In 2012, the city of Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand will have its 750 years celebrations. Thus, it is the right time just to focus on the Khon Muang, who inhabit the mountain valleys of Northern Thailand, also known as “Kingdom of one million rice fields” or Lan Na. The Khon Muang people are in close relationship with the Lao people in Laos and the Shan in Myanmar, as well as the Lue of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan/China, not to forget the “Tai” in the Northwest of Viet Nam.

Photo of Chiang Rai © TripAdvisor.de

Above all, it is a common tongue known as “kham muang” that united the Khon Muang and distinguished them from their Siamese neighbors in Central and Southern Thailand. The walled city of Chiang Rai was and is one of the cultural, social and political capitals of the Khon Muang, and together with the cities of Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Lampang constitute their heartland. To this heartland may also be added the cities of Phayao, Phrae and Nan, which were incorporated into Lan Na going far back in history.

In 1558, King Bayinnaung conquered Lan Na , and for the next two centuries North Thailand was under the rule of the Burmese. When Chao Kawila, the ruler of Lampang, recaptured the towns in 1775 with the help of the Siamese army, he had to rebuilt them with the brick bastions, gates and moats that we see today.

The Lawa seem to be the aboriginal people of Northern Thailand and belong to the Austro-Asiatic language family. There are still Lawa villages north of Chiang Rai in Myanmar’s Shan State and also further west in Chiang Mai Province, but in Chiang Rai, the Lawa were completely absorbed into the modern population. The main group of Khon Muang, which came to settle in Lan Na from Southern China, was called by its neighbours Yuan, Yun or Yon and they used to live in the area, where now three countries meet, namely Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

In this so-called “Golden Triangle” area - now part of Chiang Rai Province – there immigrated a lot of other peoples, which will be described accordingly. Shan people (also called Tai Yai) are not living only in Chiang Rai in connection with the century old lumber trade, but also in Chiang Mai, Lampang and Phrae, while Lue people (Tai Lue) are met with in Ban Hat Bai along the mighty Mekong River and further south in Phayao. The borderlands of the Khon Muang people include the Yunnanese village of Ban Hin Taek, home of the Shan warlord Khun Sa until 1982, and nowadays easily reached by car. This is the heart of the Golden Triangle with a wild mosaic of hill tribes, but also a meeting point of Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims and Christians.

It is this wild mosaic of hill tribes that makes Chiang Rai a wonderland of peoples and cultures. Altogether, there are six main tribes, which live in the surrounding mountainous districts and have reached Chiang Rai within the early decades of the last century, mainly via Myanmar and Laos. These six hill tribes are:

1. Karen: Elephant village of Ban Ruam Mit at the Mekok River, Chiang Rai
2. Hmong (or Meo): Amphoe Chiang Khong
3. Mien (or Yao): Mae Chan, Chiang Khong
4. Akha: Amphoe Mae Chan, Mae Sai
5. Lahu: Amphoe Mae Kachan, Wiang Papao
6. Lisu: Amphoe Mae Suai

In Thailand the term “hill tribes” designates ethnic minorities, which mostly live in remote highlands in the north and western parts of the kingdom. Although the Royal Thai Government follows a policy of integration, some half of the population of 700.000 still cannot get any official citizenship. Most of the problems are related to the hill tribes’ way of live, as they used to practice a kind of shifting cultivation, which causes deforestation and the deterioration of watersheds. Also, some hill tribes engage in opium production and other illegal activities. Let’s examine them a little bit closer.

Karen:

The Karen, or Kariang, as known to the Khon Muang, are the largest highland group and mostly live in the mountainous area in the western provinces of Thailand, such as Mae Hong Son, Tak and Kanchanaburi. There are only a few villages further east in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, because the bulk of the Karen tribes still settle in Myanmar. They speak a Tibeto-Burman language and they came to Thailand mainly over the past 200 years. Actually, the whole group is divided into White, Black and Red Karen, and it is that the White Karen have communities in Chiang Rai. Only in the last couples of years, there appeared a sub-group called Padaung or “Long Neck” Karen, who live as refugees in some villages of Northern Thailand.

