Hill tribe (Thailand)

[3] In 1959, the government of Thailand established the Hill Tribe Welfare Committee under the Ministry of the Interior; nine ethnic groups (Akha, Hmong, Htin, Iu-Mien, Karen, Khamu, Lahu, Lisu and Lua) were officially recognized as Chao Khao or “Hill Tribes” at that time.

[4] The hill dwelling peoples have traditionally been primarily subsistence farmers who use slash-and-burn agricultural techniques to farm their heavily forested communities.

[5] Popular perceptions that slash and burn practices are environmentally destructive, governmental concerns over borderland security, and population pressure has caused the government to forcibly relocate many hill tribe peoples.

Cultural and adventure travel tourism[7] resulting in visiting the tribal villages is an increasing source of income for the hill tribes.

Viewed as national security threats, hundreds of thousands of them are refused citizenship although many are natives to the land".

For the most part, the Dai/Tai/Thai people occupied the more fertile intermontane basins and the valleys, while the less powerful groups lived in the poorer, higher elevations.

[13] The seven major hill tribes in Thailand are the Akha, Lahu, Karen, Hmong/Miao, Mien/Yao, Lisu, and Palaung, each having a distinct language and culture.

The Akha Way, a prescribed lifestyle derived from religious chants, combines animism, ancestor worship, shamanism and a deep relationship with the land.

King Pan lost countless soldiers and civilian casualties as well as territory to the Chinese emperor.

"Iu Mien people have rights to maintain their identity, language, culture, and worship system and live on the hill side or in the mountain to cultivate land for farming and crops and raise their family.

Iu Mien who possess this document have the legal right to cross all territories and borders to settle and to build their village in the hill/mountain to make a living by farming without hindrance by government.

"[citation needed] After the loss of their nation, the 12 existing clans of Iu Mien people had to separate into small villages due to the mountainous area and foot hill land.

The approximately 320,000 Karen in Thailand comprise half of the country's total hill tribe population.

While the Karen still practice slash-and-burn agriculture like other hill tribes, they differ in that they live in permanent villages at lower elevations and have been aggressive in developing environmentally-sustainable terraced rice fields.