The Tai Long of Myanmar

The Tai Long of Myanmar, numbering approximately 4,770,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a people of Myanmar: Shan state, southeast Myanmar They are an Indigenous people, with Tai Phake (Phake) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Shan people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Theravada Buddhism. They primarily speak Shan.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Tai Long

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Shan
Primary Language(s): Shan (shn)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 4,770,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022043
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tai Long of Myanmar

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

99%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shan
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

99%
%
Shan Speakers

Media Resources in Shan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Shan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2002 Thailand Bible Society

1 entry

Or check out the Shan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tai Long 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 Tai Long:
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

Pray specifically for the Tai Long of Myanmar

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
readPsalm 96:5

Pray that those who are seeking after worthless idols will not be satisfied until they seek the truth and find it in Christ.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
readEphesians 6:13

Pray that God will send believers to the lost of this people group and that, as they share the gospel, they will take up the whole armor of God so that they can stand firm when trials come.

Tai Shan Across Countries (ROP3 - 113721) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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 Data Standards section.

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