CHIANG RAI

also spelled Chiengrai, town, northern Thailand. Chiang Rai lies at an elevation of 1,150 feet (350 m) in the basin of the Kok River, near the Khun Tan Range. It has an airport with scheduled flights, and road connections lead south to Lampang and north to Myanmar (Burma) and the Laotian border. It is a trading centre dealing in teak, coffee, and rice. The town was once the walled capital city of an independent principality. The well-known Emerald Buddha, now in Bangkok, was at a temple in the town until 1436, when it was removed to Chiang Mai. The surrounding mountainous region has a historic orientation to the north, which was somewhat altered by the completion of the southern highway in the 1920s; its population still shows strong cultural ties to Laos, reinforced by Laotian immigration. Rice and tobacco are the major crops, and there are numerous rice mills. Pop. (1986 est.) 37,847.