The Thai name for the Shan people is Thai Yai, meaning great or big Thai. Indeed though possessing distinct cultural traits, a very separate history and inhabiting adjacent rather than overlapping regions, the Shan people are a part of the greater Tai* ethnic family -- which also includes Lao, Tai Lu, Black Tai, White Tai and numerous other subgroups, including Chiang Mai's Northern Thai.

Shan girl, near Pindaya, Burma.

Dialects are remarkably homogenous throughout these groups and there's a chance a Shan would be able to make themselves understood (at least for the basics) to another speaker in the Tai grouping whether in Kota Bharu, Dien Bien Phu, Jinghong or Khon Kaen. Burmese Shan are of course heavily influenced by the Burmese language while Thai Shan have adopted many Thai words.

Shan, as with all Tai groups, originated in what is now Southeast China. They were undoubtedly formerly little distinguishable from Tai Dam, Lao and so on, though a millennium of relative isolation on Burma's Shan Plateau has led to their cultural distinctiveness. Two differing views by ethnologists have the Shan either migrating westwards over the last thousand or so years from a common Tai staging post in Vietnam's Dien Bien Phu region, or migrating directly southwards along the Salween Valley from today's Yunnan province.

A village inhabited by ethnic Tai, or Dai as they are locally known, near Jinghong, Yunnan.

In Thailand it's likely that Shan groups have inhabited the mountains of Mae Hong Son province for a long period of time and the "Siamese" or lowland Thai are relatively recent migrants to northern outposts such as Pai, Mae Hong Son town and Mae Sariang.

The sparse population in these rugged mountains has been considerably supplemented in recent times by Shan refugees escaping both the Burmese army and forcible conscription into the Shan State Army. Note also that infamous Shan warlord Khun Sa had his headquarters in Hin Tek village near Chiang Rai's Mae Salong.

A former battleground: the hills of Mae Salong, looking towards Ban Hin Tek.

Indeed Khun Sa almost single-handedly built up the Golden Triangle's reputation during the 1960s and 70s with his involvement in the opium trade and drugs wars with the rival Kuomintang (KMT). Mae Salong was one of the outposts where the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang Army was permitted to seek refuge after their defeat to the Chinese communists, Pai and Fang being others. (The CIA notoriously regarded the drug-funded private armies of both the KMT and Khun Sa as anti-communist bulwarks so turned a blind eye to their dealings -- see the fascinating The Politics of Heroin by Alfred McCoy.)

Golden Triangle poppy field in northwestern Laos.

Today Shan can be found across Mae Hong Son, in certain northern parts of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces and in both lowland towns and upland villages.

Shan-style temple, Mae Sariang.

Thai Shan are mostly Buddhists, with elaborately rooved Shan temples a feature of many northern villages, and they are now very integrated into Thai society and culture.

Another Shan-style roof near Mae Hong Son.

You may see more recent arrivals with the Burmese ground bark face powder (thanaka) but they are otherwise clad the same and indistinguishable from their Thai neighbours.

Shan woman near Taunggyi.

Shan villages are sometimes included in trekking itineraries -- it puts another ethnic group on the tick list -- but visits are only really recommended if you have a good guide who can talk you through their fascinating history. Be warned that you won't get pretty pictures of exotic costumes.

However if you wish to visit a Shan village by your own means, an easily accessible, very traditional and picturesque Shan village in northern Thailand is Mae Lana near Soppong in Mae Hong Son province.

*Tai refers to the wider ethnic group while Thai describes the inhabitants of Thailand.

Tags: Black tai, Chiang Rai, Dien Bien Phu, Fang, Khun Sa, Kuomintang, Mae Hong Son, Mae Lana, Mae Salong, Mae sariang, Pai, Pindaya, Shan Plateau, Shan State Army

After looking at the background to the Kayan or "Long Neck Karen", we'll now deal with the question of "Should you visit the Kayan or "Long Neck Karen" by looking at some of the specific pros and cons, and arguments for and against visiting the villages where these people live.

