People group profile · PG010931
The Urak Lawoi Aborigine of Thailand
The Urak Lawoi Aborigine of Thailand, numbering about 2,300 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are sea nomads of the Andaman coast's Adang Archipelago whose name means people of the sea, settled on islands like Lipe since around 1909 under the guidance of an Acehnese explorer, and now displaced from ancestral land by national park tourism development.
They are an indigenous people in the West Malaysia Indigenous people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Urak Lawoi'.
Fast facts
- Country
- Thailand
- Population
- 2,300
- Affinity group
- Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
- People cluster
- West Malaysia Indigenous
- Primary language
- Urak Lawoi' (urk)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index ?
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5%
- GSEC ?
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
- Lostness priority ?
- Minimally Reached People Group
- Region
- South-Eastern Asia, Asia
- Location
- Krabi province: Jam and PhiPhi Don islands; Phuket province: Laem Tukae, Rawai, and Sepam villages, all on main Phuket island; Trang province: Lanta island; Satun province: Adung, Bulon, and Lipae islands
Where they live
Gospel status
The Urak Lawoi Aborigine are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Urak Lawoi Aborigine
- 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
97% adherents
Primary language
Urak Lawoi' · Austronesian family
84% speak Urak Lawoi'
Gospel resources in Urak Lawoi'
- Bible available, published 1998
- JESUS Film not available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Bibles
- 1998 Thailand Bible Society · video, audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Urak Lawoi Aborigine
- Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
- Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
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