Geologically in the Daen Lao Range, as in the other southern subranges of the Shan Hills, layers of alluvium are superimposed on hard rock.

Only some hill tribes such as the Wa, Akha, Yao, Lahu, and the Lisu people lived in scattered small villages across the range.

On the side of the range controlled by the Thai government, construction of roads reaching remote areas and increasingly efficient policing ensured a measure of success of the opium replacement programs in recent years.

[10] Owing to the unrest in Burma, the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) and other groups sought refuge and a base for their insurgency in these mountains.

[13] In March 2011 there was a magnitude 5 earthquake in the Burmese side of the range with the epicenter north of Chiang Rai town.