Fertility decline among the Karen and the Hmong, hill tribe minorities in Northern Thailand
Fertility decline among the Karen and the Hmong, hill tribe minorities in Northern Thailand
INTRODUCTION
Differentials in fertility transition are observed in many western countries during the
nineteenth century and later in many less developed countries. There are differences and
similarities in explaining fertility transition between these two periods (Kirk, 1996).
Nowadays, many countries both more developed and less developed countries have
reached replacement or below replacement fertility level. Fertility in Thailand declined
very rapidly (Knodel, Chamratrithirong and Debavalaya, 1987) and reached below
replacement level of fertility by the year 2000 (National Statistical Office (NSO) 2003).
The major factors leading to rapid fertility decline in Thailand are social and economic
change, latent demand for effective and acceptable means of fertility control, and
orgainised family planning program. The predominance of cultural homogeneity is
considered an important aspect of the Thai setting that facilitated reproductive change
(Knodel, Chamratrithirong and Debavalaya 1987).
The vast majority of Thai population shares a common language, religion and ethnicity
(Knodel, Chamratrithirong and Debavalaya 1987). However, when the focus is shifted to
the regional level, cultural differences become more pronounced, especially in the South
where most of the Muslim minority live and in the northwestern part where hill tribe
minorities with distinct ethnic, linguistic and religious identities live. The linkages
between religion, ethnic and cultural identity, and political setting has been discussed
extensively to explain reproductive patterns among the Muslims (Knodel et al. 1999).
Few analyses have been directed, however, at fertility of the hill tribes. Most of these
earlier studies rely on a small population, mainly due to large-scale data being previously
unavailable (Soottipong 1995). This study, therefore, aims at examining whether this
model of explaining fertility decline in Thailand can work out once it shifts to the hill
tribe minorities utilising the 1990 and 2000 Population and Housing Censuses.
The hill tribe populations, the Karen and the Hmong
Patterns of fertility behaviour have varied among minority groups in various
socioeconomic and cultural categories within countries and different countries in many
parts of the world. These minorities can be classified into two major groups in terms of
their integration into broader society. The first group are those who are highly integrated
physically, socially, and economically with the majorities. Some groups of this kind are
immigrants, for instance Blacks, Jews, Japanese Americans, and Catholics in the United
States (Goldscheider and Uhlenberg 1969), Catholic and non-Catholic minorities in
Australia (Day 1984), Chinese and Japanese in Canada (Halli 1987), Catholics,
Protestants, Jews, and those of no religious affiliation in the United States (Goldscheider
and Mosher 1988), the Korean minority in China (Park and Han 1990), and Muslims in
Southern Thailand (Knodel et al. 1999).
The second group are the minorities who live in isolation from the mainstream of life of
the majorities. Most of these minorities are indigenous populations. These minorities
include Maori population in New Zealand (Pool 1977, 1985), !Kung in Botswana
(Howell 1979), Alaskans in the United States (Blackwood 1981), Canadian Aborigines
(Romaniuk 1981, 1987, 1993), Aborigines in Australia (Gray 1983), minority groups in
China (Hechiang et al. 1984),), Ainu in Japan (Hammel 1988), Amish in North America
(Wasao et al. 1996) and hill tribe populations in Thailand (Soottipong 1995).
Hill tribe populations in Thailand consist of nine major ethnic groups: the Karen, Hmong,
Lahu, Akha, Lua , lisu, Yao Khamu and Htin. The hill tribes constitute about one percent
of the total Thai Population. Each tribe has its own language, customs, religion and
socioeconomic organisation. Most have been, to some extent, isolated geographically,
socially, economically, culturally, and politically from the mainstream way of life in
Thailand. The largest group is the Karen who constitutes about half of the hill tribe
populations, followed by the Hmong.
Almost all the hill tribes are engaged in the agricultural sector or a form of shifting
cultivation (Geddes 1967; Tribal Research Institute (TRI) 1989). The hill tribes can be
classified in terms of their agricultural pattern into the tribes with a tradition of opium
poppy growing and the tribes which do not traditionally grow opium poppies. The
Hmong, Yao, Lahu, Akha, and Lisu are regarded as tribes who traditionally cultivated the
opium poppies. These ethnic groups used to practice shifting cultivation resulting in
periodic soil exhaustion, and cycle movement from place to place to look for new land.
The remaining hill tribe groups – the Karen, Lua, Htin, and Khamu – are tribes who do
not traditionally grow opium poppies. These groups usually have more stabilised
residence than the opium poppy growing tribes. However, all of the hill tribe groups also
raise animals, practice wet- rice cultivation, and plant orchards wherever there is
sufficient water for irrigation.
Generally, the households of hill tribes consist of two types of family: the nuclear and the
extended family (TRI 1989). The nuclear family is common among the Karen, Lahu,
Lisu, Akha, Lua, Htin and Khamu. These groups are monogamous. Extended families are
common among the Hmong and Yao, which are polygynous ethnic groups. The Lua are
the group most integrated into Thai society (Bradley 1989). Strong son preference is a
characteristic supporting high fertility of the tribes who traditionally grow opium poppies
(Kunstadter et al. 1987).
The Karen are found in Thailand and Myanmar (Hinton 1980). In Thailand, some Karen
resided in the vicinity of the ancient city of Chiang Mai as early as the eight century A.
