Chiang Khong

Chiang Khong is village by the river in the Chiang Rai Province of Northern Thailand. The village is a pit stop for travelers crossing the Mekong River to Laos. In AD 701, Chiang Khong was part of the small city-state founded by King Mahathai. Juon, as it was originally called was occupied by the Siamese in the 1880s. Chiang Khong extended to the Yunnan Province in China until the French turned Mekong’s northern bank into French Indochina a decade later. Present-day Chiang Khong is a village with a busy market, many temples and a popular Giant Catfish festival held annually every April. A friendship bridge was built in 2013 to join the Laos and Thailand border.