thanks for telling me the english name i can do a bit of research on them. I am the most familiar with the karen cos i read about their war with the burmeses govt. These minorities don't really have it good. I remember seeing 2 child karen leaders. They were probably 10 yrs or less and already smoking opium i think and were leaders of the karen.
Btw do these hill tribe ppl need to learn how to speak thai? Do they have autonomous status like the minority ppl in china? It seems to be that the thai govt isn't trying to assimilate them into main thai society.
I cannot say about other hill tribes but I do know about the Lisu. The newer generation are Thai citizens - they all have the Thai ID card (bat prachachon) and unless you look at their last names, are indistinguishable from ethnic Thais. They go through the Thai school system so they speak Thai natively. In fact, the Lisu language itself is dying out slowly especially with the young ones - they can understand it but they choose to speak Thai more.
They mostly have Thai first names. In addition, they all have Lisu names as well - which, interestingly enough, do not have much variation. For example, the firstborn son is almost always called Gu, second-born is Le. Firrstborn daughter is Min etc.
Where are they found? They cluster in Lisu villages but increasingly, more are moving out. In Chiang Mai, a big village is at Mae Taeng 20-30 minutes north of Chiang Mai City - almost everyone is Lisu there.
They are not autonomous - but instead they have their own Kam Nans (village headmen just like other Thai tambons) they are treated like Thai citizens although there's a lot of NGOs and church-affiliated groups (a lot of Lisu are Christians) that help protect their interests. A big one is the Mae Fa Luang foundation that was founded by I think the King's mother.
Where they are marginalized are the older generation - due to lack of education they are taken advantaged off by Thais and the newly arrived - lots of Lisu live in Myanmar and come to Thailand for jobs. Also marginalized are the hardcore poor who, due to lack of education, did not register birth or deliver in hospital etc so they are effectively undocumented. This has been reduced greatly though through the efforts of NGOs and political parties to get them properly documented.
Today, a lot of them have university education but equally many drop out and fall prey to the number#1 trade: drug-running. Many were killed during Taksin's war on drugs. You get both sides of the spectrum with the Lisu.
Finally, you can tell Lisu too by their dress - google for images. The women wear traditional dress, especially when going to a dominant-Lisu village. They aren't shy of their Lisu attire - you can see them even in Chiang Mai city. Looks sort of like what was worn in the Qing Dynasty HK dramas, with silver belts and necklaces. The men wear these long, velour shorts that's baggy, huge holes for legs and falls below the knees. They usually pair those with a modern t-shirt. I have one that was given to me. It is said that the men never take these off, not even when shagging. Since the legholes are wide, you can simply slide the necessary parts out and back in after the deed. I've tried - it certainly can be done
