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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northern Pwo Karen of Thailand

The Northern Pwo Karen of Thailand, numbering approximately 85,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen indigenous to the Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Tak, and Mae Hong Son provinces of Thailand and can also be known as Karen, Pwo Northern. They are an Indigenous people, in the Karen people cluster of the Tibetan / Himalayan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Karen, Pwo Northern.

Northern Pwo Karen in Thailand photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Ji Dapa - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Karen, Pwo Northern (pww)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 85,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010936

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Pray for the Northern Pwo Karen of Thailand

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Karen, Pwo Northern
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Karen, Pwo Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Karen, Pwo Northern:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Karen, Pwo Northern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Karen, Pwo Northern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Northern Pwo Karen

The Northern Pwo Karen are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Northern Pwo Karen

The Northern Pwo Karen 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.

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

Next steps for the Northern Pwo Karen

The Northern Pwo Karen 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Northern Pwo Karen of Thailand

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
readPsalm 57:9

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who will boldly go and share the gospel with people nearby and with those far away.

Karen, Pwo Northern (ROP3 - 110820) 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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