The Palaung in Northern Thailand

by Howard, Michael C.; Wattanapun, Wattana

• ISBN13: 9789748832517
• ISBN10: 9748832511
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

Today over 2000 Palaung--a group of mountain peoples speaking Mon-Khmer--live in a handful of villages north of Chiang Mai in Thailand. They fled from Burma in the 1980s to escape the fighting between communist insurgents and Burmese army troops. Though granted sanctuary, in the late 1990s many of the Palaung in Thailand found themselves involved in a new conflict over land use in northern Thailand's environmentally degraded highlands.This is the first book written on the Palaung in Thailand, a compelling collaborative effort by anthropologist Michael Howard and Thai artist Wattana Wattanapun. They introduce the Palaung culture and way of life, telling the story of the Palaung's flight from Burma and settlement in Thailand. Howard's photographs and Wattana's drawings enliven the account.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(4)
Previous Studies of the Palaung	5	(10)
The Present Study	15	(2)
The Palaung in Burma	17	(28)
Settlement Patterns and Economic Activities	23	(10)
The Life Cycle	33	(3)
Social and Political Organization	36	(6)
Religious Beliefs and Practices	42	(3)
Dress and Identity	45	(28)
The Dress of Neighboring Mon-Khmer Speaking Peoples	45	(6)
The Literature on Palaung Dress	51	(11)
Sub-group Differences	62	(3)
Silver Palaung Dress	65	(8)
Flight from Burma	73	(6)
Oppression and the Flight from Loi Lae	76	(3)
Life in Northern Thailand	79	(20)
No Lae	81	(3)
Pang Daeng Nai	84	(11)
Other Palaung Settlements in Chiang Dao	95	(4)
Conflicts in Northern Thailand	99	(8)
References	107	(3)
Index	110