Wiang Prueksa (also spelled Wiang Pueksa; ), also known as Wiang Chiang Saen Noi (), was an ancient polity of the Tai Yuan people, centered at Ban Sop Kham (), in present-day Chiang Saen District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. It comprised a number of settlements that survived the fall of the Yonok Kingdom, traditionally attributed to earthquakes in the late 5th century.
In the mid 7th century, the Tai Yuan people of Wiang Prueksa invited Lao Chakkaraj, a leader of the Lawa people from Doi Tung, to become their new ruler. After ascending the throne, Lao Chakkaraj constructed a new city at Mae Sai and established it as his principal center under the name Hiran Nakhon, marking the beginning of the Ngoenyang Kingdom. This polity later developed into the Lan Na Kingdom, which was formally established in 1292 during the reign of King Mangrai the Great.
Following the fall of Yonok Nakhon and the end of the Singhanati dynasty in the 6th century, a group of survivors led by Khun Lang, together with Khun Phanna and other community leaders, migrated east of the former Yonok capital to establish a new settlement on the western bank of the Mekong River. This settlement became known as Wiang Pueksa or Wiang Prueksa, also referred to as Wiang Chiang Saen Noi ().
The ruler of Wiang Pueksa was not selected through hereditary succession but through public consultation, a process known as pueksa (; ). According to the chronicles, the inhabitants collectively chose their leader, following principles resembling a proto-democratic system, in which each settlement appointed its own governor. In total, sixteen rulers of Wiang Pueksa are recorded in the traditional accounts.
During the same broad period, a new political center emerged in the Doi Tung region under Lao Chakkaraj, regarded as the first ruler of Hiran Ngoenyang Chiang Lao. Lao Chakkaraj consolidated surrounding settlements to form this polity and founded the Lao dynasty, which later became the royal lineage of King Mangrai, the founder of the Lan Na Kingdom.
The list of rulers is derived from the Legend of Singhanati. However, the chronology proposed in the 1973 critical edition of the legend prepared by Manit Vallipodom raises significant historiographical concerns. In this edition, the regnal years of the 16 monarchs are dated between 1558 and 1638 BE (1015âÂÂ1095 CE), based on ManitâÂÂs identification of the years given in the original legend with the Chula Sakarat era. This dating conflicts with other textual traditions, which associate Wiang Prueksa with the era of Lao Chakkaraj, whose reign is conventionally placed in the mid-7th century CE, beginning around 638/639 CE. Moreover, during the period proposed by Manit, the Chiang Saen areaâÂÂthe center of Wiang PrueksaâÂÂis generally understood to have been in the late phase of Ngoenyang, which itself is regarded as the successor polity to Wiang Prueksa.
Interestingly, Phiset Chiachanphong has suggested that the Tá¹Âtëya Era (; ) mentioned in the original legend may belong to the Shaka era (SE). If this interpretation is adopted, the reign of the last ruler of Wiang Prueksa would be contemporary with the beginning of the reign of Lao Chakkaraj, as shown in the final column of the table below.