Hilltribe Dress

The students that attend Saha Christian Suksa School come from many different hill tribes and nationalities. Many have come over from Burma years ago because of fighting, and have continued to stay in the area. The picture above was taken last school year on a Friday. Friday at the school is native dress, so everyone is to wear their native clothes. From left to right the dresses are Hmong, Burmese, Karen, and Mon. Missing in this picture but present at the school is Thai. My director insisted on taking this picture last year for me to show people at home the different hill tribes represented at the school.

There are few Hmong students left, they come from about an hours drive away and stay at the school dorm. For a long time there wasn't a good school near where they live, so their parents sent them to live in the dorm. However, now better schools are near where they live, so many have moved back to live with their parents. The Hmong dresses look super hot. They are black almost velvet, and often have bits that are cross stitched in the tiniest little x's I've ever seen. The dresses are super cute, but the students are often shy and prefer to wear Karen dresses like their friends.

There are several Burmese students that attend the school. However, the majority of students from Myanmar(Burma) are Karen or Mon, so while there are a lot of students from Burma, there are few who are actually Burmese. Burmese dresses are beautiful and come in many different forms. The one in this picture is quite plain compared to what some of the other students will wear. However, I'm always impressed with how the students can keep the skirts on all day just by tucking it into itself.

In the middle is Karen, I'm the first one in the long Karen dress, with two students next to me. The Karen in the area have come in two main ways. The first is people coming across the border to seek refuge from fighting and hardship. Once they have established themselves, they will often have their nieces and nephews, or other relatives come over and live with them to get an education. So, you have many students living with distant relatives, and they will rarely get to see their parents, some will go over 3 years before having a chance to return home to see their parents. The other group of Karen have come from Chiang Rai. There is quite a large group of Karen living in Chiang Rai, and so when the school was started 51 years ago, Karen from Chiang Rai area came as missionaries to help establish the mission with the church, school, and hospital, and they have continued to stay in the area. The long white Karen dresses are for single women, and once married the dress changes. The boys are all supposed to wear a red one like the boy in the picture, but they often try to get away with wearing another color.

The last group pictured here is Mon. There is one village of mainly Mon people about 5 kilos outside of town. I think they might have a school there, but it isn't very good, so those that can send their students to this school. I don't know much about them other than this, but their dress is beautiful, and its another one I can't believe the girls can keep the skirts on all day just by tucking it into itself.

The school also has several students that are truly 100% Thai. However, they tend to dress like one of the other groups, usually Karen because it is easier and they blend in then. Many are Thai, Karen mix, and so they wear the Karen dress.

I hope you enjoyed reading a little about the groups represented at our school, if you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer them, or find the answer for you.