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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The San Chay of Vietnam

The San Chay of Vietnam, numbering approximately 170,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Vietnam. They are an Indigenous people in the Tai people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Cao Lan and their primary religion is Ethnoreligion.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: San Chay

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Vietnam
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Cao Lan (mlc)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 170,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011217
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Pray for the San Chay of Vietnam

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

85%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cao Lan
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Cao Lan Speakers

Media Resources in Cao Lan:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Cao Lan:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Cao Lan 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: 2), 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): Moderately Reached People Group, (LPI: 5), 6% or Greater but Less than 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical (GSEC: 5), this people group is greater than or equal to 5% evangelical

Next steps for the San Chay:
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 San Chay 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 San Chay:
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 San Chay 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 San Chay:
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 San Chay of Vietnam

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that those who need to surrender their lives to Christ will confess their sins and trust in Him, being united with Him in His death and resurrection, walking in newness of life.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that those who have yet to believe will soon recognize the majesty of God's name and raise their voices in praise to the Lord Almighty.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
readPsalm 96:4

Pray that God will raise up believers to declare His glory among the lost, so that they may know that He is great and greatly to be praised, that He is exalted above all gods.

Cao Lan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106205) 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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