Where's the zoo?

For us, one of the biggest problems is the actual status of the Kayan in Thailand, which is far from clear and indeed seems to change according to Thai authorities as to how it suits them best. We would maintain that most Kayan in northern Thailand, as with Burmese Mon, Karen and Shan in camps in Kanchanaburi and Tak provinces are fleeing fighting between the respective armed wings of their autonomy/independence movements and the government armed forces, or oppression by the Burmese army.

This is a simplified way of looking at things and there is also inter-group fighting -- for instance between the pro-government Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the predominantly Christian anti-government Karen National Union (KNU) as well as the Wa and Shan. Some fighting is certainly over control of the lucrative drugs trade plus some minority peoples are fleeing from being recruited into their respective ethnic groups' armed forces some of whom are distinctly young.

Worryingly, when the UNHCR began offering resettlement in third countries for some Kayan refugees, the Thai authorities refused, claiming that they were economic migrants and not real refugees, so therefore ineligible for resettlement. They had to remain in their tourist villages. (See more details here.)

Refugee camp on the Thai/Burma border near Mae Sot (this photo from mid 90s, camp has since burnt down)

Also distressing is the fact that "regular" or non-"long-neck" Karen refugees fleeing over the border as Burmese troops burn their villages are reported to sometimes be refused entrance into Thailand and unceremoniously shoved back across the border to face advancing Burmese forces -- apparently they are not tourist-worthy, while a woman crossing the border with neck rings is welcomed with open arms.

Mon and Karen refugees allowed to cross the border live in vast, sometimes squalid refugee camps, while the Kayan are permitted to live in traditional style villages -- again for tourism purposes.

A second major area of controversy are the rings themselves. The drastic stretching of the neck bones and muscles and pressure on the shoulders, collar bones and vertebrae caused by the wearing of such rings is a form of fairly severe self-mutilation (although medical opinion as to the long-term affects does seem to vary). Yes, it is traditional among the Kayan, but then genital mutilation of girls in certain north and central African countries is traditional too yet clearly abhorrent. Note also that traditionally it is relatively rare for girls to wear the neck rings, and many Kayan women pass their whole lives without ever wearing any. It's usually reserved for girls born under certain auspicious conditions if we understand correctly, whereas reports are that many Kayan girls in Thai villages are under pressure to wear the rings.

The real attraction of trekking in Thailand.

Note while some medical opinion states that removal of the rings is impossible since the neck muscles can no longer support the head, we have seen reports of Kayan women removing their rings and not dropping down instantly dead. (Some women reportedly removed rings in protest at the rejection of UNHCR resettlement offers.)

Yes, the Kayan may be better off in these tourist villages earning a relatively reasonable living rather than being caught in the cross fire between Burmese and Karenni troops but there is, as we've seen above, a lingering suspicion that, whether they do like it or not, they are more or less confined by Thai authorities in what do amount to human zoos.

Apart from the political, ethical and medical reasons outlined above, many people simply do not feel comfortable when they're actually in such villages. Yes, it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but when faced with a bunch of bored, listless, "deformed" girls and women selling tatty souvenirs and looking for tips by posing for pictures, things can start to feel very uncomfortable. Going with a guide can be hit and miss as well, since you've got as much chance of getting a sympathetic guide who can help provide some meaningful interaction with the locals as you have of getting another who's just going through the motions, wants to get their tip and clear out of the dirty village to the nearest karaoke bar.

Many foreign-run tour companies do not condone trips to long-neck villages (and indeed my north Thai-based tour company All Points East actively boycotts the villages, since it clearly isn't compatible to any responsible tourism ethic), though many Thai-based companies are much less discriminating.

Sunset over the Yuam river, Mae Sariang.

We've not been able to identify many pros -- but if you do wish to visit, at least have a think before you go. Numerous articles are around elsewhere on the web in favour of visiting or listing the pros of seeing the villages, such this one; so it's up to you of course, but certainly plenty of other things to do in Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai beckon instead.

