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The Bghai Karen of Thailand

The Bghai Karen of Thailand, numbering approximately 2,100 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen, an ethnic group of Sino-Tibetan language-speaking people indigenous to the Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar. They mostly adhere to Animism and Bwe Karen is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Bghai Karen

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Bwe Karen (bwe)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 2,100
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010827
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Pray for the Bghai Karen of Thailand

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

79%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bwe Karen
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

84%
%
Karen, Bwe Speakers

Media Resources in Bwe Karen:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bwe Karen:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bwe Karen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bghai 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.

Next steps for the Bghai Karen:
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 Bghai Karen of Thailand

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those who dwell in darkness and live in the land of the shadow of death may be drawn out of darkness into His marvelous light.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Karen, Bwe Across Countries (ROP3 - 108338) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

2 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Bghai Karen PG010827 Bghai Karen Thailand 2,100 No Longer Unreached Bwe Karen Animism
Bwe Karen PG009510 Bwe Karen Myanmar 21,000 No Longer Unreached Bwe Karen Animism

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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