Karen settlements tend to be in forested areas of lower altitude at an average height of 500 metres. They keep elephants like the Khmu tribe in Laos. Near the valleys, the Karen practise wet rice agriculture and - only where it is necessary - they build terraced fields and do shifting cultivation. Rice and vegetables are their major crops. Besides, they raise pigs and chicken, as well as keep water buffaloes and cattle for work.

Karen kinship and marriage customs are different from all the other hill tribes, because kinship is traced through the maternal line and residence after marriage is in the mother’s village. The Karen people are strictly monogamous and in most cases, the family is the most important basic co-operative unit. They build their houses on stilts. Their religion is basically animism and they believe in a spirit world. Some follow the Christian religion, while others adopted Buddhism in close contact with the Khon Muang people. Their “New Year” celebration takes place in January/February.

Hmong:

The Hmong are called by the Khon Muang “Meo” and belong to the Austro-Thai linguistic family. They came via Northern Laos to Thailand and are nowadays the most spread out ethnic minority group. They are scattered throughout Southern China, mostly in Guizhou Province. In Thailand, we find two groups of Hmong people, namely the Blue or Black Hmong, whose women wear a distinctive indigo-dyed pleated skirt with batik designs, and White Hmong, whose women wear a white pleated skirt during ceremonial occasions. But when engaged in everyday work, the women of the White Hmong put on indigo-dyed trousers.

The extended Hmong family is patrilineal and Hmong men can have several wives. Beyond the family level, the clan serves as the centre of all activities and it is the clan, who features in all the Hmong legends. Hmong religion is pure shamanism with an emphasis on ancestor-worship. The Hmong prefer to locate their villages at an altitude of 1.000 metres, where they are engaged in opium production. Rice and maize are the main subsistence crops, while dogs are kept for security and pack mules for transport. The houses are built on the earth. The New Year celebration takes place in late December and it is the time, when young people look for wedding partners by throwing cotton balls towards each other.

Mien:

The Mien or “Yao” as called by outsiders are grouped together with the Hmong into the Austro-Thai linguistic family. Their homeland can still be found in China’s Guangxi Province. Via Northern Laos, the Mien came to Thailand, where they live mainly within the Mekong River bordering province of Chiang Rai, but also in Phayao and Nan. They are mostly known as traders and only secondly cultivate rice and maize. Also, they raise pigs for selling to the Khon Muang. The women of the Mien tribe wear trousers decorated with colourful woven patterns and show “red” at their jackets.

Households with extended families are common. Richer men keep more than one wife, but must strictly choose their wife from outside the clan. Like the Hmong, Mien boys normally marry one of their cross cousins and a proper bride price must be paid. The children automatically become members of the father’s clan. Furthermore, the adoption of children from outside or inside the tribe is widely practised.

The Mien people in Thailand have adopted many characteristics of Chinese culture during their long migration out of China. Some specialised shamans can read and write in Chinese. They use Chinese to record traditional songs and the names of ancestors. Also, they celebrate their New Year at the same time than in the Chinese calendar. If someone dies, the shaman hangs a set of Taoist paintings on the walls around the ancestors’ altar in the house and takes care that the souls of the dead can reach the ancestral land. The house of the Mien is built on earth leaving room for the raise of animals.

Akha:

The Akha called E-Kaw by the Khon Muang are linked with the ancient “Lolo” tribes of Yunnan in China and belong to the Tibeto-Burman linguistic family. In Yunnan, they live mostly in the valley of the Red River and are grouped together with the Hani ethnic minority group there. After years of migration, they reached Eastern Shan State in Myanmar, Northern Laos and Northern Thailand, where they live in several villages in Chiang Rai Province, reaching there only hundred years ago.

Most of the Akha in Thailand prefer to live along mountain ridges at an altitude of approximately 700 metres. In the past, their settlements were limited mainly to the mountains north of the Mae Kok River, but in more recent times, they moved further south in search for better land to cultivate dry rice, maize, and millet, as well as various vegetables as cash crops. Domestic animals, including chicken, pigs and water buffaloes are raised, especially for special feasts and sacrifices for the spirits. Their stilt houses, they built along a sloped hill and cover them with dried roof grass.

Patrilineal clans control all relationships within a village concerning kinship, marriage rules, residential patterns, and rights of succession. After marriage, Akha men live in the father’s village.