Tags: Burma, DKBA, Kanchanaburi, karen, Kayan, KNU, Long Neck Karen, Mon, Shan

I won't add this post to the "see and do" category, but being a generally positive sort of person I won't add a new "don't see and do" post category either for what is one of North Thailand's more contentious "tourist attractions". We'll try and highlight a few of the pros and cons of visiting the Kayan or "long neck Karen" in their "villages" and leave it up to you and your own consciences to decide. This is a complex issue and we don't want to skimp on the background, so we'll have two posts: this one is an overview of the people, and in the next part we'll look at the pros and cons of visiting.

Long legged Karen girl, Doi Inthanon.

Now firstly, the name. "Long Neck" is kind of inevitable since the main distinguishing feature of this ethnic group is undeniably the ring-extended necks of some of the group's women and girls, but Karen is not strictly accurate. They are in fact a subgroup of a subgroup of a subgroup of an ethnic group -- if that's clear? They belong to the Kayan Lahwi of the Kayan minority, who are a part of the Karenni (or Red Karen), who are obviously an element of the larger Karen family. (Okay, so they are Karen then!)

They are also known as the Padaung, which is the name the Shan people have given them, but which apparently they're not very keen on. (We assume it's derogatory in some way -- as for instance, the Thai name Meo for the Hmong people is considered by them to be pejorative.)

Secondly, we have stretched a point by placing them in the North Thailand's ethnic minorities category as well, since they are not a people who are at all indigenous to Thailand. They originate, in recent times at least, from Burma's Kayah State, located southwest of Shan State between Lake Inle and Mae Hong Song province of northwest Thailand. (Indeed some Kayan Lahwi have now resettled of their own accord around Lake Inle in order to take advantage of the tourism boom at that popular destination.) Although strictly speaking all "hill-tribe" groups in Thailand, with the exception of the Karen, have migrated into the kingdom over the last century or so due to problems in Yunnan, Burma and Laos, so they are just older refugees themselves, even if many now have Thai citizenship.

Thai/Burmese border at Tha Ton.

Those Kayans moving to Thailand over the last couple of decades have done so of their own accord only in the sense that they are fleeing fighting  between the Karenni National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF) and the Burmese military -- Thai Kayans have refugee status only and all Kayan villages in Thailand are de facto refugee camps.

Currently there are thought to be some 1,000 or so Kayan refugees living in several villages in Mae Hong Song province. One is near Tha Ton in the Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai border area and another located more recently to Chiang Mai's Chiang Dao district. Cynics point out that the latter's relocation is very convenient for nearby Chiang Mai's tourist industry.

Entrance fees are charged to tourists wishing to visit these villages. We haven't been recently but last time we looked it was around 250 baht per person (see our earlier brief Mae Hong Son post), though often this would be incorporated into a price for a day tour package.

There are varying accounts as to where the money ends up, and maybe it depends on which village, but generally speaking the fees are split between the local authorities, the villagers themselves and usually an intermediary local businessperson; some reports claim a cut also goes to the KNPLF.

Next post: So should you visit?

Tags: Chiang Dao, hill-tribes, karen, Karenni, Mae Hong Son, responsible tourism, Shan State, Tha Ton

An Akha village just off the road between Tha Ton and Mae Chan, close to the turn off for Mae Salong in northwest Chiang Rai province, Ban Lorcha is also the site of a community-based tourism scheme run by the Population & Community Development Association (PDA). This pilot project aims to create a sustainable tourism strategy and alternative model of tourism development for hill-tribe villages. To quote the PDA:

" ...tourism activities to hill-tribe villages have been characterized as short stops to a group of houses and stalls selling souvenirs that are not even made in that village. This kind of tourism activity is so contrived that tourists feel they are not learning anything about the people they are visiting. Often there is no contact between tourists and villagers. In this type of activity villagers selling trinkets and souvenirs often harass tourists, taking photos of hill-tribe women is often followed by upturned open palms asking for compensation for the pictures taken... "

..a bit generalised but fair enough. (Read more about the PDA here.)

