Hilltribes Akha (Ei-Ko)

The Akha are called by the Thai "Ei-Ko" [called by themselves Akha] are the poorest ethnic group in Thailand and are well known to tourists for their extraordinary costumes and exotic appearance. There are approximately 20000 Akha living in Thailand. The Akha originate from Tibet and Yunnan in China. It is generally believed that the Akha originated in the Tibetan Highlands. Over the years they left their homeland and migrated south to Yunnan, North Burma and Laos, and have only recently entered North Thailand, [in the last 150 years].
Newcomers from Burma are constantly arriving. The Akha are historically linked with the ancient Lolo tribes that inhabit South Yunnan. The Akha belong to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family. The Akha are less open to change than many other hilltribes, proudly retaining their old customs. Chiang Rai was the Akha first destination but today you can see them also in Chiang Mai, Lampang, Phrae, Tak and Kampeng Phet. There are about 50,000 Akha people in Thailand.

The Akha are animists and ancestors worshippers. The Akha generally prefer to live along mountain ridges at high altitudes of approximately 1,000 m. In the past, their settlements were limited mainly to the north bank of the Mae Kok river in Chiang Rai province, and they rarely moved south. In more recent times, as a result of population pressure, the Akha began to spread out of the Mae Kok basin in search of better land. The Akha are settled today in less than 300 villages.

The Akha houses are on low stilts, with a large porch leading into a square living area with a stove, usually at the back. The roof is steeply pitched. The Akha village is entered through ceremonial gates, decorated with carvings of "human" life to indicate to the spirit world that beyond here only humans can pass. Outside the gates are wooden sculptures of copulating couples, and the gates may be decorated with a wide variety of "human" artifacts - weapons, tools, and nowadays cars and airplanes. To touch these carvings, or to show any lack of respect, is punishable by fines or the donation of animals for sacrifices. The gates are replaced every year.

The Akha are customarily monogamous. In practice, however, there is no rule which prohibits an Akha man from having more than one wife.

The Akha are shifting cultivators. They cultivate dry rice for consumption and grow corn, millet, peppers, beans, garlic, sesame and other varieties of vegetables as additional subsistence crops. Crop production is often inadequate to meet their needs. Domestic animals, including fowl, pigs and water buffaloes are also raised by the Akha for special feasts and sacrifices.
The Akha place special emphasis upon ancestor-worship and spirit offerings.

In order to supplement their income, many Akha are now selling handicrafts, employing the traditional skills used in making their own clothing and cultural items. Akha men and women produce various decorative items of bamboo and seeds. The men make crossbows, musical instruments, a variety of baskets, and other items of wood, bamboo and rattan.

There is a giant swing in each village presided over by guardian spirits. The four day Swinging Festival, the most enjoyable ceremonial event, in which the headman, followed by the rest of the village, take turns using the swing. The festival is held during mid-August to mid September.
The Akha celebrate their New Year in December for four days.

This tribe is easily recognized by the black caps covered with silver coins, worn by the women. The women's costume is very colorful. The headgear, which is rarely removed, is a conical wedge of white beads interspersed with silver coins and topped with plumes of red taffeta, dressed with a loose fitting black jacket with heavily embroidered cuffs and lapels. The man's costume of plain black pants and a lightly embroidered loose jacket.
Akha women spin cotton into thread with a hand spindle, then weave it on a foot treadle loom. The cloth is dyed with indigo, then sewed into clothing for the family.
Many Akha villages still grow opium, generally not of high quality. Opium addiction, especially amongst the older men, is a serious problem. The King's Royal Project has contributed greatly to the alleviation of this problem.
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Hilltribes Karen

Karen

The Karen,or Yang (called Kaliang or Yang in Thai), belong to the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family. They are found along most of the length of the Thai Burmese border. Their population is about 350,000 in Thailand, with over four million in Burma. This group is the biggest in Thailand.

They are concentrated mainly in Mae Hong Son province, and western areas of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phayao. Karen are to be found also in the provinces of Tak, Kanchanaburi and Phrachuap Khiri Khan, Lampang, Lamphun, Sukhothai, Phrae, Kamphaeng Phet, Phetchaburi, Uthai Thani, Suphanburi and Ratchaburi.

Over the past 200 years they have tended to move eastward away from Burma into Thailand because of political conflicts with the Burmese.

There are four main subgroups:
The main groups are the Sgaw Karen (White Karen who call themselves Pga-gan-Yaw and are the most numerousor ) and the Pwo Karen who are also known as White Karen. The Pa-0 who are also known as Black Karen. The famous Padung, or "long neck" Karen, and the Kayah [ Red Karen].

