Cooking Pleasure - Travel & Food: Chiang Rai - Places to Visit [King Mengrai's Monument]

Sunday, November 09, 2014

Chiang Rai - Places to Visit [King Mengrai's Monument]

King Mengrai's Monument

Location - city center of Chiang Rai, Muang District

Behind the monument of King Meng Rai you can find the starting point of the tram that goes around the 9 most important tourist attractions in Chiang Rai. Departure at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. It is free (information: 053 600 570).

The monument of King Mengrai, the first great king who founded Lanna Thai kingdom. He was the ruler of Nakhon Hiran Ngoen Yang [an ancient town off Chiang Saen] before Chiang Rai was established as the administrative centre in 1262. He consolidated his power by merging the different city-states in the North and founded the Lanna Thai Kingdom in 1296 with Chiang Mai as the capital.

The statue of King Meng Rai here is highly venerated by locals. A successful and well remembered life.

Meng Rai spent his adult life fighting battles against dominant powers, against local Thai rulers who did not understand his ambitions and in the construction of towns, cities, temples and economic infrastructure.

The Lanna Kingdom was to continue to exist as an independent state through to the 15th century, with good and bad times. At that stage it came under Burmese rule. Following this it was liberated and its lands eventually became part of the modern Kingdom of Thailand. The King himself died in 1317, a long life.

This life-sized statue is located in the front grounds of the "Fort Mengraimaharat Hospital" [Fort Meng Rai the Great Hospital]. The statue depicts the King in his iconic pose: regal attire, sword in his left hand, a crown. The statue stands on a plinth, with a biographical inscription. The plinth rests on a dais in a small, landscaped area. As with most public statues in Thailand this is also a shrine where locals would come by to pay their respects to the King.
Lots of beautiful flowers surround the monument grounds.