Ban Lorcha, Akha girls.

There's a nominal entry fee -- 30 0r 40 baht if we remember correctly -- which goes towards the community scheme as well as a fund to set up further schemes in other villages. And yes, there is a large souvenir shop at the entrance to the village, however all items sold come from Ban Lorcha itself and you are able to browse hassle-free. There's usually traditional dancing on show and weaving displays that might seem slightly contrived (because they are), but as the PDA points out, you'd be unlikely to see these under normal circumstances without spending days in a village or fortuitously turning up during some ceremony or another.

Some slightly contrived, but nonetheless interesting, traditional dancing.

Hill-tribe village visits can be problematic: some agents and guides are still very exploitative (see in particular the human-zoo type 'long-neck' villages),  easily accessible villages such as Doi Pui can verge on the tacky and when in remoter, less-visited villages, unless you have a good guide or can speak the lingo, what do you do!?

There does need to be some exchange and the days of remote village inhabitants turning up to greet their 'exotic' visitors out of pure interest are long gone. Even the furthest-flung villages usually have some knick-knacks for sale and a school visit (and contribution) is always feasible, but perhaps doing it within a more 'controlled' framework is the most responsible way? You can still see plenty of irresponsible visits -- probably more through ignorance than intention -- and sticking great camera lenses into people's houses or noses and doling out sweets to kids needs to be prevented.

Straight from the village loom to the souvenir shop.

All in all Ban Lorcha is a very worthwhile stop; you get far more information than you would elsewhere, a chance to see traditional crafts and culture up close, opportunities to photograph spectacularly dressed Akha women without any embarrassment either way and pick up some genuine and reasonably priced handicrafts. (They even have their own Facebook page with lots of great pics.)

Ban Lorcha, entrance gate: they'll explain it to you.

Tags: Chiang Rai, Doi Pui, hill-tribes, Mae Salong, Tha Ton

Just like to draw your attention to the Chiang Mai half-marathon (well, it's 10kms) and 5km fun walk -- for the less energetic -- which is taking place on November 13 to raise awareness of NGO BABSEA-CLE or Bridges Across Borders South East Asia Community Legal Education (no wonder they abbreviated it).

The organisation aims to train local law students/lawyers to provide advice to marginalised groups in northern Thailand, such as hill-tribe groups, migrant workers, people living with HIV/AIDs. It also operates across Southeast Asia, in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia as well.

It's an excellent initiative and you can help raise their profile and presumably contribute something to their coffers by participating in the event. Time is 05:30 to 08:30 (certainly shouldn't be too hot at that time of day) and it takes place at Sankamphaeng in the suburbs of Chiang Mai. Transport can be arranged and full details can be found at this site or you can make contact via the following Facebook page.

Ying, our Shan nanny, with our daughter preparing for a Songkran outing.

Since we don't have any marathon photos to hand and the ed suggested we think laterally instead, here's a photo of our nanny, who is someone who could do with such legal advice. Ying is a Burmese refugee so her existence in Chiang Mai is a constant struggle with Thai bureaucracy and the archaic and often absurd Thai legal system. Having arrived in northern Thailand on foot, fleeing the clutches of Burmese soldiers and Shan State Army recruitment officers, she gave birth to a daughter on Thai soil some 14 years ago. However being an uneducated Shan farmer and unaware of Thai legal niceties (and with certainly plenty of other problems to cope with), the birth was unfortunately not registered at the time. So despite her daughter now speaking only Thai and having only ever lived in Thailand, she is still refused Thai citizenship -- as a very bright 14 year old she is officially stateless. This is a deplorable but sadly very common state of affairs.