The Karen costume for women is very attractive and distinctive. Unmarried girls wear loose white V-necked shifts, decorated with Job's Tear seeds at the seams. Married women wear blouses and skirts in bold colors, predominantly red or blue. Men wear blue baggy trousers, with typically red striped shirts, a simplified version of the women's blouses. Black Karen men wear black shirts with a red cummerbund or head scarf. Karen women are skilled in sewing and dyeing, and dress in white blouse sarong combinations with colorful patterns or beads for trim. They wear their long hair tied back in a bun and covered with white scarves.

Karen villages are located in valleys or mountain slops at an average height of 500 metres. Karen houses are not usually large. Adult children usually leave the home when married - there is no extended family housing in most Karen villages. Houses are on stilts, made of bamboo or teak. Central steps lead to a porch, with a store room or kitchen to one side, a living area and bedroom on the other. Beneath the house is a working area, often with a foot operated rice ponder.

The Karen are gentle, peaceful, and cooperative people. The Karen have strict laws against immorality. They are matrilineal societies, so that two married women do not live in the same house. In some villages, the punishment for adultery is death. The village chief has great power over his community, and is regarded as the spiritual as well as the administrative leader. Kinship is traced through the maternal line and residence is matrilocal. The Karen practise monogamy, and most households are nuclear. In all cases, the family represents the most important basic cooperative unit in all domestic affairs.

They, like all the tribes, are skilled farmers who practice crop rotation, and they also hunt for game, with spears and crossbows, and use tame elephants to help them clear land. Karen construct terraced fields for wet rice but are also engaged in swidden cultivation. Rice and vegetables are their major crops. Some Karen grow opium. They raise pigs, chickens, water buffaloes, cattle and elephants. Some animals, mostly chickens, are killed for ceremonial offerings. The Karen use to hire out their elephants or work with them in elephant camps, performing shows for tourists.

Karen are originally animist, but about 25% of Karen living in Thailand have been converted to christianity by western missionaries.
The Karen New Year celebration takes place in January or February.

Hilltribes - Lawa

Lawa

The Lawa or Lua as the northern Thai call them, are found only in Thailand. The history of the Lawa people is long and poorly understood. It is certain that they have inhabited Thailand 800 years ago and they were certainly in Thailand already when the Thais arrived. They believe that they migrated from Cambodia, but some archaeologists think their origins lie in Micronesia, perhaps 2,000 years ago.
The Lawa identify themselves as Lavu'a (La-woe-a). It is estimated that the Lawa people, once known as the Milakkha or Lowa, migrated into the northern region of the Mae Ping valley around 660 A.D. They are of Austro-Asiatic stock and according to protohistorical tradition, they are believed to be the first settlers in North Thailand. They are linguistically closely related to the Mon-Khmer and have largely been absorbed into Thai society.

With such a long history of cohabiting with the Thais (the legendary king Mengrai who unified Northern Thailand was probably half Lawa), there has been large scale integration, so that most Lawa villages are indistinguishable from Thai settlements. However, in an area of about 500 square kilometres, on the Bo Luang plateau, between Hot, Mae Sariang and Mae Hong Son, and in the mountainous area of Umpai, south east Mae Hong Son. They still live a largely traditional life, although even here the majority have adopted Buddhism and Thai style houses.

Unmarried Lawa girls wear loose white blouses edged with pink. Around the neck distinctive strings of orange and yellow beads are worn. The tight skirt is in parallel bands of blue, black, yellow and pink. On marriage, these brightly coloured clothes are replaced with a long fawn dress, but the strings of beads are still worn. The hair is tied in a turban, and it is usual for women to smoke tobacco from a wooden pipe.

With such a long cohabitation with the Thais, most Lawa villages are indistinguishable from Thai settlements and most Lawa speak thai as their first language., but the Lawa language, related to that of the Wa Tribe of Burma, is still spoken in many villages.

The Lawa in Thailand are estimated to be 17,000.

Their economy is based on subsistence agriculture, with rice grown on terraces according to a sophisticated rotation system. The Lawa practise shifting cultivation of the rotational type and are skillful in making wet rice terraces. They are recognised as being the most conservation - minded land users in the highlands.

The Lawa society is similar to that of other tribes in that descent is traced matrilineal and marriage is monogamous. Their society is regarded as, having a dual structure. Most members are classified as Lua or common people. A small group who trace descent from Khun Luang Wilanka, a proto-historical Lua King, are called Kun.

