The Burmese of Thailand

The Burmese of Thailand, numbering approximately 1,435,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnic Bamar community indigenous to Myanmar They are an Diaspora people, with Burmese (Bhama) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Burmese people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Burmese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Burmese
Primary Language(s): Burmese (mya)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 1,435,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG010833
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Burmese 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

97%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Burmese
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Burmese Speakers

Media Resources in Burmese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Burmese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Myanmar Standard Bible✓✓
သမ္မာကျမ်း (Judson Bible)✓✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Burmese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Burmese 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 Burmese:
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 Burmese of Thailand

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that those who have not yet received new life will be made alive together with Christ, saved by grace and raised up with Him to newness of life.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
readPsalm 68:4

Pray that many will come to faith in Christ and share the gospel with others so that His salvation will be known among all nations.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
read2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

Pray that the Word of God will spread throughout this people group and be honored. Ask God to establish His people and guard them from the evil one, testifying to this whole people group of His great faithfulness.

Burmese Across Countries (ROP3 - 101776) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

13 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BamarBamarMyanmar29,840,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseThailand1,435,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseBangladesh527,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseUnited States107,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseMalaysia32,500No Longer UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseAustralia14,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseUnited Kingdom12,500Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseMacao8,000Unengaged and UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseCanada5,900Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseCambodia5,000Unengaged and UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
MyenMyenLaos800Unengaged and UnreachedBurmeseEthnoreligion
BarmiBarmiIndia650No Longer UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmeseBurmeseGermany500No Longer UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism

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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