The Akha people are animists, who place special emphasis upon ancestor-worship and spirit worship. A four-day “Swinging” ceremony is held during mid-August and mid-September, when the rice is harvested. Then young girls dressed in their short skirts enjoy on a wooden swing, while young boys try to find their future bride. Also, the Akha celebrate their New Year four days in December. Actually, the incidence of opium addiction is the highest within the Akha tribe.

Lahu:

The Lahu called “Musoe” by the Khon Muang belong to the Tibeto-Birman language family. It is believed that they originated high on the Tibetan Plateau and migrated along the Mekong River into China’s Yunnan Province, where they mostly live in the mountains of Xishuangbanna. From there, they migrated via Kyaing Tong in Myanmar’s Shan State to Northern Thailand, where they live in the western part of Chiang Rai Province. In Thailand, the Lahu tribe is divided into Red, Black and Yellow sub-groups, which are further sub-divided into smaller ones, dependent of the predominant colour in the women’ costumes.

Lahu villages are usually located around the 1000 meters altitude, so that they can decide to grow opium or not. When they establish their communities at some distance from a water source, they used to build a series of bamboo pipes to bring water into the village. Like other shifting cultivators, the Lahu clear fields in the forest with “controlled” fires. After the soil becomes exhausted after some years of growing dry rice, maize and a variety of cash crops, the Lahu abandon their village and look for other places to exploit. Animal husbandry is also important to raise pigs, chicken, cattle and horses for feast and ceremonial offerings as well as work and transport.

Interested to note is that the Lahu are theistic animists ruled by the local god Guisha, but they also worship their ancestors. In China and Myanmar, the Lahu came in contact with Buddhists and Christian missionaries. A large number became Christian during the British rule in Burma, but in Thailand most Lahu follow their old religion of spirit worship, so that religious practitioners remain prominent in Lahu society. The New Year ceremony is the most important event and lasts five days between January and March to thank their god Guisha for a good harvest.

Lisu:

The Lisu called “Lisaw” by the Khon Muang belong like the Karen, Akha and Lahu to the Tibeto-Burman language family. The Lisu are believed to have originated somewhere in Mongolia and then migrated along the Salween River through China’s Yunnan Province to reach Shan State in Myanmar and all the northern provinces of Thailand. In Chiang Rai Province, they first appeared some 90 years ago at Doi Chang in Mae Suai District. While the Black and White Lisu still live in Yunnan, it was the sub-group of the Flowery Lisu to settle down in Thailand.

Lisu settlements are often located in the highlands at an average altitude of about 1.000 metres, which is the best location to produce opium. They practice the common shifting cultivation and grow dry rice, maize and vegetables as cash crops. Also, they draw additional income from the sale of domesticated animals, such as pigs and cattle. The Lisu tribe is made up of several patrilineal clans, into which have married Chinese men who turned Lisu. The clans are important to determine kinship relations and marriage rules. Cross cousin marriage is most usual, because monogamy and clan exogamy are valued as the ideal patterns to follow in order to strengthen family bonds in the village.

Kinship relations are centred on the nuclear family and extended to the tribe as a whole.

The Lisu have adopted much which is part of the Chinese culture, such as house building on the earth, burying the death people in graves, and celebrating their New Year on the same day as in the Chinese calendar. Intriguingly, they are typical spirit worshippers and venerate a village spirit and a mountain spirit in a separate compound away from the village centre. Water and other spirits are the cause for sickness and must be bribed with animal sacrifices. Chicken bone oracles and pig’s liver shows are in use, same as the belief in ancestor spirits or Wusa as a creator god. How far Christian influence has reached them in Yunnan and Myanmar is a guess. In Thailand, however, even whole villages are Christian and their reputation as individualists make them very special people.

To some up this short survey about the peoples and cultures of Chiang Rai, we have to include a cosmopolitan population in the city of Chiang Rai, such as Indian businessmen involved in the cloth market and Chinese shopkeepers trading with gold and jewellery. Engaged in tea production is a whole village on Doi Mae Salong Mountain, which was founded by Kuomintang Chinese in the 1960’s. Chinese Muslims called “Haw” entertain several restaurants and mosques, while white “farang” foreigners build homes and rent apartments to live in Thailand peacefully. Also, Chiang Rai is on the best way to become the get-away from it all and the gateway to the Golden Triangle.