Today over 2000 Palaung--a group of mountain peoples speaking
Mon-Khmer--live in a handful of villages north of Chiang Mai in
Thailand. They fled from Burma in the 1980s to escape the fighting
between communist insurgents and Burmese army troops. Though granted
sanctuary, in the late 1990s many of the Palaung in Thailand found
themselves involved in a new conflict over land use in northern
Thailand's environmentally degraded highlands.
This is the first book written on the Palaung in Thailand, a compelling
collaborative effort by anthropologist Michael Howard and Thai artist
Wattana Wattanapun. They introduce the Palaung culture and way of life,
telling the story of the Palaung's flight from Burma and settlement in
Thailand. Howard's photographs and Wattana's drawings enliven the
account.