Country, circuit or people · Ngoenyang, the Tai muang of the Mekong bend · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Kok valley

A muang is a rice valley with a stockade at the head of it, and this is the valley: the Kok feeds Ngoenyang and carries its boats toward the Mekong.

A Tai valley is a muang: one rice plain, a stockade or moated town at its head, and a chao (lord) with his kin and officers over the villages. The weirs and ditches (muang fai) are kept by the village communities in later Tai custom; nothing dated for 1200 describes this valley's assemblies, so none is claimed. In 1200 the bend where Chiang Rai will stand is villages, paddy and a good defensive knoll.

Who holds it

Title
Village headmen of the Kok under the phaya of Ngoenyang
Since
not known
Born
not known
Confidence
low

Overlord

the phaya of Ngoenyang (likely)

What it holds

  • The rice of the Kok valley
  • The boat road toward the Mekong

Allies and rivals

Ngoenyang (the seat); Wiang Pa Pao and Fang west; Phayao south.

How things stand that morning

Villages and paddy in Ngoenyang's orbit; no dated event.

Wealth

Wet rice and river traffic.

Threats

  • None dated

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1262Mangrai founds Chiang Rai at the Kok bend.Depends on: His succession (1259 or 1261). Stopped by: A rival heir.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The campaign board and the later chronicles.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: A polygon along the valley floor.

Primary sources for Ngoenyang

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • The later Tai, Lao and Mon chronicles of the north, Ratanapanna (Jinakalamali); Bodhiramsi (Chamadevivamsa); anonymous monks and court scribes (the Chamadevivamsa about 1410; the Jinakalamali 1516 to 1528; the Chiang Mai Chronicle in its surviving form 1827; the Nithan Khun Borom 16th to 17th century). There is no text of 1200 for the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya, the Tai muang of Ngoenyang (Chiang Saen), Chiang Rung, the Yom and Nan valleys, or the Lao middle Mekong.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia, Ngoenyang (chronicle king lists and their disagreement)
  2. Wikipedia, Mangrai (dates and the Chiang Mai Chronicle)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.