Wa in Thailand

Introduction / History

The Wa are one of the most prominent groups in southern China, but they also live in Myanmar and Thailand. The name Wa means "mountaineer."

In recent times some Wa communities from Burma have crossed the border and settled in Thailand, where they have no official status as a Hill Tribe. The Wa live mainly in the Mae Sai District and Mae Yao subdistrict of Chiang Rai Province, as well as in Wiang Pa Pao District in southern Chiang Rai Province and Chiang Dao District in Chiang Mai Province. In Thailand they are often referred to as 'Lawa', although they do not strictly belong to the latter ethnic subgroup.

For centuries, the Wa engaged in head-hunting for the purpose of ensuring a good harvest. The practice is still rumored to continue in remote parts of Myanmar's Shan State. The evil spirits that control the Wa demanded human sacrifice to guarantee a good crop. In 1962 a Wa man from Daigela Village cut off a person's head by mistake while working in the fields. The victim's village retaliated by cutting off the heads of more than 60 people from Daigela. In the past, incidents like this often sparked a sequence of killings that would continue for generations. The Wa have an expression, "There is no sight so beautiful as the three-pronged fork" - referring to the poles in their villages that they used to hang the heads of their victims on.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The Wa people have often been involved in the opium trade.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Before 1956 the Ximeng Wa settlement sacrificed 3,000 cows a year to appease spirits and to obey the orders of the local shamans. Yuesong Village was particularly notorious. This village of 407 households with 1,487 people slaughtered 874 cows for religious purposes between 1955 and 1957 - an average of two cows per household. This kept the people trapped in dire poverty. All the Wa children were stark naked in this village; their parents could not afford to buy clothes.

American Baptist missionary William Young was used by God to first bring the gospel to the Burmese Wa in the early 1900s. In a remarkable testimony of God's love and power, thousands of heathen Wa were swept into God's kingdom. Young moved to China in the 1920s. By 1948, 22,369 Wa in China had been baptized. Vincent Young translated the New Testament into Wa in 1938. Although one recent report lists a figure of 75,000 Wa Christians in China, few of these "believers" have even a basic understanding of salvation.

What Are Their Needs?

Many of the Wa need a better way to earn a living.

Prayer Points

Pray for the gospel to penetrate the rural Thailand and reach Wa families.
Pray for the Lord to show himself to be powerful and good to the Wa people.
Pray that soon there will be Wa disciples who take Christ to the Buddhists in Thailand.

Text Source:   Joshua Project