We watched Ying cheering the Thai women's volleyball team on TV yesterday -- this despite the team representing a country that, although she has lived some 15 years in Chiang Mai, bans her from leaving the province without special written permission and forces her to sign in at the border village she first arrived in every three months. It's not quite house arrest but certainly "provincial arrest" and an equally deplorable state of affairs.

So if you'd like to help people like Ying sort out their situations -- run for it!

Tags: fun run, marathon, NGOs, refugees, sankamphaeng, Shan

The Palaung are not to be confused with the similar sounding Padaung, or the famous "long-neck" Karen whose status in Thailand is that of refugees from Burma. Many of the Paduang have been settled in rather dubious "tourist villages" in certain parts of Northern Thailand where "partnerships" between Thai businesspeople and villagers mean fees are charged to tourists for entering their villages (or refugee camps) where women, encouraged to wear neck rings, sit around being gawked at and photographed by tourists, while insufficiently exotic "regular" Karen refugees are unceremoniously shoved back over the Burmese border. Yes, a minimal amount of cash may even find its way to the Padaung themselves, but the system has a distinct human zoo feel in our opinion.

Palaung woman all dressed up and ready to go to market.

Anyway, the Palaung! Interestingly, though they appear to be another of the colourfully dressed Sino-Tibetan hill-tribes found across northern Southeast Asia -- along the lines of Lisu, Akha, Lahu and so-on -- the Palaung are actually part of the Mon-Khmer ethnic group. They therefore, in all likelihood, inhabited this region before the Burmese, Thai, Lao and even Shan peoples migrated into this part of Asia.

Mon-Khmer groups are still found right across Southeast Asia from southern China, northern Vietnam and Burma right down into the jungles of southern Malaysia. Today Mon are concentrated in western and central Thailand, (Kanchanaburi province in particular) and Burma's Mon State, with Khmers obviously in Cambodia, and southern Isaan. In other regions groups were pushed into remoter areas by migrating Malay, Tai, Burmese and Vietnamese peoples (for example the Mabri, many of Vietnam's Central Highlands Montagnards such as the M'nong and several Orang Asli groups in Malaysia  are ethnic Mon-Khmer.)

Vietnam's M'nong: distant rellies of the Palaung?

Anyway back to the Palaung, who are found across a wide swathe of Burma's Shan and Kachin States; in Yunnan (where they are known as De'ang); and now even as far south as northern Thailand. They are relatively recent migrants to the latter area and still low in numbers but several villages can be found interspersed with the Black Lahu and Akha of Chiang Mai's Fang district where they have become popular stops on trekking routes. Thai groups are of the Pale, or Silver Palaung group, and traditionally live on mountain slopes building bamboo longhouses for several families. They are traditionally keen opium growers though Fang villages now grow tea, coffee, cabbages and so on, with beans and pulses being more popular than with other hill-tribe groups. Default religion is animism but some Burmese Palaung are Christian and other groups, including Fang ones we saw, Buddhist.

Monks in Palaung village near Fang.

They are known as 'silver' Palaung because of the trademark wide silver belts they like to wear over their tube skirts and bright tops. (Any colours seem to go, but a lot of red is in evidence).

Burmese Palaung woman in her finery.

Above is a Palaung woman near Pindaya, Burma, who was fascinated to see my pix of her Thai cousins and while agreeing they were probably Pale did point out several differences in costume, probably only immediately evident to a Palaung embroideress!

Palaung woman Fang with her finger on the pulse!

So there you have the Palaung, one of Thailand's smaller, yet certainly interesting and colourful hill-tribe groups.

Tags: Burma, Central Highlands, ethnic groups, Fang, hill-tribes, M'nong, Myanmar, Shan State

The Akha are probably Thailand's most visible 'hill-tribe' group and these days you certainly don't need to go anywhere near northern Thailand to come across them. The sight, and sound, of an Akha woman with a wooden frog will be all too familiar in any of the country's tourist hot spots, from Phuket to Khao San. Many of the younger Akha women are very smart and savvy, and we've heard better English banter from some of them than from many professional guides. Those in the tourist trade stock up on trinkets in their home villages (or increasingly these days from wholesalers in Bangkok), leave the kids with the grandparents and split a room with 15 other women as they bid to seek their fortune in the big smoke.