The Lawa are animists and ancestor- worshippers who, like the Thai, combine their traditional beliefs with Buddhism.

Provided by Tourism Authority of Thailand
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Hilltribes - Hmong

Hmong

The Hmong, known in Thailand as Meo [Which is not a nice word], are found in many countries in Sout-East Asia such as Laos, Yunnan and Viet-Nam. The Hmong belongs to the Meo - Yao branch of the Austro - Thai linguistic family. There are about 130,000 [including 60000 refugees from Laos living in camps located near the northeastern border of the country]. The Hmong in Thailand are scattered throughout all of north Thailand.

The Meo peoples are known as the Miao in China, where they number about 5 million. Meo migrated from China into upland Southeast Asia in the 19th century, particularly into Laos, where they numbered less than 200,000 in the early 1990s. The Laotian Meo supported the United States during the Vietnam War. Subsequently, many Hmong were killed by the Vietnamese army, fled to Thailand, or were resettled in the United States. Hmong refugees fled to camps to Thailand when their country came under communist control in 1975.

The Hmong are one of the most spread out minority groups. They are scattered throughout South China in Kweichow, Hunan, Szechwan, Kwangxi, and Yunnan provinces. There are also Hmong communities in North Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and even a few in Burma and in USA and Europe. The Hmong are the second largest group In Thailand after the Karen. and made about 20% of all hilltribes people in the country. The Hmong settlement is concentrated in thirteen provinces : Chiang Mal, Chiang Rai, Nan, Phrae, Tak, Lampang, Phayao. Phetchabun, Kamphaeng Phet, Mae Hong Son, Sukhothai, Pitsanulok and Loei.

The Hmong in Thailand are divided to Three subgroups:

The Blue Hmong (Mong Njua), who are also known as the black Meo, Flowery Meo or Striped Meo in Thai. Women in the subgroup wear the distinctive indigo dyed pleated skirt or kilt with a batik design.
The White Hmong (Hmong Daw). White Hmong women wear a white pleated skirt only on ceremonial occasions, but when engaged in everyday work, they put on indigo-dyed trousers.
The last subgroup is known as the Gua M'ba Meo (Hmong Gua M'ba) which literary means Armband Hmong and only recently entered Thailand from Laos. They are actually a subgroup of the White Hmong. Most are confined to refugee camps.

Around and to the west of Chiang Mai, most of the villages are Blue Hmong, whereas in the east only White Hmong villages can be found.

The Hmong are animists and ancestors worshippers they have a shaman and worship nature spirits. The Chinese influence is obvious in their beliefs and practices. The available information indicates that there are eleven clans in Thailand. The names and origins of these clans are recited in Hmong legends.

The Hmong Specialized as poppy growers and you can see beautiful blossom in some villages [Try Doi Pui village near Doi Sutep in Chiang Mai].

The Hmong prefer to locate their villages at high altitudes of 1,000 -1,200 m. Rice and corn are the main subsistence crops, and opium is the principal cash crop. The Hmong are more heavily engaged in opium production than any other highlanders in Thailand.

The Hmong migrated to Nan Province more then 100 years ago from Laos, but they originated in western China, possibly Mongolia.

Blue Hmong women wear beautiful pleated skirts with parallel horizontal bands of red, blue and white, intricately embroidered. Jackets are of black satin, with wide orange and yellow embroidered cuffs and lapels. The hair is tied in a large bun. Men wear baggy black pants and jackets embroidered in a similar way to the women's, closing over the chest with a button at the left shoulder.

White Hmong women wear black baggy trousers with a long wide blue cummerbund with a central pink area which hangs almost to the ground. Their jackets are simple, with blue cuffs. A brimless blue cap is worn by some groups.

Hmong clothing is much in demand in Thailand, and the Hmong have proved in the last few years to be good business people. Hmong women will be seen at markets throughout Thailand selling their handicrafts. Although like the other tribes generally poor, some families have become quite wealthy.

Hmong villages are usually at high altitudes, below the crest of a protecting hill. The Hmong live in houses that sit right on the ground, not on stilts as do some other hilltribes. However, the main floor of their houses is not at ground level, but rests upon a kind of above-ground basement or root cellar that they use for food storage. Moreover, their house-fronts slope outward and downward, an architectural feature that is the trademark of their villages. Some build the more expensive and comfortable Thai style houses, but in general the Hmong have retained their traditional way of life.

