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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
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Tai Lu of Thailand

The Tai Lu of Thailand, numbering approximately 95,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group of China, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They mostly adhere to Mahayana Buddhism and Lü is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Lü (khb)
Primary Religion(s): Mahayana Buddhism
Population: 95,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022384
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Pray for the Tai Lu 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: Mahayana Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

80%
%
Mahayana Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lü
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Lü Speakers

Media Resources in Lü:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lü:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lü bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tai Lu 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 Tai Lu:
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 Tai Lu of Thailand

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 living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!"
readMark 7:9

Pray that as men, women, boys, and girls place their faith in Christ, they will let go of any traditions that do not honor Him.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Tai Lu Across Countries (ROP3 - 114183) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Tai LuPG007394Tai LuChina596,000Unengaged and UnreachedLüMahayana Buddhism
Tai LuPG009471Tai LuMyanmar327,000Engaged yet UnreachedLüAnimism
Tai LuPG009145Tai LuLaos209,000Engaged yet UnreachedLüEthnoreligion
Tai LuPG022384Tai LuThailand95,000Engaged yet UnreachedLüMahayana Buddhism
Tai LuPG011178Tai LuVietnam5,600Engaged yet UnreachedLüEthnoreligion
Tai LuPG043330Tai LuUnited States5,200Unengaged and UnreachedLüEthnoreligion

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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