The Akha people, who are a part of the Yi/Lolo sub group of the Tibeto-Burman family, originate in southern China, and most Thai Akha arrived from Burma within the last century.

Muang Sing Akha in former times.

Akha and their close relatives the Hani are found across southern Yunnan; Akha villages proliferate in Nam Tha and Muang Sing districts of Laos, across wide swathes of northeastern Burma, and in Thailand they are mainly concentrated in Mae Ai and Tha Ton districts of Chiang Mai, and the Mae Salong region in Chiang Rai.

Typical Akha village near Mae Salong.

The various Akha sub-groups are identified by their elaborate head-dresses, with the three main Thai groups being the Lomi, (trapezium shaped backboard with larger silver beads), Ulo (cone shaped), and Phami (a wider, larger trapezium shape but with smaller mesh silver beads head-dresses) -- if we've understood correctly.

An Ulo Akha woman.

Above is an Ulo Akha woman near Chiang Rai and below a Phami Akha from near Mae Salong.

Phami Akha -- we think ...

The below photo from a Christian Phami village -- shows very clearly the elaborate headgear.

Ban Lorcha, recto verso.

In our defence, it can get very complicated with many variations from village to village and with certain extra hat accoutrements for special occasions and so on. Culturally things can change pretty quickly too, with one village being Christian, another down the trail still animist and yet another housing a Buddhist wat.

The congregation at Mae Salong Baptist church is predominately Akha.

Traditionally villages are entered through a wooden and bamboo spirit gate, designed to keep out unwelcome spirits, and usually found in association with graphically carved wooden male and female figures -- see below.

Ban Lorcha, entrance gate. The male figure is placed higher than the female. (Take it up with the Akha, not us!)

Other defining characteristics of the Akha people are a strong importance placed upon their ancestors and a belief in the "Akha way",  an intricate system of traditional beliefs and values. The Akha are also known for their famous swing ceremony held towards the end of August every year. They're generally welcoming and friendly to respectful visitors and these days with many of their women being so widely travelled you can also find English speakers in most villages  so ... go say hi!

Tags: Hani, Khao San, Mae Salong, Phuket, Tha Ton, Yi

One of Northern Thailand's most distinctive and colourful 'hill-tribes' and one of the ethnic groups you're most likely to come across in that part of the kingdom are the Lisu, or Lisaw in Thai. They inhabit a wide swathe of the mountainous northwest and are most populous in Mae Hong Song province, but also well established in northern Chiang Mai province in the Chiang Dao/Tha Ton areas and up towards Chiang Rai's Doi Mae Salong. Lisu settlements are also  found as far south as Umphang district in Tak province, though we're not certain whether that was through 'natural' migration or government relocation. (Chiang Dao and Mae Hong Son clans actually speak different dialects and can on occasions be quite disparaging about each other.)

The Land of the Lisu: mountains in Mae Hong Son

The Lisu are part of the larger Sino-Tibetan ethnic family and are thought to have originated in northwestern Yunnan and the Tibetan Plateau before migrating southeast into, initially, southern Yunnan, where a large population still exists and then northern Thailand in more recent times. Some populations can still be found in Burma's Shan state but Lisu villages are scarce in Laos.

Lisu settlement nestled in the mountains near Pai.

While most Lisu men now wear Western-style clothing, the women are particularly fond of their traditional dress and in villages around Pai, Soppong and the Mae Hong Son markets you'll still see even teenage Lisu girls in full traditional costume. Many Lisus still practise animism, though you'll see Buddhist Lisu temples near Pai for instance and some, as with their Lahu cousins, have converted to Christianity.

