About the Akha

Akha tribal villages, originally of Chinese and Tibetan descent, can be found in the mountains of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

They used to be a relatively wealthy tribe, as they excelled at the farming and cultivation of opium in the Golden Triangle, which perhaps explains their penchant for adorning their traditional headgear with silver coins (I saw silver pieces on these dating back to French and British colonial rule over 100 years ago.)

The Akha religion is animism–i.e. that all things, from humans to rocks, have souls.

There are some half a million Akha living in the Golden Triangle area. Most dress as the local villagers do, but in some remote parts (such as this village near Kengtung), the older folks still wear the traditional dress (the headgear is kept on 24/7 to protect from evil spirits).