Mae Hong Son ( th, แม่ฮ่องสอน, ) is a town (''

thesaban mueang Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

'') in north-west

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, capital of

Mae Hong Son Province Mae Hong Son province ( Burmese: မဲဟောင်ဆောင်; th, แม่ฮ่องสอน, ; Northern Thai: ; Shan: ; formerly called ''Mae Rong Son''), also spelled ''Maehongson'', ''Mae Hong Sorn'' or ''Maehongsorn'', is one of ...

. It is in the

Shan Hills The Shan Hills ( my, ရှမ်းရိုးမ; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous mountain ranges separated ...

, near the border with

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

along the banks of the River Pai. As of 2018, the town had 7,066 inhabitants. The town covers the ''

tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district ('' amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 '' khwaen ...

'' Chong Kham of the Mueang Mae Hong Son district. Mae Hong Son is north of Bangkok and northwest of Chiang Mai.

History

The territory of Mae Hong Son Province was formerly part of

Mawkmai State Mawkmai, also known as Maukme ( my, မောက်မယ်), was a Shan State in what is today Burma. It belonged to the Eastern Division of the Southern Shan States.dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V17_242. ...

, one of the

Shan States The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called '' muang'' whose rulers bore the title ''saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India. The term "Shan States" was fi ...

which had been founded in 1767 by Hsai Khiao, hailing from a noble family of Chiang Mai. As a result of the Anglo-Siamese Boundary Commission of 1892-93 Mae Hong Son district was ceded to

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

,Home News General - Thailand and Britain Swap Boundary Maps
but the adjacent Möngmaü and Mehsakun trans-

Salween , ''Mae Nam Salawin'' ( , name_etymology = , image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar , map ...

districts— also claimed by Siam as territories located on the eastern side of the Salween River— were kept as part of British Burma.Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 17, p. 236.
/ref>

Climate

Mae Hong Son has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Aw''). Winters are dry and warm. Temperatures rise until April, which is very hot with the average daily maximum at . The

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

season runs from May through October, with heavy rain and somewhat cooler temperatures during the day, although nights remain warm. Mae Hong Son holds the highest temperature ever recorded in Thailand when was observed on 28 April 2016.

Temperature

Transportation

Mae Hong Son can be reached by car or bus from Chiang Mai by the Mae Hong Son loop. The town is also serviced by the Mae Hong Son Airport. It is also home to the only commercial Diesel power station in Thailand. The station has only a very small capacity of 4.40 MW (4,400 kW). It seems like it was placed here because of the remote location of the town.

Tourism

The town has some tourist infrastructure, including many guesthouses and several internet cafes. It also has a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

restaurant near the main market. It is a popular jumping-off point for tours to visit

hill tribe Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

villages, caves, and waterfalls in the area. There are also some hot springs nearby. "Thung Dok Bua Tong" in Amphoe Khun Yuam, where the fields of wild sunflowers bloom and cover the hills during the month of November, is best reached from Mae Hong Son and lies some 80 km away.

References

External links

*
Royal Folk Arts and Crafts Training Center Mae Hong Son
{{Authority control Populated places in Mae Hong Son province Cities and towns in Thailand