Mong Ko
town in northern Shan State, Myanmar
Mong Ko (Burmese: မုံးကိုးမြို့; Chinese: 勐古; pinyin: Měng gǔ), sometimes spelled Mongko or Monekoe and also known as Man Kan, Man Guo and Panglong, is a town in Mu Se Township, Mu Se District, northern Shan State, Myanmar.
Like many towns in the region, Mong Ko is known to be a hotspot for drug production and trade.
Geography
Mong Ko lies by the China–Myanmar border, 25 km east of Pang Hseng (Kyu Koke). There is a border checkpoint in the town. The town on the Chinese part of the border is Manghai in Mangshi county-level city, Yunnan Province.
History
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) entered Shan State on New Year Day 1968, captured Mong Ko, and established the first war zone ‘303’ of the CPB North-East Command (NEC). This was quickly followed by ‘404’ in Kokang substate winning over the local warlord Pheung Kya-shin.
For 20 years Pheung controlled Kokang as a member of the Communist Party of Burma. In 1989, however, the CPB split up and Pheung established his own army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, with which he mutinied and captured Mong Ko town. After this he signed a cease-fire with the military junta, which allowed the Kokang army to retain their weapons, and established an autonomous Kokang region as the "First Special Region" of Myanmar.
The public source identifies “Mong Ko” as town in northern Shan State, Myanmar. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mong, town and northern.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Mong Ko”, the useful work is to connect “town in northern Shan State, Myanmar” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18390960. Authority coordinates are 24.100, 98.300. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1968 and 1989.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mong Ko”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mong Ko primary sources, Mong Ko archive and Mong research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mong Ko” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.