Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Lahu of Thailand

The Lahu of Thailand, numbering approximately 82,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnic hill tribe indigenous to the border area between China's Yunnan province and Myanmar's Shan state. They are an Diaspora people, in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Lahu.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Lahu (lhu)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 82,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010877
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Pray for the Lahu of Thailand

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lahu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

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Media Resources in Lahu:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Lahu:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lahu bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Lahu

The Lahu are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Lahu

The Lahu 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.

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

Next steps for the Lahu

The Lahu 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Lahu of Thailand

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
readJames 4:4

Pray that the lost will be convicted of their friendship with the world, which is hostility toward God, and that they will turn from their sin and embrace the grace and mercy of God through Christ Jesus.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow strong in His power, putting on the full armor of God, which will enable them to stand against the devil’s lies.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Lahu (ROP3 - 105576) 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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