The Akha Tribe population of north Thailand number approximately 70 thousand with many more living in the heart of the Golden Triangle between the borders of Burma and Laos.They are among the most impoverished of all the hill tribes.The Akha live on steep mountain ridges and in deep valleys, mostly in villages established halfway or more up the mountain sides, and usually between 1000 and 1500m above sea level.The Akha continue to use plants from the forests for their subsistence, especially for food and medicine.[1]
Most Akha villagers maintain some traditional knowledge of medicinal plants that they use for first aid remedies,treat cough, cold, fever, poisonous bites and some simple ailments but most of the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants rest with the healers. This traditional knowledge has been transmitted from one generation to the next by spoken words and lifestyle,even if elderly Akha with knowledge of plant medicine often complain that it is difficult to find younger people who want to apprentice themselves.[1]
References
- , “A comparative study on medicinal plants used in Akha's traditional medicine in China and Thailand, cultural coherence or ecological divergence?”, J Ethnopharmacol, vol. 116, no. 3, pp. 508-17, 2008.