The Problems of Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand Today

Just as modern society is changing, the hill tribes of Thailand today are facing growing social and economic problems. As hill tribe villages once located in remote mountainous areas are brought closer to urban Thailand through improved roads, infrastructure, and technology, this is all having a huge impact on their way of life. Below are some of the problems they face today:

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Migration
As education standards improve in villages, the younger generation of hill tribes are now moving down from the mountains to find skilled work in the towns. However demand for jobs is high and they face stiff competition from Thais also seeking jobs so many end up as labourers, beggars or prostitutes.

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Loss of Tradition
With the movement to urban areas and integration into Thai society, younger generations are now forgetting their roots and disregarding their traditions and customs in thinking that these ways are no longer worth preserving.

Poverty/ Low standard of living
As hill tribes are brought closer to the lowlands and Thai way of living, they are becoming more consumerist as they see and want many of the material things their Thai counterparts have. Now it is very common to see mobile phones, motorbikes and computers in villages, nobody would think this possible 30 years before.

Agricultural policies also mean that hill tribes are paid a minimal price for their crops, their handicrafts are now copied by factory versions which sell for much lower.

Whilst they may produce a variety of high quality products such as coffee, vegetables, fruits and handicrafts they often lack the knowledge and technology to effectively market and sell their products themselves, and therefore have to rely on middle-men.

Deforestation
A key reason why the Royal Project/ National Committee for hill tribes was set up was to tackle the problem of deforestation - an issue which still remains today. Their traditional practices of swidden farming mean that they will clear land in order to grow new crops leading to deforestation and deterioration of highland watersheds.

During March and April every year wide scale forest burning goes on where hill tribes burn land in order to clear it and replenish the soil. The smoke and smog from forest fires is a severe pollution problem, and air quality during this time is very bad. Overuse of pesticides is another problem that causes health problems for them, and lowland Thais that buy and consume their crops.

The Problems of Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand Today

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Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand

There have been hill tribe people living in the northern border areas of Thailand for about two hundred years but their origins go back about two thousand years to Tibet from where their nomadic lifestyle took them to the Yunnan area of southern China and from there through Myanmar (Burma) and Laos into Thailand itself.

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The Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand were traditionally nomadic peoples, living by slash and burn agriculture and by keeping some domestic animals, such as pigs, chickens and buffalo. When the natural resources of an area were exhausted they would move on.

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The hill tribes have their own languages which do not have a written form, except for that of the Yao people, and are distinct from tribe to tribe. As with most nomadic peoples, their culture is passed on by means of their religion, dress and cultural practices.

Unlike the Buddhists of Thailand they are followers of the animist tradition, one of the earliest forms of religion, in which everything in the actual world has its counterpart in the spirit world. Communication between the worlds is the business of the Shaman, who may also be the village headman, who can speak to the spirits and seek their help to ensure good fortune and protect the people from disease and bad luck. There has been much missionary activity amongst the hill tribes in Thailand, and many have converted to Christianity, though still retaining aspects of their animist beliefs. All of the hill tribe peoples preserve various aspects of their Chinese cultural heritage, including ancestor worship.

With the coming of the modern era, came the unfolding of a story that is very familiar to us today. Their agricultural practices, and hunting, conflicted with limited land resources and the preservation of dwindling forests, and destroyed the habitat of many species, including monkeys, which became extinct.

Many of the tribes took to the cultivation of the opium poppy, and in order to stop this dependence, the King of Thailand, His Majesty King Bhumiphol Adyuladej ( Rama IX ) founded, in the 1950's the Royal Development Project for Hill Tribes. This project taught the cultivation of cash crops such as cabbages, sweet corn, strawberries, coffee and fruit trees, and the use of eco-friendly methods of cultivation. The project also established primary schools and introduced roads and electricity to help the tribes people integrate into the rest of Thailand.

Most of the hill tribe people are officially stateless and many do not have a birth certificate and therefore cannot register as Thai citizens, although this situation is now changing for the better. Without citizenship, they cannot own their own fields; may be fined at checkpoints if they cannot produce citizenship papers; cannot obtain vehicle & motorcycle licences for any vehicles purchased; and stateless children cannot sit for examinations.

It is a sad twist to their tale that the hill tribes are in danger of being assimilated into the mainstream culture, and face the inevitable encroachment of consumerism. It may be that in another generation these varied and unique cultures will be a matter of history.

Tourism has become an important part of the hill tribe economy, particularly to the Paduang, (Long Necked Karen), whose young women are famous for the many brass rings adorning their necks. Most hill tribe people are pleased to show hospitality to visitors, and it is the responsibility of visitors to show respect in their turn.

Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand

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