Children in Lisu village

Lisu children

16 Dec 2014 | From Heikki of Finland

OFFICIAL POSTCROSSING | POSTCARD SENT FROM THAILAND

It took me weeks before realizing that this postcard was sent from Thailand and not from Finland. I was organizing my postcards per country when I found out that this particular one was actually postmarked from Thailand. The day I received the postcard, I initially thought that the stamp was from Finland.

The Lisu people are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group who inhabit mountainous regions of Burma (Myanmar), southwest China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. They mainly inhabit remote mountainous areas. Their culture has traits shared with the Yi or Nuosu (Lolo) culture.

The Lisu are direct descendents of the indigenous semi-nomadic tribes of Tibet. In Thailand, the Lisu village is called Nong Tong, in Mae Hong Son province, near the town of Bangmapah (also known as Soppong) in the picturesque  mountains of North Thailand. The people began settling here only about 80 years ago and the village is now home to about 500 people. Their main livelihood is farming and craftsmanship.

The Lisu can be found all over South East Asia although it is only Thailand and Burma where they dress as colourful as they do known here as the 'Flowery Lisu'.