Theravada Buddhism has long been introduced to Palaung people but the upland conversion to Buddhism does not always indicate a significant shift in their ethnic identity. While many upland groups are being converted by the Central Thai practices, Palaung people preserve their Yuan Buddhism as a way to draw distinction between them and Khon Muang, whom they originally derived from. Yuan Buddhism, therefore, is an important part of their identity and has enabled them to express their religious ethnic identity through it. (331, 347-348)

To study Palaung’s Yuan Buddhism as their religious ethnic identity which is distinct from their lowland Tai neighbor’s Theravada Buddhism

The presence of Theravada Buddhism among the upland ethnic minority in northern Thailand is not in itself indicative of the shifts in their ethnic identity; on the other hand, it might serve as a means of expressing a distinct cultural identity under the dominant Tai speaking population. (332)

Palaung villages in Chiang Mai, particularly in Pang Daeng Nai district and other surrounding villages which are in Huai Pong, Mae Chon, Pang Daeng Nok, Pang Daeng Klang and at Wat Den in Mae Taeng district. (334)

The participation of Palaung people in funerals is juxtaposed to the ritual role once played by the Lua’ (Lawa) in some sectors of Khon Muang society. In Hutchinson’s “The Lawa of Northern Siam”, he wrote that the Lua’ (Lawa) of Lanna were commonly asked to attend Khon Muang family occasions, such as wedding. Their presence was “of good augury” and was related to their status as the autochthonous population since they were and are considered the original inhabitants of the land. (343-344)

Most Palaung people living in Thailand speak Pale. The term “Palaung” refers to people who speak Pale, Rumai or Shwe language. These three languages are classified under the Eastern Palaungic group of languages, which is a sub-group of the Palaungic sub-branch of the northern Mon-Khmer branch of the Mon-Khmer family of languages. (332)

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Most Palaung residents in Thailand migrated from southern Shan State to the Thai-Burmese border in the late 1970s and early 1980s due to the ongoing violence and conflict, including conscription and labor, sexual assault, rape and theft in southern Shan State. The first Palaung settlement in Thailand is No Lae which, in 1982, became the first Palaung village under the permission of King Bhumibol. Later, the new immigrants had to move deeper inside Chiang Mai, in Fang and Chiang Dao district, because their prior land was not sufficient for them. (332-334)

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Currently (at the year of this paper), there are approximately 5,000 Palaung people residing in Thailand. (333)

Swidden agriculture (335)

The Tai Yuan Kingdom of Lanna dominated northern Thailand and the neighboring area during the 13^th-16^th Century with Chiang Mai as its center of the cultural radiation over the Tai Yuan people, including the Yuan form of Theravada Buddhism. In 1558, Burmese invaded and took control of Chiang Mai and most of the Shan State until Siamese troops drove them out in 1774, causing Lanna to be a vassel of Bangkok and its Tai Yuan Buddhism subsumed beneath the dominant Central Thai or the national Sangha based in Bangkok. There was resistance from Tai Yuan monks, especially Khruba Siwichai who actively resisted the imposition of the national Sangha and was supported by a great number of his followers. In 1935 he was declared the leader by a number of monks and became the role-model of many succeeding Khrubas; they followed his actions and practices with the same principal focus – to revive Yuan Buddhist traditions – and among them, Khruba Jao Teuang has had the greatest impact upon Palaung communities in Chiang Mai. Khruba Jao Teuang developed his reputation as a ton bun or a ‘person of merit’ (who, according to Yuan Buddhism, is believed to embody large amounts of merit and possess supernatural powers) and a continuator of Khruba Siwichai’s work, particularly the construction of religious monuments and the restoration of temples, beginning at Wat Den where he was the abbot. The patron-client relationship between Khruba Jao Teuang and Palaung people developed over the years in Pang Daeng Nai and later expanded to most of Chiang Dao and Fang district through his support for both religious and secular projects in Palaung villages. Right from the beginning, Palaung people accepted Khruba Jao Teuang as their patron willingly and easily because “ton bun” has long been a worldview of Yuan Buddhism so they helped Khruba Jao Teuang  to finish his projects and regularly attended major ceremonies and festivals at Wat Den.

Being categorized as a ‘hill tribe’, Palaung villages are largely intervened by the state in the form of development projects, crop substitution programs, watershed protection initiatives, drug surveillance or forestry encroach crackdowns – both in terms of a compassion for and discrimination against the so-called ‘hill tribe’ population. (335)

Palaung people maintained their long tradition of Yuan Buddhism and considered it as an important part of their ethnic identity, which differed from the Theravada Buddhism of other ethnic groups. Yuan Buddhism was originally derived from Tai Yuan people (Khon Muang or Northern Thai) of the Tai Yuan Kingdom of Lanna, but Khon Muang later subsumed under the Central Thai authority while Palaung people are still struggling to revitalize their Yuan Buddhism. Palaung are famous their strictness and seriousness of practice and are praised for their ability to recite Pali chants, which is closest to the Lanna style of chanting. Their ceremonies are conducted under the old Tai Yuan style and they continue to use the Dhamma script written in both Tai Yuan and Palaung language, with Central Thai playing only a minor role. (345-346) Yuan form of Theravada Buddhism, therefore, draws distinctions between the religious practices of the Palaung people and the Tai Yuan people nowadays.

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Palaung people are categorized as chao kao or ‘hill tribe’ because of their agricultural practices, high altitude villages and their non-Tai language. (335) The word “Palaung” is from the Burmese language, yet, Palaung people use several related terms to refer to themselves depending on where they’re from and what dialect they speak. In Thailand, they use “Dara’ang” to refer to all Palaung people and “Dara’ang Re’ng” to refer to a particularly subgroup. (333)

The Thammacarik program during Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat (1957-1963) period sent monks from urban temples out to ‘hill tribe’ villages to spread their Buddhism as a means to promote Thai nationalism.

Khon Muang people describe Palaung religion as the “hill tribe Buddhism” to disgrace its authenticity and a lot of visiting monks have tried to replace Yuan Buddhism with the Central Thai form of practice. However, their pressure and suggestions are largely ignored in Palaung communities because Yuan Buddhism has long been the strong identity of Palaung and rooted so deeply among its people. In addition, they also have Khruba Jao Teuang as their major support for maintaining their old traditions and he often chides Khon Muang people for abandoning their beliefs and not being serious about their Buddhism.

There are some examples of the voices from Palaung old citizens criticizing Khon Muang people, which the author underlines.

•        The village leader of Pang Daeng Nai in his late 70s said that “In the lowlands they do not remember the old ways, the true ways. They have changed their practices over time. When people came here and see us doing this ritual or that one, they wonder why it is so different. We tell them this is the ancient way.” (346)

A local lay Buddhist specialist in his late 60s said that “The religion of the Khon Muang people has developed over time, it is not the same, it has changed in little ways over time, and is no longer the same as the Buddhism here in the village. Our Buddhism is the same as it was in ancient times.” (346)

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