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Though the six main tribes represented in this
website are the largest in Thailand, there are many other smaller
minority groups, mostly of Mon-Khmer linguistic stock, scattered
throughout the country. Below is information about a few of these
tribes:
Kui, Kuoy, or Suay
Kui were originally located in the northern region of the city of
Kampongtohm, in Cambodia. The Kui were once a free nation. In the year
523 B.C. they sent ambassadors to trade and sell in Ayuttaya
(Thailand). The Kui once helped the Cambodian king to squash a
rebellion. In nice form, Cambodia later rewarded them sacrifices by
using its military might to conquer the Kui and seize the Kui's land as
their own, making it a part of Cambodia. The Kui prefer to migrate
perpetually in search of better land to farm. The Kui migrated north to
the city of Attabeu Saenpang Jampasak and Sarawan in southern Laos.
They then crossed the Mekong river into Essan (Northeastern Thailand)
at the Sapeu islet in the Amphur of Kong Jiem.
Following the move to Essan, the descendants of those first Kui
migrants began spreading out and establishing their own households.
This wave of Kui migrants occurred between 1702-1783 A.D., towards the
end of the Ayuttaya period. The Thais refer to the Kui as "Khamane Pa
Dong," whereas they refer to themselves as "Kui," "Koy," or "Kuoy,"
which means "person." At present the Kui can be found in the provinces
of Buriram, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakorn Sri Thammarat, Mahasarakham,
Surin, Sri Saket, and Suphanburi.
The Kui's religious tradition is an interesting mix of Buddhism and
spirit worship. In a traditional Kui village there is both a
wat (Buddhist Temple) and a spirit shrine present. Genies,
monsters, and ghosts (of the mountains, of the forest, of the pathways,
etc.), are among the many different types of spirits worshipped. Each
village, it is believed, has its own spirit. The Kui believe that pain
and sickness arise from the actions of the spirits and so they take
extra special care to do whatever is necessary to appease the spirits.
Traditionally, an elder woman serves as the spirit doctor, taking care
of these patients. There is a special type of dance known as maw,
which must be performed as an act of supplication to impress and
appease the spirits. Before the maw dance can be
done, however, the participants must perform a special ceremony in
reverence to their teachers.
The Kui have a long tradition of raising elephants, passed on from
generation to generation. The elephants which the Kui raise come from
deep in the forest. They use a sort of round-up method known as "pone
chaang" to capture the elephants. There is an elephant "doctor" who
uses a lasso ("cheuak bpa gaam") made from water buffalo leather. The
lasso is considered a very sacred object, enchanted and possessed by
the spirits of the Kui's ancestors. To catch the elephant using the
lasso, the elephant trainer simply slips the enchanted object around
the elephant's foot and then quickly ties the other end to a tree. Once
the elephant has been tied down it is ready to begin its training,
preparing it for work.
Traditional Kui dress, for an older woman, consists of a patterned
skirt and an open-collared shirt. Silver-beaded jewerly is worn around
the neck. Beautiful scented flowers tucked behind the ears is quite the
fad. Traditionally, the Kui weave their own fabric. One type of fabric,
known as "jik-ga-noi," looks and feels similar to a squirrel's tail and
is of one universal color. As for the Kui men, they generally only
dress up for important ceremonies. Their dress consists of a sarong,
folded into a pleat in front. Weaving is done in a seated position,
legs stretched out straight in front, pulling the loom back and forth
over the lap. The base color for women's fabrics is brown, with a clear
border and red thread interwoven. At the bottom edge is a black border
with white, yellow and red stripes running down it. Ja ga-wee
fabric is similar to the Khmer anlusim, with a
vertical pattern. This type of fabric would be worn by women at special
occasions.
Indicative of the confusion surrounding many tribal names, the Khamu
and ethnic Lao of northern Laos refer to the Lahu of that area as "Kui"
or "Gui", though they are clearly part of the Lahu tribe descendant
from Tibet, not part of the Kui ethnicity from Cambodia.