Houses have a dirt floor and a roof which extends almost to the ground. They live in extended families, with two or more bedrooms. There is a large guest platform. The headman has little power, since the Hmong are fiercely independent people who take orders from no one. Before marriage, promiscuity amongst the young is normal. Marriage is followed by a trial period before the bride price is paid. The family is the most important basic unit of social organization and polygon is allowed. Hmong men are expected to do most of the work within the family. Men do the heaviest work, but in practice this means they do little, and expect to be supported by their wives. The Hmong historically grew much opium, and addiction rates in some villages are high, mainly among older males.

The Hmong are strict animists, whose shamans use dramatic methods to contact the spirits. Every house has an altar with a piece of paper covered in cock's feathers affixed with chicken blood. So far there have been few converts to Christianity or Buddhism.

For a long time the Hmong have supported themselves by the cultivation of opium poppy. Most of the Hmong people are turning from opium growing, and are now seeking to market their exquisite needlework in order to supplement their income.

The Hmong , even more than the other tribes, practice a strict male-female division of labor. One custom that especially illustrates this is that of giving a newborn boy a gift of metal from which he will one they forge a weapon, whereas newborn girls receive no special gift.

Hmong women traditionally make clothing for their families from cotton or hemp. Their clothing is richly decorated with magnificent embroidery and silver jewelry.
Blue Hmong women wear beautiful pleated skirts with bands of red, blue and white intricately embroidered. Jackets are of black satin, with wide orange and yellow embroidered cuffs and lapels.
White Hmong women wear black baggy trousers with a long wide blue cummerbund. Their jackets are simple, with blue cuffs.
Hmong men make crossbows, musical instruments, and other items of wood, bamboo and rattan. Many of the men are also skilled in blacksmithing and gunsmith.

The Hmong are diligent and independent people, fond of wearing their silver ornaments during ceremonies and much devoted to the sky spirit they believe has created their own ancient way of life.

The New Year celebration which normally takes place in December is the most important festivity.
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Hilltribes - Taiyai

