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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Black Thai of China

The Black Thai of China, numbering approximately 48,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as a Tai-Kadai-speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the border area of southwest China, northwest Vietnam and northeastern Laos They are an Indigenous people, with Tai Dam as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Tai people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak Tai Dam.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Black Thai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Tai Dam (blt)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 48,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007392
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Pray for the Black Thai of China

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

100%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tai Dam
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Tai Dam Speakers

Media Resources in Tai Dam:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tai Dam:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tai Dam bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% to 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Black Thai:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Black Thai are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Black Thai:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Black Thai are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Black Thai:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Black Thai of China

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that those who are lost in darkness and confusion will come to understand God's ways, submit to His righteous rule, and experience the joy of His salvation.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
readPhilippians 1:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be assured that God will complete the good work He has begun in them until the day of Christ's return.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
readPsalm 105:2

Pray for God to saturate this place with the gospel and raise up believing men and women from among them to share the good news of Christ with those who have yet to encounter it.

Tai Dam Across Countries (ROP3 - 109709) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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