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Lua
About 1,300 years ago, before the Mon brought
civilization to the Ping river-basin, the ancestors of the Lua had
already established their homeland. The Lua, or "La-wee-ah," as they
refer to themselves, are part of the Austronesian family. It is
uncertain where the Lua originated from, but it is generally believed
that they emigrated from the southern regions of Thailand or from
Cambodia.
Similarities in language, body structure, and
dress have led to the belief that about 2,000 years ago the Lua were
part of the same ethnic group as the Wa located
in the northern region of Myanmar (Burma) and Southern Yunnan (China).
The Lua migrated into Thailand and settled in
Chiang Mai. Approximately 900 years ago Mon from Lopburi--whom
established the kingdom of Lamphun and Lampang (Thailand)--attacked the
Lua, forcing them to retreat into the mountains. The Lua became a
hill-dwelling people from that point on.
Later, in the 13th century AD. the Thai migrated
into this region and defeated the ruling Mon and established friendly
relations with the Lua. The Lua believe their ancestors once resided in
Chiang Mai and built Wat Jedi Luang before the
Thais emigrated to this region. The Lua had their own royal lineage of
which the final king was Khun Luang Wilang Ga.
When Queen Jamtaywee of the Mon kingdom of Nakorn
Mon Rik Punyachai (Lamphun, Thailand) attacked the Lua and
chased them into the hills, a few small groups of Lua managed to remain
behind in the lowlands, though these peoples almost completely
assimilated to follow Thai culture, customs and traditions, leaving
little trace of their own rich and distinct native heritage.
The Lua language is part of the Austro-Asiatic
family of languages and has been influenced from Mon and Khmer. There
are many different language groups among the Lua, but they can be
generally separated into two large groups: the Wawu--spoken
amongst Lua in the Ping River Basin region, such as Baw Luang
village--and the Ang ga--spoken in the West of
Mae Sariang District in the province of Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
Differences in language follow in accordance to the distance between
villages from one another. There is enough similarity that Lua from
different villages can understand one another. Many words from the
Northern Thai dialect have also been adopted into the Lua language.
The Lua have spread themselves out over six
different provinces within Thailand: Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Uthai
Thani, Suphanburi, Chiang Rai, and Lampang.
Presently, most Lua villages remain in remote
mountain regions, far away from their Thai neighbors. A given village
is made up of around 20-100 households all built in a line along the
ridge of the mountain. The house will be lifted high off the ground,
similar to a Karen house, but the roof will differ. A Lua roof will
include two long pieces of carved wood crossed over one another at the
gable. The roof itself will be made of thatch or old banana leaves and
will run down almost all the way to the ground. Tha area surrounding
the village is used for gardening. The land used for farming will be
separated from the village by a line of old-growth forest, which is
used to protect the village from burning down when the fields are set
ablaze.
The Lua are a monogamous people; a husband with
multiple wives is not permitted. After marriage, the woman must go to
live with the man. Respect and remembrance is paid to the ancestral
spirits on the father's side of the family. Children are counted as
being part of their father's family lineage. More similar to the
nuclear families of today's western societies, Lua households are
generally made up of husband, wife and children. The oldest male in the
family must go off and build a new home for himself and his wife when
he gets married. The last male child to be born will receive the family
inheritance, but also be expected to take care of his parents for the
rest of their lives.
Responsibilities within the household are divided according to age and
sex. The women are expected to gather firewood and water, mill the
rice, and make the food and clothing. The men are expected to repair
and maintain the house, build fences, plow the fields, and hunt for
animals. As for responsibilities on the farm, it is considered to be
the responsibility of both sexes to help one another out. All family
members of working age are expected to participate. Almost all roles of
responsibility within the special ceremonies of the Lua are considered
to be the male's domain.
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H'tin
The H'tin, like the Mon and Khmer, are part of the
Austro-Asiatic language group. The H'tin can be broken down into two
sub-groups: The K'maal or Maal, and the Klaam-Brite or Brite. These two
groups have distinct differences in language, customs, cultures, and
traditions. In terms of location and dress, however, the two groups are
quite similar. Around 60-80 years ago, The H'tin left Chaiyaburi
district in Laos and emigrated into Thailand to start a new life. They
settled in the Northeastern portion of Nan province, as well as parts
of Petchaboon, and Loei.
