Hill Tribes
A village of tribesman, with the traditional thatched roofs, in northern Thailand.
A hill tribe is any one of around twenty ethnic groups living in
Northern Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. Most of these groups also exist outside
Thailand, but the term is most often used to refer to the Thai groups. The hill
tribes together number approximately 550,000. Most of them migrated to Thailand
from Tibet, China, Burma or Laos in the 19th and 20th centuries. The main groups
are the Mien (also known as Yao), Karen (Thai Gariang), Akha (Thai Egaw), Lahu
(Thai Musay), Hmong (Thai Meo), and Lisu (Thai Lisaw).
The Thai government has opposed some of the hill tribes’ agricultural practices,
specifically the growing of opium and the use of slash and burn agriculture. Its
campaigns against both of these have met with some success. Similar programs in
Laos have been moderately successful, and these programs are almost non-existent
in Myanmar.
Many hill tribe people now make all or part of their living from the tourist
industry, either by hosting trekkers or by selling handicrafts. The children in
many of the tribes are often dressed in very colorful clothing, and wear
valuable bangles and necklaces. Females from some tribes wear headdresses, which
are bedecked with silver coins and other silver ornaments.
Text from Wikipedia
women carrying yoke style basket
ice cream snacks
changing the tire
a village near the Burmese border
