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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Black Thai of Laos

The Black Thai of Laos, numbering approximately 65,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Tai-Kadai-speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the border area of southwest China, northwest Vietnam and northeastern Laos. They mostly adhere to Animism and Tai Dam is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Laos
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Tai Dam (blt)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 65,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG020944
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Pray for the Black Thai of Laos

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

100%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tai Dam
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Tai Dam Speakers

Media Resources in Tai Dam:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tai Dam:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2013 EPI✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tai Dam bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Black Thai 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 Black Thai:
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 Black Thai of Laos

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that those who are deceived about what brings peace will not settle for any lies they’ve heard about God and will diligently seek Him and be satisfied when they learn the truth about who He is and what He’s done.

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
readPsalm 47:6

Pray that believers will have a heart to invite others to trust in Christ alone so that they might sing praises to His name.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
readJohn 10:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have assurance of eternal life, knowing that no one can snatch them out of the loving hand of Jesus.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Tai Dam Across Countries (ROP3 - 109709) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Black TaiPG043537Black TaiUnited States4,400Unengaged and UnreachedTai DamAnimism
Black TaiPG000139Black TaiFrance5,000Unengaged and UnreachedTai DamRoman Catholicism
Black TaiPG010830Black TaiThailand25,000No Longer UnreachedTai DamAnimism
Black ThaiPG007392Black ThaiChina48,500Unengaged and UnreachedTai DamAnimism
Black ThaiPG020944Black ThaiLaos65,000Engaged yet UnreachedTai DamAnimism
Black TaiPG011109Black TaiVietnam817,000Engaged yet UnreachedTai DamAnimism

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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