The H'tin tend to build their homes on mountaintops, at an elevation of
around 1,000-3,000 meters above sea level. The villages are built on
flat portions of the mountain, not far from a stable source of water.
H'tin villages average around 50 families in size, with villagers
building their homes in clusters according to family lines. This custom
may have come from the way in which food is gathered and the general
environment. H'tin houses are raised off the ground. The floor and
walls are made from bamboo. Underneath the long sloping roof one will
find a giant mortar and pestle for milling rice, and a storage area for
firewood and other miscellaneous objects. H'tin houses have two doors,
but no windows. There is a large front porch, covered completely by the
roof. The area beneath the house is used as an animal pen.
H'tin households can be large or small depending on the number of
daughters one has. This is because, according to H'tin custom, when one
of the daughters in the household gets married, she will bring her
husband home to live with the family. Thus, the more daughters one has
the larger one's household is likely to be. The eldest daughter can
move out as she pleases and start a new household. The youngest
daughter, however, must remain with her parents for the rest of their
lives. For this reason, the H'tin prefer daughters to sons, since when
the men marry they leave their homes to help out their wife's family,
leaving their own families short-handed.
H'tins are matrilineal and worship their maternal ancestors. After
marriage a man must cut all ties to his mother's ancestors and
establish new ones with those of his wife, thus many villages will have
not more than three family lines. H'tin of the same family line will
build their homes clustered together with each family line representing
at least three to five homes within the village. Each family line
within each village worships different ancestors. As for names, it is
impossible to determine who is related to whom since in a given village
there is generally only one last name, shared by all. If someone in a
village has a last name differing from others in the same village it is
likely they are a recent immigrant. In order to determine family ties,
it is necessary to study which ancestors each person worships.
As the H'tin produce all their own food, farming is thus an essential
part of life. Rice production is particularly so, as the harvest will
be used to feed the family for the entire year. Accordingly, the H'tin
have many ceremonies to pay homage to the spirits to ensure plentiful
harvests. To generate cash income, the H'tin rely on hunting wild
animals--or catching them and selling them for pets. Gathering items
from the forest (e.g. bamboo shoots, wild herbs, berries, etc.) is
another common source of hard currency. Aside from planting unirrigated
mountain field rice, which every villager plants, some H'tin have begun
planting paddy rice, which relies on a flat plot of land that can be
flooded. Corn, millet, and various vegetables are also common. Some
villages gather wild tea from the forests and sell it in the city.
Other villages, such as the ones in the sub-districts of Bor Gleua Neua
and Bor Gleua Tai (remote Nan province, Thailand), harvest salt from
natural salt "wells" for sale to people in the surrounding villages.
The H'tin also have special artistry in weaving mats. The unique
characteristic of their mats is the use of banana leaves and a local
variety of grass, woven together, to form beautiful patterns. The H'tin
raise chickens and pigs for use in various ceremonies, and the
offspring can also be sold for a profit. Dogs are raised for guarding
the house while the villagers are away in the fields, as well as for
use in hunting. Cows and water buffaloes are raised to sell to lowland
Thais or for use in plowing the fields.
Most H'tin can speak the northern Thai dialect and, these days, dress
themselves in the same fashion as their Thai neighbors. H'tin
traditional clothing is rare. If you're interested in doing a
"homestay" at a H'tin home, be prepared to sleep outdoors as guests are
not permitted to sleep in the house. Also, during the performance of
certain rituals, the house is off-limits to strangers. Unless you know
the owners of the house, do not take your own food with you for eating
or preparing in their kitchen. When a new house is being built, the
H'tin must track down a man named "Gaew" and a woman named "Khaam" to
participate in the house-raising ceremony. "Gaew" carries rice and
"Khaam" carries a rice-steaming pot as they lead the procession into
the new house. The owners of the house then follow them in. Wearing
shoes in the house is prohibited. In the event one forgets, it is
considered a violation of "spirit" or good will, and the host may
demand a bottle of alcohol or a whole chicken as compensation for
losses. When eating, if you're not yet full, do not get up from your
place, as the host will immediately start clearing the food. The H'tin
enjoy drinking rice whiskey. It is the drink of choice for use in
receiving guests.
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