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People group profile · PG047742

The Deaf Thai of Thailand

The Deaf Thai of Thailand, numbering about 720,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of individuals who are culturally Deaf and actively participate in Deaf culture, often using sign language as their primary means of communication.

They are an indigenous people in the Deaf people cluster of the Deaf Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion, and they primarily speak Thai Sign Language.

Pray for the Deaf ThaiPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Deaf Thai people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Deaf Thai

Fast facts

Country
Thailand
Population
720,000
Affinity group
Deaf Peoples
People cluster
Deaf
Primary language
Thai Sign Language (tsq)
Primary religion
Ethnoreligion
Strategic Progress Index ?
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC ?
Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
Lostness priority ?
Frontier Unreached People Group
Region
South-Eastern Asia, Asia
Location
Scattered. Major regional centers and Bangkok

Where they live

Gospel status

The Deaf Thai are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical but there has been dispersed church planting among them within the past two years.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years Dispersed Church Planting

Next steps for the Deaf Thai

  • Continue prayer and fasting for this group
  • Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
  • Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Primary religion

Ethnoreligion

Primary language

Thai Sign Language · Sign Language family

100% speak Thai Sign Language

Gospel resources in Thai Sign Language

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

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

Pray for the Deaf Thai

  1. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  2. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  3. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
  4. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.

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