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Thailand: Taleo adorn trees outside the Akha village of Ban Huai Kee Lek, Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand

Thailand: Taleo adorn trees outside the Akha village of Ban Huai Kee Lek, Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand

Taleo, an open bamboo symbol, used by many different ethnic groups in northern Thailand and Laos as a protection against evil spirits. Here they are used to protect the trees from logging.

The Akha are a hill tribe of subsistence farmers known for their artistry. The ethnic group may have originated in Mongolia around 1500 years ago. Most of the remaining Akha people are now distributed in small villages among the mountains of China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and northern Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes. The Akha began arriving in Thailand in the early 20th century and continue to immigrate, with some 80,000 now living in Thailand's northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai at high altitudes. They speak Akha, a language in the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman family.






Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia

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