Tai Pao people group of Laos
 
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  • Population: 3,300(1995);3,710(2000);4,640(2010)
  • Main Province: Borikhamxai
  • Language Affiliation: Tai
  • Religion: Buddhism
  • Christians: none known

The main information provided here is used by permission from asiaharvest.org

Additional information may be provided by millionelephants.com

Pray for the Tai Pao
  • Ask God to raise up Tai Pao who are more desirous to know the Truth than to stay on the broad road to death.
  • Ask God to send workers to the Tai Pao in the near future.
  • Pray the Tai Pao would no longer be hidden away from the influence of Christianity.

     Between 3,000 to 4,000 ethnic Tai Pao live in central Laos. Their villages are located in the Viangthong, Khamkeut and Pakkading districts of Borikhamxai Province. The Tai Pao live at the juncture of these three districts.

     The Tai Pao live near the Tai He, and may be ethno-linguistically related to them. The Tai Pao language, which has yet to be studied in any detail, remains an undetermined member of the Tai linguistic family.

     In Laos, Tai can mean 'people' and does not necessarily refer to the Tai or Thai race. Therefore, Tai Pao can simply mean 'Pao people'.

     The Tai Pao practice a mixture of animism and Theravada Buddhism. Such a religious intertwining has existed in Laos since Buddhism was introduced. Even stories of the introduction of Buddhism to Laos have evolved into animistic myth.

     May Buddhists in Laos are told, "It was in the one thousandth year of Buddha, AD 457, that the great and fearful King Ruang lived. His advent and the glories of his reign had been previously announced by Gotama [Buddha] himself.... One day he retired to a quiet mountain for meditation and there met the Queen of the Nakhae [underworld], whose beauty and charm won his heart. She became his wife and brought forth a son whom she placed upon the spot where she had first met the king, then disappeared, after having placed upon the child's finger a ring given her by the king.... In time he became king under the name Pra Ruang. He threw off the yoke of the King of Cambodia, and reduced to his authority all the sovereigns in his vicinity.... Proceeding one day to the river the king disappeared; it was thought that he had rejoined his mother, the Queen of the Nakhae, and would pass the remainder of his life in the realms beneath."184

     For the Tai Pao, maintaining their culture is equally as important as their religious beliefs. Accordingly, the few Tai Pao who have been exposed to the Gospel have not seriously considered it, believing that to become a Christian would be a disgrace against their culture and heritage as a Tai Pao.

     The majority of Tai Pao, however, are not familiar with the Name of Jesus.

  

 

  

Additional Information

  1. Gospel Recording in Tai Pao here: Tai Pao resources page If you are aware of other recordings, literature, or anything else for the Tai Pao people, please let us make it available online.
  2. Getting there - If you make a trip to the Tai Pao people, share your experience and advice here: Tai Pao travel page
  3. Information - Do you know something more about the beliefs of the Tai Pao? Do you have a story to tell? Do you have a picture? Please share it here.
  4. Does anyone know of a Tai Pao believer inside or outside of Laos?
  5. Intercession - Have you gotten any impressions, scriptures or words while praying for this group? Have you visited their area? Please share these and we will include them on the prayer page here: Tai Pao prayer page
  6. Adoption - This is a small group, but that doesn't diminish the importance of these people in Gods' heart. If you feel led to focus on this group, maybe God will use in a miraculous way to reach them with the Gospel! Need assistance? Contact us at: millionelephants@gmail.com, subject: adoption