The Hilltribes
Within the small geographical area of northern Thailand there are at least ten different hilltribes , many of them divided into distinct subgroups. Originating in various parts of China and Southeast Asia, the tribes are often termed Fourth World people, in that they are migrants who continue to migrate without regard for established national boundaries. Most arrived in Thailand in the twentieth century, and many have tribal relatives in other parts of Southeast Asia - in Vietnam, for example. The tribes are mostly pre-literate societies, with sophisticated systems of customs, laws and beliefs. They are predominantly animists, believing all natural objects to be inhabited by spirits, which must be propitiated to prevent harm to the family or village. The base of their economy is slash-and-burn farming, a crude form of shifting cultivation, but many villages have also taken up the lucrative large-scale production of opium, which earns around B500 per kilo at source - much to the horror of the Thai government, who have offered big incentives to change over to more legal cash crops. To learn more about the tribes, visit the library at the Hilltribe Research Institute and its separately located Museum, both in Chiang Mai.
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