This article revealed the importance of wisdom in creating security for the elderly in four Lahu communities in Mae Ai district, Chiang Mai province. The descriptive ethnological method was used to collect the data by observing socio-cultural lifestyles of the target groups and conducting in-depth interviews in order to understand the thinking, belief and value systems that have affected the treatment of the elderly. The study findings revealed that security of the Lahu elderly depended on the maintenance of the conventional culture by means of sustainable community cultural management. The management started from transferring the concept of gratitude through the socialization process, which included teaching discourses, religious leaders, religious institutions, administrative systems, ancestral spirits, rituals, families, and community involvement. Gratitude and the patronage system became a social norm, leading to security of the elderly in the communities. The article also presented risks of the Lahu culture and a cultural management guideline for sustainable security of the elderly at the present time.