pegu and Ava were twin centres of Burma's burgeoning influence and strength.
Relations between Burma and Thailand are as old as the history of the two peoples in mainland Southeast Asia. When the Tai first began to settle in the Lan Na region, they found the Mon ruling over the local Lawa people from their capital at Haripunchai - today the quiet provincial capital of Lamphun, probably the oldest continually inhabited city in Thailand.
The Lan Na Kingdom was founded by King Mangrai in the mid-13th century. Mangrai subdued the local Mon and founded his new capital at Chiang Mai on April 18, 1296. He went on to establish friendly relations with Burma when he travelled to the court of King Suttasoma of Pegu. King Suttasoma cemented this alliance by giving Mangrai his daughter, the Lady Phai Kho, in marriage. According to the Chiang Mai Chronicle: 'the two rulers met at the Asa River, and feasted their retainers with food and drink, and staged great entertainments for three days and three nights. They pledged their undying friendship in every way'. The Chronicle also notes that the King of Phukam - later to become Ava - in Upper Burma was also on good terms with Mangrai, and sent five hundred families of artisans, including silver, gold, bronze and iron smiths, as a gift of friendship to the Lan Na court.
For the next two and a half centuries Lan Na flourished as an independent state, trading and exchanging goods and ideas with neighbouring countries. Links were established with distant Sri Lanka via the Burmese port of Martaban, and Theravadan monks travelled between the great Buddhist centre of Anuradhapura and Chiang Mai. As a result of these links, in 1477 King Tilokarat sponsored the 8th Buddhist World Council at Wat Chet Yod - then just outside Chiang Mai, today well within the city confines beside the Superhighway. Delegates travelled to the council from Burma, Sri Lanka and all over the Buddhist world. Lan Na was in its prime, a recognised regional power able to treat on equal terms with both Burma and Siam.
Of course, there were wars too. The kings of Chiang Mai were under constant pressure from the Siamese to the south, and during the century of decline which followed the death of Tilokarat in 1487 suffered attacks not just from Ayutthaya, but also from Yunnan, Shan State, Laos and even Vietnam. For strategic reasons, the armies of Pegu did not take part in these generalised attacks until King Bayinnaung succeeded in subduing Upper Burma and the Shan region in the late 1550s. From this time on, however, Bayinnaung became the main player in the region, and by 1558 the whole of Lan Na was in his hands.
For the next two centuries Chiang Mai was a tributary of Burma. Unlike the Siamese, the people of Lan Na generally do not retain bitter memories of Burmese conquest. Judging by the chronicles, when a suzerain was just and his rule generous, the Northern Tai would support him even against the Siamese. In the beginning, this was indeed the case. As the Chiang Mai Chronicle records, 'The Burmese did no ill or oppression of any sort'. Later, however, as conditions deteriorated, resistance began to develop - though to little or no avail. Only after the armies of Burma had devastated Ayutthaya in 1767 did Chao Kawila, Lord of Lampang, decide to throw in his lot with the Siamese. As a result, on the 14th February, 1775, a joint Lan Na-Siamese army seized Chiang Mai and began the process of uniting the Lan Na Kingdom with Siam.
Visitors to Chiang Mai today do not have to look far for reminders of the city's long links with neighbouring Burma. Unfortunately, little remains from the two hundred year period of direct Burmese rule. This is hardly surprising - when Chao Kawila entered the city in 1775 he found it depopulated and impoverished as a result of the long years of war. Not until March 1797, did Kawila re-establish the city and set about rebuilding it. The restored brick bastions and moats that encompass the Old City date from this time, as do the city's outer earthen ramparts in their present form. To this extent they are a link with Burma, but only in so far as they managed to keep the armies of Ava at bay.
Fortunately, even in times of war the armies of Southeast Asia's great Buddhist nations generally considered religious buildings sacrosanct. Because of this, at least one legacy of the original Burmese administration survives. In 1565, just seven years after Bayinnaung's conquest, the Burmese military commander in Lan Na had a huge bronze Buddha image cast, in cooperation with Queen Wisutthithewi of Chiang Mai. It was named ‘Phra Buddha Müang Rai’, doubtless in honour of King Mangrai, the city's founder. The image has survived the intervening centuries, and today can be seen at Wat Chai Phra Kiat on the north side of the Old City's central Ratchadamnoen Avenue, not far from Wat Phra Singh. It is in Lan Na style, and so was certainly cast by local artisans.
Wat Ku Tao, to the north of the Old City by the old sports stadium, is another survivor from the years of Burma's suzerainty. Here, within an unusual chedi formed like five inverted alms bowls, are believed to lie the ashes of the first Burmese ruler of Chiang Mai, King Nawrahtaminsaw (1578-1607). Another stupa from this period is Chedi Khao, the ‘White Chedi’. Standing by the banks of the River Ping near the gates of the United States Consulate, it now serves as a roundabout at the junction of busy Wichayanon and Wang Sing Kham Roads. According to legend, this chedi commemorates a trial of will between a Burmese soldier and his Lan Na opponent. Once, when Burmese armies stood at the gates of the city, it was decided to settle the issue by single combat. Whichever army's champion could stay under water longest would decide the victory. Both sides chose their best swimmers, but once beneath the waters of the River Ping the Lan Na volunteer tied his clothing to a rock. He thus won the contest at the cost of his life, and Chedi Khao still stands in his honour.
The recapture of Chiang Mai by Kawila in 1775 may have ended Burma's control over Lan Na, but it certainly did not end the relationship between the two neighbours. All through the 19th century Burmese nationals settled in Chiang Mai and other cities of north Thailand to take part in the region's expanding teak logging industry. Many became rich as a result, and some invested their profits in acts of merit-making. The most vivid surviving reminders of Burmese influence in Chiang Mai date from this period, and are well worth visiting.
In the south-east corner of the Old City stands Wat Myanmar, a fine example of a 19th century Buddhist temple which would not look out of place in Mandalay. This temple is associated with the lowland Burman tradition in the city, and pictures of Shwedagon and Sule Pagoda adorn the walls. Further to the east, on the north side of Chang Moi Road in the commercial heart of Kawila's new city, may be found Wat Dok Kham, also closely linked to Burma, but in this case with the Pa-o people from Shan State. Once again the buildings are markedly non-Lan Na in style, more redolent of Taunggyi than of Chiang Mai. Finally, just to the north-east of the Old City, in an area of Shan settlement near Sanam Kila Road, Wat Pa Pao remains the spiritual heart of the Shan community in Chiang Mai. A venerable building with time-warped walls and leaning gateways, this is the oldest of the city's temples linked with Burma. Nearby, at Wat Chiang Eun, a recently-restored octagonal Shan pagoda shelters a Mandalay-style Buddha. In the tea shops and restaurants of this area one can enjoy Shan noodles and even lapet pickled tea. Afterwards, should the mood strike you, why not try a Burma cheroot from the plentiful supplies available at Chiang Mai's Kat Luang (Warorot) Market? Here too you may find lungyi or sarongs from Mandalay, Lashio and even Mytkyina. After all, Burma isn't so very far away!
Text by Andrew Forbes, images by David Henley. © CPA Media, 2007
