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The Karen Hill Tribe - History and Culture
Frans Betgem
Table of Contents
Origins of the Karen Hill Tribe
It is not clear where the Karen (กะเหรี่ยง) people originate from. Tibet and the Gobi desert are considered possible homelands of the Karen. What is clear is that the Karen have been living in Burma for many centuries. In the 18th century, Karen started migrating to Thailand. I don’t know what the reasons for this migration were.
Where do they live?
Karen people live in fifteen provinces in Thailand. These are mostly along the border between Myanmar and Thailand from Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son down to Tak, Kanchanaburi, and further south to the Isthmus of Kra. Green Trails organizes tours to Karen communities in the Mae Wang area and around Doi Inthanon National Park.
Karen communities also feature tours to the Mae Taeng and Chiang Dao areas. There are Karen villages as far north as the Doi Wawee area, south of Chiang Rai City.
Karen languages and subgroups
The Karen languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. In Thailand, the Karen hill tribe is divided into four major language sub-groups:
1 – The S’gaw Karen (Thai: กะเหรี่ยง สะกอ) who call themselves and other related subgroups Pga-gan Yaw or Pakayor (Thai: ปกาเกอญอ).
2 – Then there are the Pwo Karen or Plong (Thai: กะเหรี่ยง โผล่ว)
The Pwo Karen language contains four different dialects: Eastern Pwo, Western Pwo, Northern Pwo, and Phrae Pwo.
3 – The Pa’O (Thai: ปะโอ) or Taungthu are also known as Black Karen. They speak a different language, but the women dress differently from the Pwo and S’Gaw Karen. They wear a piece of textile wrapped as a turban on their head. Not many people know this, but there is a Pa’O temple in Chiang Mai: Wat Nong Kham on Chiang Moi road. The Pa’O also participate in festival parades such as the Songkran parade.
4 – Kayah or Red Karen(Thai: กะเหรี่ยงแดง) They are also known as Karenni. The Kayan people, aka Padaung (Thai: ปะดง), belong to this group. The Padaung women are known as the Long Necks. They live in Kayah State in Myanmar. There are several “Long Neck villages” in Thailand. The most well-known are Huay Pu Keng near Mae Hong Son and Ban Tong Luang near Chiang Mai.
S’gaw Karen Language
Hello(where are you going?)
Goodbye(come back again)
Yes
No
Thank you
How much
Good
Very good
Rice
Village
House
Guest room
Rice
Water
Tea
Boy
Girl
Bed
Baby
Beautiful
What is your name
Lessu Le
Leelon
Uhh
Dumaba
Ta Blu
Delow
Gay
Gay do rah
May
Zee
Du
Depan
May
Tea
Normal
Akwe
Homung
Meenon
Poesur
Gweek
Mee dee low
Counting in Karen S’gaw Language
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Twenty
Hundred
De
Key
Sae
Lui
Yeh
Chu
Nuiy
Chor
Quee
Chee
Queechee
Dukuzar
Counting in S’gaw Karen language
Chaepho, a woman from Ban Mae Klang Luang in Doi Inthanon National Park, introduces herself and counts for us in S’gaw Karen language.
In Ban Mae Klang Luang, there is a primary school with 40 pupils which I visited. At this school, they only teach the Thai language. My impression is that children only learn to speak the S’gaw Karen language at home. They don’t read to read and write. Very few people are still able to read and write in the village, which will only become less and less.
Michael Rogge: the Karen people in 1962
This is an 8mm film featuring Karen people and elephants from the YouTube channel of Michael Rogge, Dutch photographer, filmmaker, and videographer. Michael added the sound as it was a silent film. This film dates back to 1962. We don’t know who shot this film.
Religion of the Karen people
The Karen hill tribe is the largest of the minority groups in Thailand. Missionaries have been very active and persuaded many Karen to become Christian. Many Karen, though, also still practice animism. Much of Karen hill tribe life is dictated by the spirits. The most important spirit is the “Lord of Land and Water,” who controls the productivity of the land and calls upon the rice spirit to grow.
Also important is the matrilineal ancestor guardian spirit (bga). The village priest is the most revered individual. He is the ritual leader, and it is he who sets dates for the annual ceremonies. As the Karen have become Thai citizens, increasing numbers became Buddhists. However, some Karen, especially the Sgaw Karen, have been very responsive to the gospel and are now Christian.
Karen traditional Dress and Textiles
The Karen hill tribe people wear woven v-neck tunics of various natural colors and turbans. Unmarried women wear distinctive long white v-neck tunics. They are also skilled weavers. In many Karen villages you will encounter weaving looms in the space underneath the traditional house on stilts.
The livelihood of Karen people
Karen villages are in general located at lower elevation than the other hill tribes. It seems that they were integrated earlier in Thai society than the other tribes. They also came to Thailand earlier than the Hmong, Lisu and other tribes..
Most Karen people live in mountain villages, such as on Doi Inthanon, and practice shifting cultivation of the rotating field type (that is, they move their fields, not their villages). They are primarily subsistence rice farmers. Because they live in the lower mountains, they have interacted significantly with the Thai population. They are considered the most environmentally conscious of the hill tribes as they practice crop rotation, thus preserving the forest.
The Karen hill tribe is the only tribe that owns elephants. This tradition goes back centuries and still villagers of a community such Huay Pha Koot, Mae Chaem district, own almost 100 elephants.
Most of their formerly isolated villages now have electricity, running water, and at least a good dirt road. I have found no evidence yet that the Karen people cultivated opium in the past.
Interesting links and other sources
You can find more information on sources on the Karen people and other ethnic minorities of North Thailand on this page.
The Karen people in Green Trails tours
You can meet the Karen people in many Green Trails tours:
New
Three Day Tours
From: 6,900.00 ฿
New
Two day tours
From: 4,500.00 ฿
New
Three Day Tours
From: 9,900.00 ฿
New
Three Day Tours
From: 10,600.00 ฿
New
Two day tours
From: 7,700.00 ฿
New
Two day tours
From: 8,400.00 ฿
From: 4,400.00 ฿
New
Family Tours
From: 4,400.00 ฿
- Frans Betgem
- September 9, 2015
- 9:59 am