Mong La

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title: "Mong La" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["township-capitals-of-myanmar", "populated-places-in-shan-state", "tourism-in-myanmar", "special-economic-zones-of-myanmar", "china–myanmar-border-crossings", "scam-centers"] topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mong_La" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameMong La
other_nameမိုင်းလား / 勐拉
settlement_typeTown
image_skylinePyitawthar Road, Mong La, Myanmar.jpg
image_captionView of the Triumphal Arch area across the Nanma River in downtown Mong La
pushpin_mapMyanmar
pushpin_label_positionleft
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Myanmar
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameMyanmar
subdivision_type1State
subdivision_name1Shan State
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_name2Mong La District
subdivision_type3Township
subdivision_name3Mong La Township
timezoneMMT
utc_offset+6:30
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m640
::

| name = Mong La | other_name = မိုင်းလား / 勐拉 | native_name = | settlement_type = Town | image_skyline = Pyitawthar Road, Mong La, Myanmar.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = View of the Triumphal Arch area across the Nanma River in downtown Mong La | pushpin_map = Myanmar | pushpin_label_position = left | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Myanmar | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Myanmar | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Shan State | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Mong La District | subdivision_type3 = Township | subdivision_name3 = Mong La Township | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | leader_title = | leader_name = | established_title = | established_date = | area_total_km2 = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_density_km2 = | timezone = MMT | utc_offset = +6:30 | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 640 | elevation_ft = | website = | footnotes = Mong La or Mongla (), also known as Mengla ({{linktext|勐拉}}, ), is the capital of Mong La District and the administrative seat of Mong La Township in Shan State, Myanmar.

Mong La is opposite , a Chinese border town in Yunnan Province, It is about 258 km from the Thai border town of Mae Sai and 80 km north-east of Kengtung, Myanmar.

Although Mong La is in Myanmar, its electricity, telecommunications, other infrastructure, and trade flows are dependent on China. The main currency used in Mong La is the Chinese yuan.

Name

Burmese (မိုင်းလား, ) and Chinese (勐拉, ) are transcriptions of a Tai name spoken as (မိူင်းလႃး) in Shan and (ᦵᦙᦲᧂ ᦟᦱᧉ) in Tai Lue. Local Chinese also refer to the Burmese town as "Little" or "Lesser Mong La" (小勐拉, ) to distinguish it from "Big" or "Greater" Mengla County in China, with a population of over 300,000. in Jinping County on Yunnan's Vietnamese border also bears the same name but is too distant to cause confusion.

History

Mong La emerged from a small remote village in the 1990s to become a local version of Las Vegas. The National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) operates in the Mong La area.

By the 2010s, the area was known as a regional hub for drugs and prostitution. Mong La is located in the Golden Triangle area which is a hub for regional imports of precursor chemicals as well as a site of synthetic drug production. The Sop Lwe river port is an important transit point for both licit and illicit goods along the Mekong River, sitting upstream of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, which is widely identified as a major regional hub for transnational organized crime.

In 1995, the State Law and Order Restoration Council began construction of a replica of Shwedagon Pagoda in Mong La. The pagoda was consecrated in 1997.

Mong La casinos were closed in January 2005 for about a year because of complaints from the Government of China. Mong La has a history of rapid expansion, but in the late 2000s, its economy was in decline. Tourism from Thailand to Mong La resumed in 2012 after the signing of new cease fire agreement between the Burmese military government and the Mong La NDAA in September 2011.

There has been an increase in illegal wildlife trafficking in the region. Mong La has emerged as a significant hub of the pangolin trade; during four visits in 2006, 2009, 2013–2014 and 2015, a total of 42 bags of pangolin scales, 32 whole skins, 16 foetuses or pangolin parts in wine and 27 whole pangolins were observed for sale. Wildlife products from Africa, such as African elephant ivory and white rhino horn, have been observed openly for sale in Mong La, indicating this hub is being used to move such items into China.

There were reports that Chinese company Shanghai Shellpay Internet Technology has planned to construct the Yongbang Blockchain Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Mong La. In February 2019, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar released a statement on the creation of Yongbang SEZ. However, Mong La officials have denied that Chinese firms were permitted to set up a blockchain SEZ in the region.

Gallery

File:Towers under construction in Mong La.jpg|Towers under construction File:No. 5 Unity Street, Mong La.jpg|Skyscraper on No. 5 Unity Street File:Welcome sign into Mong La, Myanmar from Manzhang, China.jpg|Welcome sign coming in from China File:Number Nine Mansion, Mongla.jpg|Mansion in downtown Mong La File:缅甸小勐拉大金塔.jpg|View of Dwenagara Golden Pagoda and Mong La from China File:Dwenagara Golden Pagoda, Mongla.jpg |Dwenagara Golden Pagoda

References

References

  1. [[GoogleEarth]]
  2. link. (21 August 2014)
  3. Michael Black and Roland Fields. "Virtual gambling in Myanmar's drug country".[https://web.archive.org/web/20061019063956/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HH26Ae01.html ''Asia Times''] 26 August 26, 2006
  4. https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/mong-la-myanmar-burma-border-china-prostitution-sex-drug-trafficking-357857-2016-12-16
  5. Berlinger, Joshua. (2021-05-04). "Asia’s multibillion dollar methamphetamine cartels are using creative chemistry to outfox police, experts say".
  6. (2021-05-31). "Chemicals in, Meth Out in Asia's Booming Golden Triangle Drug Trade".
  7. UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. (2023). "Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest developments and challenges".
  8. Berlinger, Joshua. (2020-12-07). "Is an alleged drug kingpin from China investing millions in a port in Laos?".
  9. (November 2009). "Forbidden Glimpses of Shan State".
  10. Williams, China. (15 September 2010). "Thailand". Lonely Planet Publications.
  11. Gorsky, Timothy. "Christmas in Purgatory: Investigating the Illegal Wildlife Market in Mong La, Burma".
  12. (2016). "Pangolin trade in the Mong La wildlife market and the role of Myanmar in the smuggling of pangolins into China". Global Ecology and Conservation.
  13. (2014-11-01). "Emergence of Mong La on the Myanmar–China border as a global hub for the international trade in ivory and elephant parts". Biological Conservation.
  14. (2017). "Rhinoceros horns in trade on the Myanmar–China border". Oryx.
  15. "Mongla Official Denies Chinese Firm Permitted to Set Up Autonomous Digital Economic Zone".

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township-capitals-of-myanmarpopulated-places-in-shan-statetourism-in-myanmarspecial-economic-zones-of-myanmarchina–myanmar-border-crossingsscam-centers