The Akha Hill Tribes Of Northern Thailand

One of the most important activities for many visitors to northern Thailand is a trip to one of the many hill tribe villages. Photos of these minority groups are regularly splashed all tourist brochures and websites. Groups of tourists are a daily feature in some villages as visitors to browse, buy a few crafts, take photos and then leave.Most hill tribes of subsistence agriculture and have been marginalized by the Thai government. The government refuses to acknowledge their existence, providing identity cards or the formal rights. Tourists entering people rarely understand the problems they face and the harsh conditions forced on issues different types of hill tribes in this region, and each has its own language, dress and culture. Akha tribes are considered the poorest groups and therefore receive special attention of the missionaries, charity workers and anthropologists. We know that the Thais as Yegor, a derogatory name, and has one of the lowest levels of state in the country. It originated in Tibet over a century ago, before migrating to Burma, Laos and Thailand, along with other hill tribes. The military regime in Myanmar has pursued over the past two decades, causing many to flee across the border into Thailand as refugees. Although some Akhas have lived here since childhood, are still stateless and routinely exploited by drug lords and corrupt officials.The use Akhas a language known as Lolo-Burmese, however, was never written so there is physical evidence documented history. They requested that the information that is transmitted orally from generation to generation. Today, civil rights activists have created a new system that allows his tongue should be written down.The number of Akhas currently living in Thailand, it is thought that more than 50,000, with most of them lie in villages in Chiang Rai province. Their villages are often in remote areas, making it difficult for them to travel, and sometimes only be reached by dirt roads treacherous. Surviving on subsistence farming, growing vegetables and rice on the mountainside, and raising chickens and pigs. Men often find themselves working in rice fields and nearby snuff, starting early in the morning and continues until sunset. They are paid an average of 100 baht per day, which is well below the national minimum wage. Some villages still lack running water, which means regular trips to fill large containers. Some villages have benefited from the electrical grid connections, which has improved their standard of living. Their houses are built of bamboo and the simple presence of grass and welcome the entire House of missionary groups have other problems of a religious nature. The assistance of these groups is often linked to conditions that seek to impose Akhas. Although some of them converted to Christianity, the methods of the missionaries have been questioned and remains controversial. The missionaries say they are able to help them achieve a better quality of life, but practices such as taking children from their homes creates a lot of skeptics. Akha religion is related to animism, and believe in a world full of spirits, good and bad. There is a continuing erosion of their unique and interesting culture caused by the actions of some Christians groups.Despite have no identity cards, some of the younger women have left their villages to seek work in cities. Your humble and lack of documents has meant that they had to resort to prostitution or massage badly paid jobs. Worse, a number of men are recruited by drug lords smuggling on the border with Burma. A government crackdown on drugs in 2003, has left over 2,000 dead and many of them were found Akha. The future of hill tribes is uncertain how to increase the number of tourists and Thai authorities have refused to grant them citizenship. It's hard to imagine how they can preserve their unique culture, with a steady stream of gawkers always knocking at your door.