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People group profile · PG010911

The Red Karen of Thailand

The Red Karen of Thailand, numbering about 110,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Karenni grouping named for a favored color in traditional dress, whose ancestors migrated from Central Asia through Tibet into Myanmar's highlands, with a small community settled near Mae Hong Son in Thailand.

They are an indigenous people in the Karen people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Eastern Kayah.

Pray for the Red KarenPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Red Karen people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Red Karen

Fast facts

Country
Thailand
Population
110,000
Affinity group
Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
People cluster
Karen
Primary language
Eastern Kayah (eky)
Primary religion
Animism
Strategic Progress Index
No Longer Unreached
Evangelical
20% or Greater but Less than 30%
GSEC
10% or Greater Evangelical
Lostness priority
Significantly Reached People Group
Region
South-Eastern Asia, Asia

Where they live

Gospel status

The Red Karen are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Red Karen

  • Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
  • Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
  • Send out laborers from this people to the nations

Primary religion

Animism · Ethnoreligion

75% adherents

Primary language

Eastern Kayah · Sino-Tibetan family

100% speak Eastern Kayah

Gospel resources in Eastern Kayah

  • Bible available
  • JESUS Film not available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Red Karen

  1. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  2. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
  3. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  4. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.

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