The Yao originated in northern China and migrated to Canton, Hunan, Guicho, Guangxi and Yunan. Some immigrated into Vietnam around the 16th Century before moving into Laos, Burma and Thailand. Four groups migrated into Thailand, namely the Chiang Rai-Nan Group, the Doi Ang Khang Group, the Upper Chiang Rai Group and the refugee group. The Yao in Thailand speak the same language, but have two distinct dress styles. The first group wears a big turban with predominantly red embroidery. The second group wears a spike turban with predominantly green embroidery. Traditional Yao dress has the same patterns and cutting. Black is used with other colors for female clothes. Women wear traditional dress on a daily basis while men wear it only at festivals and rituals. Hats are the only traditional dress for children. Shamans have the same dress in every group with red cloth for the Chiang Rai-Nan Group. Every item of female dress has embroidery and four patterns of embroidery are used. For the past two decades, red, yellow, white and blue have been used for embroidery, whereas black has been used to embroider the hems of the pants. Furthermore, embroidery is also done for daily utensils. Silver is popularly used as an adornment. Silver coins and beads are used to decorate shawls for refugee Yao. In Guangxi, the investigation focused on four Yao groups: Pan, San Sue, Ao and Lan Tian. Females wear traditional clothes consisting of a shawl, a blouse, loose pants and a cotton belt. Each piece is named differently with different embroidery patterns. The Pan group names every piece the same in all villages, uses similar embroidery patterns, and wears three cotton belts but different turbans. When a comparison between the Thai Yao and the Pan Group in Guangxi is made, it is found that the dress of Thai Yao is similar to that of the Yao at Kan Wei Village in Pai Sor District, with similar turbans and red threads for embroidery. A summary comparing the dress and embroidery of the Yao in Thailand and the Yao in Guangxi is that they are of the same group from the same origin. Their dress is slightly different as a result of their migration due to a lack of raw materials and different social, economic and cultural conditions. Nevertheless, Yao in both regions use three threads for embroidery and Pan Yao shamans wear a similar dress because they share a common belief in their origin which is that they were descendants of Chinese emperors and were granted special privileges from those emperors.