HILL TRIBES

Throughout the high country of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, ethnic minorities number as many as a million people while others are feared to have dwindled to as few as 100...

Throughout the high country of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, ethnic minorities number as many as a million people while others are feared to have dwindled to as few as 100.

The future of hill tribes is an uncertain one: most are in the process of rapid cultural and economic change that will eventually alter them beyond recognition. 

​In general, virtually all hill tribes are now changing greatly through the impact of Christian missionaries, as well as the effects of modernization, secularization, and sometimes industralization. 

​These factors, among others, are tending toward a weakening of tribal languages and tribal identity.

        *This caption is from Vietnam -- a Lonely Planet travel guide.