Then, most of the Lan Na city-states including Chiang Mai, Lampang, and Nan came under Siamese rule.

Chiang Saen became the base for Burmese operations to reclaim the lost dominions in Lan Na.

Prince Kawila held the town for four months until the Siamese relief forces arrived from the south and expelled the Burmese in 1786.

King Bodawpaya of Burma was eager to retake the Burmese lost territories in Lan Na, east of Salween River.

[7] In November 1797, Bodawpaya dispatched the armies with the total number of 55,000 men under the command of Einshe Wun Nemyo Kyawdin Thihathu,[7] who had earlier utterly defeated the Siamese at the Battle of Tavoy in 1794, as the Bogyok.

[7] The two Shan armies intercepted at Chiang Mai and laid siege on the city on all four directions in January 1798.

King Rama I assigned his younger brother Prince Maha Sura Singhanat of the Front Palace to lead Siamese armies to relieve the siege of Chiang Mai in the north.

The Burmese ordered troops from Li to support Lampang, but the effort was futile as they were defeated and the city was taken in April 1798.