Lisu girls selling their brightly coloured handicrafts on the roadside near Mae Salong

Generally speaking, Lisus appear to be more commercially-minded than some other groups and Lisu handicrafts and vendors are a  common sight along roadsides and markets across the area.

Beautifully-dressed Lisu hat vendors.

Villages with good road access (and access to tourists), such as those around Pai or Soppong, also appear relatively prosperous though remoter settlements can be very poor. Lisu girls have a reputation for being particularly beautiful -- rather a cursed gift unfortunately since many of the girls end up in Chiang Mai's go-go bars.

Lisu woman setting up at the Pai night market.

Many tours and trekking itineraries in the region include stays at Lisu villages while the most easily visited, yet relatively traditional villages, are those around Soppong (Pang Mapha).

Alema, who we first met in 1991. (Most Lisu women we've met since have also been called Alema!)

Tags: Chiang Dao, hill-tribes, Lahu, Mae Hong Son, Mae Salong, Pai, Pang Mapha, Soppong, Tak, Tha Ton, Trekking in Northern Thailand

Before starting our brief description of this little known ethnic group, a word on their name. Ethnologists usually refer to them as Mabri (or Mlabri), whilst to the Thais they are the Pee Tong Luang people - which roughly translates as 'spirit of the yellow leaves' tribe. The Mabri people themselves apparently prefer to drop the 'spirit' part and according to this interesting albeit brief site, like to be known simply as the 'yellow leaf' people.

Note the banana leaf shelter in the background. Nan province, 1991.

Traditionally a nomadic, hunter/gatherer group inhabiting the jungles of northern Thailand and Laos, the Mabri constructed basic, temporary shelters of banana leaves in the forest -- eschewing permanent villages. After a week or so when the leaves turned yellow it was taken as a sign that it was time to move on and construct another shelter elsewhere, hence the name.

Ethnically, the Mabri are part of the  Mon-Khmer family, unrelated to the forest dwelling Semang (Orang Asli), people of southern Thailand, who are a Negrito tribe. (The commonly-used term Sakai is pejorative.) They are a relic population of the Mon-Khmer who occupied much of Southeast Asia prior to the migrations of Tai groups into Laos and northern Thailand but who clearly suffered a much harder lot than the village dwelling Mon-Khmer tribes of southern Laos, Vietnam's Central Highlands and northeast Cambodia, where relatively large populations are interspersed with ethnic Malay tribal groups such as the Jarai.

Mon-Khmer, M'nong woman in Vietnam's Central Highlands.

Traditionally the Mabri inhabited the forests of  Nan and Phrae provinces as well as Laos' Xainyaburi province. When we first visited in 1991 some groups still lived in forest shelters in Nan, though to our knowledge, all populations, (the Mabri only total a few hundred people), have since been relocated to villages with at least minimal access to schools and health care. Sad, but their vast forest home was no more, game scarce and as you can see from the previous photo, conditions were deplorable. Health care was non-existent other than herbal medicines, and the state of total poverty meant left them open to exploitation by the local Hmong and Yao groups.

Older Mabri man rather poignantly trying to pass on some traditional lore to village kids.

Nan - Mabri tribal elders.

Some older Mabri men still wear the traditional loincloth.

'Modern' Mabri houses based on local Hmong-style constructions.

The above and following photos were taken in Nan in 2003 -- we're unaware of the current status of Mabri groups in Laos. It's clear that as with Trang/Satun's Orang Asli population, within the next one or two generations they will be  assimilated into mainstream Thai culture. You can no longer visit them in their traditional environment and even if you only want to hear them speak their own language you're probably going to have to be quick.

Note, while you are unlikely to come across members of the Mabri tribe while trekking or travelling around northern Thailand we will, in future posts, be looking at some of the other hill-tribe peoples that you may.

Tags: Central Highlands, Hmong, Jarai, Mon-Khmer, Negrito, Orang Asli, Pee Tong Luang, Phrae, Saiynaburi, Sakai, Semang, Yao