About the Akha hilltribe people (continued from homepage)

Lifestyle

Growing rice on hillsides is still practiced throughout Thailand, but much has changed as the Akha have moved to a cash economy. Today the Akha make a living by growing cash crops such as cabbage, corn, rice, soybean, coffee, and tomatoes. It was about thirty years ago in Thailand that the growing of opium was a great problem, but through the efforts of many people including Thai government program officials and agricultural experts, opium has been replaced with other crops since then. Today, the Akha can make much more money by (for example) growing coffee instead of opium. However, addiction to opium and other drugs is still a problem in Thailand as these illegal substances are still coming in from Burma and Laos.

Akha hilltribe people like to live higher up on mountains sides around 3000 feet, but many Akha villages have moved to the lowlands for convenience. Today, there are about 75,000 Akha hilltribe people living in Thailand.

Clothing

There are three major styles of Akha dress. An Akha woman's special costume consists of a headdress, a jacket, short skirt, beaded sashes, and leggings. An Akha man's special outfit usually includes an ornate jacket and dark pants. In Thailand, there are three major styles of Akha dress -- U Lo, Loi Mi, and Pa Mi. More recently, more of the Akha are adopting the global "western style" of a T-shirt and bluejeans. In most Akha villages, Akha people are dressing in this western style now except for special occasions. However, many of the older Akha women still wear their headdress daily. Akha men who don't dress in western style wear a "longi" that's common in Burma.

The Village Gate

Some Akha mountain villages have a special "village gate" that is thought can protect the village from bad spirits. Inside the gate is the "safe spiritual realm" of the village, where outside the gate is the realm of spirits who are thought capable of doing harm to an Akha person. It is used mainly at special times of the year such as the New Year festival. Today, most Christian Akha villages do not have a village gate.

Beliefs

The Akha religion involves nine ancestral offerings. The Akha uphold their ancestors because it is believed that they can give blessings on those still alive. Also, mixed in with the ancestral Akha ceremonies are evil-spirit beliefs. Making offerings for protection from the evil spirits is still a practice among non-Christian Akha. One belief is that divinity spirits who created this world control all sickness and bad things that may happen, so often sacrifices must be made to "keep the spirits happy". If there's an accident, tragedy, or death in the village, an explanation must be found by the Akha villagers. Usually, the village "shaman" (who could be the village "headman") is consulted, and a reason is sought from the shaman as to why the bad event has happened.

Last updated 28-April-08)