The Tai Mao of Myanmar

The Tai Mao of Myanmar, numbering approximately 120,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of Burmese Shan whose identity is linked to the ancient Mao Kingdom on the border region of modern Myanmar and China. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Tai Long is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Tai Mao

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Tai Long (thi)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 120,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG047888
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tai Mao of Myanmar

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

92%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tai Long
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Tai Long Speakers

Media Resources in Tai Long:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Tai Long:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Tai Long bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tai Mao 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 Tai Mao:
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 Tai Mao of Myanmar

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:25-27

Pray that the lost who think they have everything they need will recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Jesus and turn to Him in faith.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
readJohn 8:12

Pray that many will come to know Jesus, the light of the world, and have the light of life instead of walking in darkness.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
readHebrews 10:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will cling tightly to the hope they have in God to faithfully keep His promises.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Tai Mao Across Countries (ROP3 - 115525) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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