TaiyaiA trip to Mae Hong Son is a trip into an enchanted land of cloud covered mountains in rich green and a exotic culture that goes back to a time long before recorded history. Tucked into a mid-level valley on Thailand's northwest border with Burma, a small village was founded by migrant Shan farmers in the early 19th century. Long before this, these farmers' ancestors had formed the powerful Nanchao Kingdom of the Tai in southern China. From the beginning of the 7th century to the beginning of the 19th century, these people slowly moved southward, first occupying northern Burma, which became the Shan states, and finally moving across the Loi Lar Mountain Range,(Daen Lao Range) which today separated Burma from Thailand in the northwest corner.The Shan of Thailand's northwest traveled back and forth between Burma and Thailand for centuries before establishing a settlement here. They came annually to work the forest of Mae Hong Son, but they lived in northern Burma. In Thailand, their first settlement was the village of Baan Pong Mu, which they founded in 1831. Over the following decades, their population grew with the borders of Thailand and a town was founded which later became known as Mae Hong Son.These people chose the site for their settlement according to the tradition of their people. The Tai had always preferred a mid-level mountain region that was suited to their traditional array of crops. This meant hillsides at an altitude that would allow very low temperatures in the winter and valley fields below where very hot summer temperatures would give them the rice yields they required. The area also required the essential element of heavy rains for good harvests of both the summer and winter crops.These Shan settlers selected the perfect site when they began to build Mae Hong Son. Winter temperatures went down to as low as 2 degrees Celsius, providing for the needed winter frost on the many greens they planted; summer temperatures, on the other hand, went up to as high as 40 degrees Celsius, providing for the hot tropical climate so necessary to the growing of their rice. In addition, ample rain in the monsoon season between summer and winter provided for natural irrigation of the land.This rare combination of seasonal temperatures in an area far away from any coast gave the Shan settlers the needed climate for productive growth on the rich, fertile mountain land. The altitude, the climbing hillsides, and the dramatic differences in seasonal temperature and humidity also gave the settlement the unique feature of daily clouds of mist that rose from the morning earth and drifted through the paths and later the roads of the town. These Shan were farmers and settlers, and when they happened upon this site they were keenly aware of its suitability for their people.They took up their hoes and ploughs and in their age-old tradition they terraced the mountain hillsides. They planted their crops and took advantage of the wealth of natural vegetation in the wild all around their new settlement. The endless hills of high and healthy bamboo were used for the building of their temporary shelters as well as their livestock corals and storage depots. High, leafy plants were cut and switched for roofing. And the dense forest provided them with their traditional household building material of hardwood. They built their homes and village on the hill and then slowly extended their farming area to the valley below.In their new settlement the Shan supplanted their religious culture of Buddhism, and being a people long affected by the pure Theravada Buddhist principles of Tai civilizations everywhere, they imbued their children with the Buddhist spirit, and they built festivals and ceremonies with them when they came to Thailand's northwest, and each year they continued these joyous festivities in their new home. In their natural mountainside habitat they passed on, from generation to generation, their culture and they made it even stronger. Now they were a new settlement in a new country and they wanted to reconstruct their own world for themselves.They had their sons trained in Buddhist precepts from the ages of 7 to 14 , and they believed that the best way to maintain their well balanced society of self-sufficiency and generally happy nature was to have their sons learn the staying features of life. This tradition remains today. The most colorful, heartfelt Buddhist festivities in Thailand are the lively Shan festivals celebrated in Mae Hong Son.Before Mae Hong Son became a part of Thailand through the Vestiges of the Northern Lanna Province of Chiang Mai in the late 19th century, the Mae Hong Son Shan had Tai kings of their own. Their first king, Phaka Toekshan , built the famous Wat Phra Norn of Mae Hong Son. This was the first temple built in the city and legend has it that King Phaka Toekshan ordered the magnificent 12 - meter reclining Burmese Buddha, housed therein, crafted so that the temple could be constructed around it. Wat Phra Norn is where the ashes of all of Mae Hong Son's Shan kings are buried and today it is easily found just to the west of Mae Hong Son at Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu , the famous temple on the hilltop overlooking the city.In the northern province of Mae Hong Son, along the burmese border, we can find a group of people call themselves "Tai Yai". From the Thai language it is transelated as "Big Thai", opposed to "Tai noi" or "Little THai" which we know as the Thai people of Thailand and Laos.The origin of all the Tai is from south China, but these group is known to migrated many years ago [after the Mongol invasion to Burma in 1238 which brought to end the Burmese kingdom of Pagan] , along the fertile upper valleys of the Salaween, Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers to what is now north Burma, the erea called Shan State, wher theysettled and founded some strong kingdoms, which came to their end with the British conquest of Burma.For many centuries there was a long conflict between the Shan people and the Burmese government for the control of the Shan State. This conflict ended only in recent years, aloowing the shan people some degree of independence .The Shan state of north Burma is somehow independent till today and it gain its fafe thanks to the opium king Kun Sa.The Shan people, or Tai Yai, speak thwir own dialect of Tai language, they are Therawada Buddhist [influenced by Burmese Buddhism], and share many comon aspects with the Tai Noi of Thailand and Laos. In Mae Hong Son, where they arrived in the last 200 years, more of half the inhabitants are Shan. The Shan are wet rice cultivators. They build their houses on stilts and in the centre of a Shan village is a rectangular Buddhist temple complex. Today, the Shan rapidly integrated into the Thai nation state and society. Approximately half the population in Mae Hong Son is still engaged in the agricultural sector, producing rice, soya and garlic.Many religious rituals are unique to the Shan of Mae Hong Son and have become popular tourist attractions. The most popular is the three-day long ordination feastival, Poi Sang Long, held in April. The second in popularity is the processions of elaborate pagoda like structures called Jong Pala, taking place in October. The Shan adapted Thai rituals like the rocket festival, held before rains, and the Bai Si binding.

