Chiang Mai Hilltribes

The people that inhabit the hills of Northern Thailand have long been a curiosity for visitors to the kingdom. Living a life apart from the lowland Thais, these migratory people seem trapped in a time warp stretching back to the middle ages.

Until recently the mountains of Chiang Mai and adjacent provinces were almost empty of human habitation. The Thai and associated groups, like the Shan and Thai Lue, inhabited the valleys but left the hills to nature. Oppressed by authority, population pressures, or just an extension of a nomadic way of life, the hilltribes gradually moved in to the north of Thailand and occupied and exploited this empty land. Most of this immigration has occurred within the last hundred years.

There are two notable exceptions; The Karen have lived on the northern and western Borders for about 300 years, and the Lawa or Lua were in and around Chiang Mai before the Thai arrived 700 years ago.

The Hmong (Meo), the Akha, the Lahu (Muser), the Lisu, and the Yao (Mien) are all relatively recent arrivals.

Very recently military oppression by the Burmese has meant an influx of more minorities into the border areas where they seek sanctuary. They are mostly Karen and affiliated tribes, the most notable being the Padaung, whose women stretch their necks with brass rings.

Probably the least known of the northern Thailand mountain minorities the Lawa are probably the most interesting. The Lawa were the first people to inhabit the Chiang Mai valley in historic times and are referred to in myth and legend.

The 'Phu Sae Ya Sae' or 'grandfather, grandmother' spirits ceremony in which the 'good' represented by Buddha, overcomes 'evil' represented by a medium in a 'cannibalistic' trance, is still performed annually every June near Chiang Mai city and has its origins in ancient Lawa ritual. Ancient grave sites and remnants of old settlements indicate a sophisticated people inhabited the area before the Thai arrived seven hundred years ago.

Today the Lawa have either fully assimilated into Thai society as in some villages in the the Chiang Mai city area and only retain some of their language, or they have been marginalized into 'hilltribe' villages in the Mae La Noi and Mae Chaem ares. They might sometimes be seen in the market at Mae Sariang. These 'hilltribe' Lawa are mixing and intermarrying with the neighboring Karen.

They are not migratory, like many of the hilltribes, but live in settled villages that have been there for sometimes hundreds of years. They cultivate wet padi rice and sell vegetables and forest products to the local markets.

In dress they are similar to the Karen except the women wear a short sarong with a 'lightning' pattern, wear a lot of brightly colored beads around their necks, and can occasionally be seen with black lacquered leg bands made of cane. Their language is of the Mon-Khmer group and they have many rituals and spirits of which the Karen are very afraid.