The Tai are an ancient people with a rich and unique cultural heritage. We look forward to sharing elements from it with you. One of the first aspects of Tai culture to understand is that that Tais include several different closely related but distinct groups. These include, but are not limited to: Tai Yai, Tai Lao, Tai Dam, Tai Daeng, Tai Lue, Tai Khoen, and Tai Ahom. These Tai peoples have their own distinctive manner of dress. Traditional clothing is an integral part of any culture. Two Web sites feature some examples of the various unique outfits worn by different Tai groups. These include Tai Yai, Tai Lao, Tai Daeng, Tai Lue, and Tai Khoen. You can see them either here or here. Language is an integral part of any culture. The language found in proverbs and other wise sayings is normally used to relay important aspects of the culture from one generation to the next. Mae Hong Son province in Thailand is a relatively isolated pocket of Tai culture. A large number of ethnic Shan people live there. They celebrate a uniquely Tai festival called Poi Sang Long. For one visitor's perspective on Mae Hong Son, please see his article "On the Shan Borderlands." Another interesting group of festivals centers around LoenSarm, or the third lunar month. You can found out more about this time of year by reading either an original Shan text or the English and/or Thai version. The Tais have their own unique reconning of time. Last year, for example, the Tai New Year fell on 27 November 2000. Please read about how it compares and contrasts to New Year's celebrations elsewhere. Another interesting aspect of Tai culture is their long-standing tradition of democracy. If you are really interested in a fairly comprehensive look at the culture of the Tai people in the Shan States of Burma, you can read a series of articles which appeared as a serial in the Nation, an English-language newspaper still published in Thailand, in the early 1950s. Because the articles were published a few decades ago, they give a more accurate picture of what the true culture is like. The tiger is the emblem of the Tai people. HE PANGLONG AGREEMENT Dated Panglong, the 12th February 1947 THE PANGLONG AGREEMENT, 1947 A conference having been held at Panglong, attended by certain Members of the Executive Council of the Governor of Burma, all Saohpas and representative of the Shan States, the Kachin Hills and the Chin Hills: The Members of the conference, believing that freedom will be more speedily achieved by the Shans, the Kachins and the Chins by their immediate co-operation with the Interim Burmese Government: 1. A Representative of the Hill Peoples, selected by the Governor on the recommendation of representatives of the Supreme Council of the United Hill Peoples (SCOUHP), shall be appointed a Counsellor for Frontier Areas shall be given executive authority by similar means. 2. The said Counsellor shall also be appointed a Member of the Governor's Executive Council, without portfolio, and the subject of Frontier Areas brought within the purview of the Executive Council by Constitutional Convention as in the case of Defence and External Affairs. The Counsellor for Frontier Areas shall be given executive authority by similar means. 3. The said Counsellor shall be assisted by two Deputy Counsellors representing races of which he is not a member. While the two Deputy Counsellors should deal in the first instance with the affairs of their respective areas and the Counsellor with all the remaining parts of the Frontier Areas, they should by Constitutional Convention act on the principle of joint responsibility. 4. While the Counsellor, in his capacity of Member of the Executive Council, will be the only representative of the Frontier Areas on the Council, the Deputy Counsellors shall be entitled to attend meetings of the Council when subjects pertaining to the Frontier Areas are discussed. 5. Though the Governor's Executive Council will be augmented as agreed above, it will not operate in respect of the Frontier Areas in any manner which would deprive any portion of those Areas of the autonomy which it now enjoys in internal administration. Full autonomy in internal administration for the Frontier Areas is accepted in principle. 6. Though the question of demarcating and establishing a separated Kachin State within a Unified Burma is one which must be relegated for decision by the Constituent Assembly, it is agreed that such a State is desirable. As a first step towards this end, the Counsellor for Frontier Areas and the Deputy Counsellors shall be consulted in the administration of such areas in the Myitkyina and the Bhamo Districts as are Part II Scheduled Areas under the Government of Burma Act of 1935. 7. Citizens of the Frontier Areas shall enjoy rights and privileges which are regarded as fundamental in democratic countries. 8. The arrangements accepted in this Agreement are without prejudice to the financial autonomy now vested in the Federated Shan States. 9. The arrangements accepted in this Agreement are without prejudice to the financial assistance which the Kachin Hills and the Union Hills are entitled to receive from the revenues of Burma, and the Exeutive Council will examine with the Frontier Areas Counsellor and Deputy Counsellors the feasibility of adopting for the Kachin Hills and the Chin Hills financial arrangement similar to those between Burma and the Federated Shan States. Shan Committee. Kachin Committee. Burmese Government. (Signed) Saohpalong of Tawngpeng State. (Signed) (Sinwa Naw, Myitkyina) (Signed) (Aung San) (Signed) Saohpalong of Yawnghwe State. (Signed) (Zau Rip, Myitkyina) 　 (Signed) Saohpalong of North Hsenwi State. (Signed) (Dinra Tang, Myitkyina) 　 (Signed) Saohpalong of Laihka State. (Signed) (Zau La, Bhamo) 　 (Signed) Saohpalong of Mong Pawn State. (Signed) (Zau Lawn, Bhamo) 　 (Signed) Saohpalong of Hsamonghkam State. (Signed) (Labang Grong, Bhamo) 　 (Signed) Representative of Hsahtung Saohpalong. (Hkun Pung) 　 　 (Signed) (U Tin E) (Signed) (U Htun Myint) Chin Committee 　 (Signed) (U Kya Bu) (Signed) (Hkun Saw) (Signed) (U Hlur Hmung, Falam) 　 (Signed) (Sao Yape Hpa) (Signed) (Hkun Htee) (Signed) (U Thawng Za Khup, Tiddim) 　 　 　 (Signed) (U Kio Mang, Haka) 　 The Shan States is situated in the north-eastern part of Burma, bordering the People's Republic of China on the North and East, the Lao People's Democratic Republic on the East, the Kingdom of Thailand on South and East, the Karenni state on the South and the Union of Burma (Myanmar) on the west. It is positioned at Latitude North 19 degrees 20 minutes and South 24 degrees 9 minutes and between Longitude East 96 degrees 13 minutes and West 101 degrees 9 minutes. The Shan State is a high plateau with an elevation of 5,000-6,000 feet above sea level. It is covered with dense evergreen forests, pine, streams, rivers and waterfalls making the country a natural and beautiful land. It lies at an average of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level and the highest point is Mount Loilaeng (8,777 ft ) in Mong Yai, Loi Parng Nao (8,408 ft ) in Kentung, Loi tzang (8,129 ft) in Mong Kung township. The Salween ( Nam Khong in Shan) River is the principal river of the Shan State. It has its source in the Tibetan Himalayas and flows southwards through China and enters the Shan State, dividing it into two parts, then passes the Karenni state, Karen State and Mon State finally joining the Indian Ocean at the Gulf of Martaban near the town of Moulmein. Many tributaries of the Salween, such as the Nam Taeng, Nam Parng and Nam Nim all enter the Salween near the Town of Kun Hing (Kun Haeng: thousand islets) where many islets by the hundreds are formed. In the east there are the Nam Ma, Nam Kha and Nam Sim which flow into the Salween. The Mekong ( Nam Khawng in Shan) serves as the boundary between Laos and the Shan State for a length of 120 miles, then flows through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam into the Gulf of Thailand.