Hilltribes - Longnecks

LongnecksThe tribe of the "Long Neck Women"The tribe of the "Long Neck " and "Long Ears" Women.There are three Padung villages and all the three are near the Burmese border, not far from the city of Mae Hong Son.The villages areHuei Sua TaoNa SoiNam Pieng DinYou can fly from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son, see one or two villages and fly back on the same day. It is not recommended !!! You better stay at least 3 days in this one of the most beautiful provinces of Thailand - Mae Hong Son. There is much to see in and around the provincial city.The Padung are a sub-group of Karen (Bwe Group) living in Kayah state of eastern Burma on the Thailand border. Their numbor is less than 40,000 people. The Padung call themselves "Lae Kur" or "Kayan". They have their own language belongs to the Kenmic group in the Tibeto-Burman language family.The Karen themseves are not one homogeneous group but rather a loose confederation of heterogeneous and closely related tribes. Among the smallest Karen tribes in Thailand are the Karen Padaung.In Thailand, only a few families of Padaung have settled temporarily as refugees in Muang District of Mae Hong Son Province, living among other hilltribes groups, mostly Karen, and being the one of the main reasons for visiting tourists to that area.The Padung escape from the Kaya State in Burma to Thailand in this century and are actually refugees of a political turmoil. They belong to the Karenni sub-group of the Karen People, which are still fighting for their independence in Burma.The Karen-Padung occupied central Burma before the Burmese arrived from the North and they, together with the ancient Mon, farmed the Irrawaddy and Salween Valleys and built civilizations based on their unique cultures.The Padung women are putting brass rings around their necks. This distorts the growth of their collarbones and make them look as if they have long necks - which they don't. This row of brass rings do not actually stretch their necks but in fact squash the vertebrae and collar bones. A woman generally has about twenty or more rings around her neck. This neck ring adornment is started when the girls are 5 or 6 years old.The rings on the arms and the legs are not quite as prominent as those on the neck simply because the neck rings are so pronounced. However, these rings are just as important. The rings on the arms are worn on the forearm from the wrist to the elbow. Those on the legs are worn from the ankles to the knees, and cloth coverings are kept over most of these rings, from the shins down to the ankles.Other Karen-Padung tribes reside in Phrae Province, and Baan Tha Ton in far north Chiang Mai province [close to Aka's Guest Home 14 km from Baan Tha Ton]. The Karen-Padung in Phrae live in the Wang shin District, in Mae Sin Village, Kang Jai Village and Mae Pong Village. These are in the vicinity of KM 75 on the Phrae-Wangchin Road. The women of. these Karen tribes display their beauty, and their status as married women, by wearing carved elephant tusk in their ears. When a woman is married, her ears are pierced and an elephant tusk of one to four centimeters in length is inserted.During the early stages the ear pieces are quite small, especially for younger women. The weight of the tusks gradually weighs down on the ear lobe and the ear gets larger and larger, and longer and longer. Then larger tusks are inserted and the process repeats itself until the woman's ears become extremely elongated and floppy. The married woman wears these ear pieces for life.The tradition of these Karen - Padung who are sometimes referred to as the "Long-Ears" is one of the oldest of peoples in this part of the world. Long before any of the present day territories were formed by boundaries into nations or countries, the peoples of Southeast Asia, particularly mountain dwellers, practiced a custom known as "Loaded Ears". According to this custom, the ears, being one of the most sacred parts of the body, were an important object of adornment. For beauty in the women and for strength in the men, the ears of both sexes were loaded. Today, among the Karen-Padaung of Phrae and of Burma, this tradition is continued for the female gender only, once married.Unmarried girls in these tribes do not wear the ear pieces, but they do wear white dresses, in contrast to the red and black dresses worn by the married women, and on the backs of their hands a few magical words are written in spiritual languages. These words carry meaning to bless these girls to have a happy life.Most of Padung are animists, but about 10 percent are Buddhists. Now, the number of Christians is increasing because of the Roman Catholic mission. The annual festival for the fertility and prosperity of the whole community is usually held at the beginning of the rainy season. Sacrifices are made to the spirits for good health and bountiful harvests. Rice is the Padung main crop.
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Hilltribes - Palong

PalongThe Palong call themselves "Ta Ang". They belong to the Mon - Khmer branch of the Austro-Asiatic linguistic family. At present the total population of the Palong is about 250,000. There are very few Palong villages in Thailand, all of them came from Burma.In general, the Palong can be found in Burma, in the mountainous north-western corner of the Shan State, in the southern part of the Kachin State, and a few - perhaps 20, 000 - in the ,est of China's Yunnan province. About thousand Palong people are to be found in Thailand, all of them in the northern part of Chiang Mai province along the border to Myanmar (Burma).The Palong are subdivided the Gold (Shwe) and Silverer (Pale) Palong, a distinction based on slight differences their costumes.Their main livelihood is the cultivation of tanatep, a large leaf to wrap burmese cigars, and Tea. Besides tea, the they also grow rice, beans, yams, sugar cane, hemp, chillis and other crops. Both men and women decorate their teeth with gold. They [men and women] smoke tobacco and chew betel nuts.Courtship takes place especially during the tea harvest. Marriages are often conducted several together, followed by a three-day party.Their houses are thatched wooden constructions, raised on stilts.The Palong are easily recognized by the striking custom of their women, red sarong like garments, mostly a blue jacket with red collar and broad silver waistbands. Formerly animist, most Palong have converted to Buddhism. They practice a Shan-type Buddhism mixed with animism, which includes ancestor worship and the celebration of the spirit festival in September.