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The Northern Pwo Karen of Thailand

The Northern Pwo Karen of Thailand, numbering approximately 85,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen indigenous to the Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Tak, and Mae Hong Son provinces of Thailand. They mostly adhere to Animism and Pwo Northern Karen is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Karen, Pwo Northern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Pwo Northern Karen (pww)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 85,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010936
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Pray for the Northern Pwo 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

84%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pwo Northern Karen
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Karen, Pwo Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Pwo Northern Karen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pwo Northern Karen:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Thailand Bible Society✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pwo Northern Karen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Northern Pwo 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 Northern Pwo 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 Northern Pwo Karen of Thailand

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
readPsalm 51:17

Pray that those who want to achieve salvation through their works will be unsettled in their pursuit and that, with a broken spirit and contrite heart, they will trust in Christ.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
readMatthew 11:28-29

Please pray for them to lift their eyes to Jesus and find rest for their souls, lasting peace, and hope in Him.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
readRomans 12:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, knowing that this is their spiritual worship.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
readPsalm 51:2

Pray that God will raise up believers to go and share the gospel with those in this people group who need to be washed of their iniquity and cleansed from their sins.

Karen, Pwo Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 110820) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Northern Pwo KarenPG010936Northern Pwo KarenThailand85,000No Longer UnreachedPwo Northern KarenAnimism

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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