The Tai Mao of Myanmar

The Tai Mao of Myanmar, numbering approximately 120,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of Burmese Shan whose identity is linked to the ancient Mao Kingdom on the border region of modern Myanmar and China. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Tai Long is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Tai Mao

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Tai Long (thi)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 120,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG047888
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tai Mao 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

92%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tai Long
Language Family: Uto-Aztecan

100%
%
Tai Long Speakers

Media Resources in Tai Long:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Tai Long:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Tai Long bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tai Mao 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 Tai Mao:
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 Tai Mao of Myanmar

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

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

Pray that everyone has access to God's Word and that those who hear the good news will turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
readPsalm 34:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will see themselves as God sees them, with radiant faces and hearts that have been cleansed of all shame.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Tai Mao Across Countries (ROP3 - 115525) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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