Far East Kingdoms

Mae Hong Son (Shan / Thais)
AD 1874 - 1941

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Modern Thailand occupies much of the Indochinese peninsula in South-East Asia. It is bordered by Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Burma. From the twelfth century onwards Thais expanded outwards, predominantly southwards into the Malay-Thai peninsula. State-building swiftly followed in Early Thailand to create a patchwork of kingdoms and minor principalities.

Mae Hong Son was the name of this Shan-Thai state and also its main city, making it little more than a minor city state. It was located in the Shan Hills in the extreme north-western corner of Thailand, along the border with modern Burma. The state was established in AD 1874 but was quickly incorporated into the kingdom of Siam in 1892.

Its royal line carried the title of partasakti, managing to survive throughout various administrative divisions which were undertaken by a Siam which itself was still consolidating its position in the late nineteenth century. Only in 1941 did the ruling line come to an end, and Mae Hong Son is now a province of Thailand.

Shan people from north-eastern Burma began to exploit the area around 1832, initially for planting seasonal crops. Then they would return to their homes in Burma. They began to settle the area more permanently from about 1856. When a man from Chiang Mai in Lan Na arrived in 1866 to capture and train elephants, the nature of the area changed from one which was purely agricultural.

Mae Hong Son developed into a town which became an elephant training centre as well as a farming community. Chankale (Shangale) was appointed the first ruler of this small state in 1874. He took the name and title 'Phaya Singhanat Racha' ('Praya Singhanartracha').

Today Mae Hong San is popular as a centre for touring the hill tribes and the scenery and caves in the region. It continues to maintain close connections with the Shan state in Burma.

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(Information by John De Cleene and the John De Cleene Archive, from A History of Thailand, Chris Baker & Pasuk Phongpaichit (2005), from Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopaedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Keat Gin Ooi (ABC-Clio, 2004), from Early Mainland Southeast Asia, C Higham (River Books Co, 2014), from Encyclopaedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations, Charles F W Higham (Facts on File, 2004), from Historical Atlas of the World, R R Palmer (Ed, Chicago, 1963), and from External Links: The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, George Coedès (Walter F Vella (Ed), Susan Brown Cowing (Trans), University of Hawaii Press, 1968, and available online via the Internet Archive), and Maehongsonholidays.com, and Thailand (World Statesmen).)

1874

After negotiating a treaty with the United Kingdom which serves to adjust the frontier between Siam and British India, Siam takes the opportunity to expand its authority over Lan Na by appointing a commissioner to function jointly with the royal line.

In the same year the royal commissioner at Chiang Mai (Lan Na) appoints a Shan man named Chankale (Shangale) as the first ruler of a small newly-founded principality by the name of Mae Hong Son. He takes the title 'Phaya Singhanat Racha' ('Praya Singhanartracha').

Current understanding of Tai-Shan origins has them migrating from Yunnan in China, with the majority of today's Shan being descended from the oldest Thai-Shan branch, the Tai Luang ('Great Tai') or Tai Yai ('Big Tai')

1874 - 1884

First ruler of Mae Hong Son on behalf of Lan Na. Died.

1884 - 1891

Wife. Female vassal ruler for Lan Na. Died.

1891 - 1905

Vassal ruler for Lan Na. Died.

1892

Lan Na is formally incorporated into the kingdom of Siam. The royal line nevertheless is permitted to retain power. Lan Na is reorganised to replace the traditional tributary political entities, and further reorganisations follow until 1931.

1905 - 1941

Final vassal ruler, for Lan Na (to 1939) & Siam.

1939

With the death of In Kaeo Nowarat the 'kingdom' of Lan Na and the royal line both come to an end. Siam replaces the position of nominally independent ruler with a governor who is appointed by the royal government in Bangkok.

Wat Phra Kaew is one of modern Thailand's most sacred temples, being located in Chiang Rai, the birthplace of the Lanna kingdom

1941

From about October 1940 onwards, Thailand under the military domination of Lord Plaek Phibul Songkhram begins attacking the eastern banks of the Mekong between Vientiane and Champassak province, intent on creating a pan-Thai empire.

This erupts into a full Thai invasion of Laos in January 1941, but initial victories soon give way to a stalemate when the French colonial authorities of French Indochina win a great naval victory at Ko Chang.

It is around this time in 1941 at which the small principality of Mae Hong Son is fully absorbed into Thailand when its comparatively short-lived royal line comes to an end. The principality is converted into a formal administrative province of Thailand.

Lord Plaek Pibul Songkhram as prime minister (right) and the police chief, Luang Chart, watch a helicopter demonstration in 1950, just twelve years after Songkhram had started to dominate the Thai government