Union of hilltribe villages Northern Chiang Rai Thailand

Through labor and prayer, Lahu seek life, health, contentment, plenty-the blessings the spirits bestow. The ideal in communal life is to join together as brothers and sisters, free and equal yet willing to help one another, and so they value true neighbors upon whom they can depend and with whom they share a sense of what is right and proper. When, however, the reality of village life falls short of expectation, the result it often a break, and a search elsewhere for the ideal.
A protean people, Lahu appear in many guises, as illustrated by two representative sub-groups resident in Thailand : the Lahu Shehleh and Lahu Nyi.

Name and Language
     All Lahu call themselves Lahu or, as pronounced by the Shehleh, Laho. The origin and the meaning of this word are not known. The names of the sub-groups are generally formed by adding a color term ; thus, Lahu Nyi means "Red Lahu" Lahu Na "Balck Lahu," Lahu Shi "Yellow Lahu, " and Lahu Hpu "White Lahu, " The latter three being the names of other sub-groups also represented in Thailand.
     The Shehleh, too, have a color : They call themselves Laho Na, meaning "Black Lahu." However, they distinguish themselves from the above mentioned Lahu Na, and the customs and languages of the two sub-groups are different. So, to avoid confusion, we call them Lahu Shehleh, which is what the Lahu Nyi and other sub-groups call them, and what most scholars wrting in Englist call them as well
     The Thai name for the Lahu is Mussur. Derived from a Burmese word meaning hunter, this is quite acceptable to Lahu, who take great pride in knowledge of the ways of game and skill with traps, crossbows, and firearms. In Thai, the Lahu Nyi are called Nussur Daeng, or "Red Lahu, " the Sheheh Mussur Dam, or "Black Lahu," and the Lahu Shi Mussur Kwi, the meaning of Kwi being unknown. Like the majority of converts to Christianity, and thus are call Mussur Khrit, or "Chritian Lahu."

Migration
     Outside Thailand, Lahu are found in Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and China, with the greatest density between the Mekong and Salween Rivers west of the Sip Song Pan Na in southern Yunnan. Preiodically from the 18th century, Lahu came into conflict with Chinese government Authorities extending direct rule into that region, and this likely gave inpetus to southern migration.
     Lahu probably first entered Thailand in the 19th century. Western explorers and missionaries came across them in the hill between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai Provinces in the 1890s and reported they grew poppies and paid taxes to the localpronce.
     The first settlers were probably lahu Nyi, and they were followed by Lahu Shehleh. since the 1950s, members of other sub-groups, including Lahu Na, Lahu Shi, and Lahu Hpu, have entered Thailand. Today, about 30,000 Lahu live in the country, most in northern Chinag Rai, Chiang Mai, and Mae Hong son Provinces, but some Shehleh as far south as Tak and Kamphaeng Phet Provinces.

Attire
The Lahu Shehleh woman's outfit is black trimmed with white. Her wide-legged trousers, decorated with narrow red bands around the thighs, cover the legs to the knees, the calves are wrapped in black puttees bound with white. The knee-length robe opens in front and has slits on either side from the waist down. All edges are bound with white stripping, which may be accented with yellow, red and ble. The stripping is extended horizontally at the waist and shoulders, and similar stripping encircles the long sleeves. Some girls embellish their sleeves with bands of colored cloth and the fronts of their robes with discs, hemispherical buttons, and other silver omaments.