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Wat Prathat Doi Suthep on Doi Suthep mountain overlooking Chiang Mai |
About Chiang Mai
For those of you who have never had the pleasure to visit Thailand you may not be familiar with the beautiful mountainous regions of Northern Thailand and the areas largest city Chiang Mai, 2nd in size in the kingdom only to Bangkok.
Prior to joining and becoming a fully incorporated part of The Kingdom of Thailand (then called Siam), Northern Thailand was part of the former Lanna Kingdom, and Chiang Mai it’s capital for much of it’s existence. During it’s golden age the Lanna Kingdom (kingdom of a million rice fields) constituted what is now Northern Thailand along with parts of Laos and Myanmar.
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In 1296 King Mangrai founded Nophaburi Sri Nakorn Ping Chiang Mai ( “New City”) as the new capital for the Lanna Kingdom in the beautiful Ping River Valley at the foot of Doi (Mount) Suthep.
The new city was laid out in a rectangle 1800m by 2000m. Later, a moat was added to mark the boundaries of Chiang Mai and for protection. A wall was built around the city and at each corner a bastion, each with cosmological significance, was built, and the four main gates located on each of the sides faced towards the four points of the compass. Today, with a bit of restoration, much of the old wall still exists and the moat has been transformed to provide a park-like setting around the original city.
In 1932 Chiang Mai officially became a province of Siam (now Thailand) and in 1949 the new name for Siam was officially recognized as Thailand, “the land of the free”.
Today Chiang Mai, known as the “Rose of the North”, has expanded to cover an area of around 10,100 sq meters with a population in the greater urban area of Chiang Mai around 400,00. Chiang Mai has managed to maintain much of it’s unique cultural heritage while becoming a fully integrated modern city, providing all of the same modern conveniences as a larger city like Bangkok. |
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Once a walled city complete with moat for protection, the moat and parts of the old wall still exist... |
Chiang Mai is also home to Chiang Mai University, Thailand’s oldest, largest, and most renowned institute of higher education. Chiang Mai University is acknowledged as the pre-eminent center for study in the North of Thailand.
Relative to Bangkok, Chiang Mai enjoys a cooler climate and a quieter, less frantic lifestyle compare with the 4+ million people in Bangkok and the surrounding suburbs. Yet Chiang Mai is just a short hop from many major metropolitan areas. From Chiang Mai International Airport it is less than an hour to Bangkok and less than 2 to Singapore, both cities being major international hubs for business and travel.
With it’s unique culture, less-hectic lifestyle, modern conveniences, surrounded by the beautiful mountains of Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai is an ideal location to live and work. |
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