D. (Coedes 1925) The Hmong live in southwestern part of China, northern part of Laos,
Vietnam and Thailand. The Hmong migrated to Thailand between 1980 and 1990, and
Contact with outsiders
The hill tribes have been in a process of change resulting from contact with outsiders. A
major source of change has been activities of the Thai government since the 1950s (TRI
1989). There is no government policy towards any specific hill tribe group (Bhruksasri
1989). The government adopted a nation building policy to integrate the hill tribes into
Thai society. Buddhism, the religion of most Thai, was propagated and schools in which
teaching is in Thai were established in the hill tribe area. The teaching in schools was not
only about normal skills of primary education but also about the Monarchy, the nation,
and Buddhism which is a regular part of the Thai public school curriculum (Kammerer
1989; Kunstadter 1983; Manndorff 1967). Buddhist missionaries started to work in the
hill tribe area in 1955 (TRI, 1991). Christian missionaries, however, began to work with
tribal peoples earlier than any other organisations (Kunstadter 1967). The first Protestant
missionary went to work with the hill tribes in Chiang Mai in 1867 (Wells 1958).
Basically, the hill tribes are animists who believe in spirit of all kinds. However, many of
them are converted to Buddhists and Christians.
The conversion from animism to Buddhism or Christianity can be regarded as a process
of adaptation among the Karen and the Hmong to the outside world, partly due to the
intervention of the Thai State and the missionaries. The main reason for converting is that
they do not have to practice sacrifice and to become Christian they can have scholarship
for further study in town and get modern medical treatment. (Soottipong et al. 1998;
Chuengsatiansup and Pinkeaw 2003). Buddhism as the stated religious belief may be
important in terms of indicating the degree of self-identification of being a Thai and
greater integration into Thai society among the Karen (Soottipong et al. 1998) and
probably among the Hmong.
It was not until 1976 that a policy to restrict the utilisation of land was introduced (TRI
1989). Increasing restriction by the Thai government on practicing shifting cultivation
has resulted in a more fixed pattern of settlement. Government agencies began to provide
family planning services in the hill tribe areas beginning in the 1970s (Kunstadter et al.
1987).
Theoretical perspectives
Reproductive behaviour of the Karen and the Hmong is seen as influenced by increasing
contact with outsiders including the introduction of various intervention programs of
government and non-government organisations, especially the nation building policy on
education and religion. With improved transportation, increase in tourism, market
economy and restriction of land use some hill tribes have shifted from their traditional
agriculture to paid employment. All these factors are hypothesised to result in the change
in their reproductive attitude and behaviour.
Empirical findings show that an important factor contributing to fertility decline is an
increase in the educational attainment of the adult female population (Shapiro 1996).
Two often explanations are provided. First, education of women results in delaying
marriage and first birth. Secondly, education attainment increases the status of women
(Cassen 1976).
The role of education in fertility decline can be interpreted differently in multicultural
societies with linguistics diversity. Watkins (1991) identified schooling as the most
important of nation building, particularly due to the enforcement of a national language
or languages in countries having more than one as the medium of instruction in schools.
Ideational explanations of fertility change may play a role through the diffusion of new
ideas of family norms or new contraceptive techniques among those who speak the same
languages. It seems to suggest that those who are more integrated into social networks
that are favorable to control fertility tend to have lower fertility. However, what mattered
are changing attitudes and behaviour of sub-national populations or minorities in nation
states and the speed in which it spread in a specific culture or cultures.
According to minority status hypothesis, the insecurities of a minority group lead them to
limit family size to facilitate social mobility, provided that the group seeks both
acculturation and social and economic mobility, and the minority group does not have a
strong pronatalist ideology or one that specifically discourages birth control. In contrast
if acculturation is not designed and the group feels economically or politically
disadvantages, minority status may encourage high fertility to ensure group preservation
and strength in numbers (Goldscheider 1971).
The role of the state in promoting not only social interaction or diffusion through
linguistic homogeneity but also market integration is emphasized as the main determinant
of fertility decline (Watkins 1991). Increasing market integration results in change in
economic base of local community, normally from agrarian root to non-agriculture base.
Fertility tends to decline when non-agriculture occupation increases (Caldwell 1982).
There are two main explanation for this evident. First, it is argued that as children
contribute less to the farm labour requirement, the parents’ motivation to have a large
number of children is reduced. Secondly, non-agriculture work removes individuals from
their families and provides an opportunity for exposure to new ideas and values that may
legitimize the practice of fertility limitation, or create new goals that are not compatible
with large families (Axinn 1992).
DATA AND METHODS
Data sources
The present study is based on micro data samples of the 1990 and 2000 population
censuses in Thailand. Since the population under study is minorities, the sample size of
micro data needs to be large enough to give reliable results. The sample sizes used are 20
percent of the 1990 and 2000 censuses (all records from the long form questionnaire). For
the Thai and Northern Thai, 1 to 1.2 percent of the 1990 and 2000 censuses are used.
The 1990 and 2000 population censuses identify members of Thai hill tribe minorities by
language usually spoken in the households, including use of both Thai and the hill tribe
languages.1 People speaking only the hill tribe languages are also identified. It is unlikely
that in general the Thai speak languages other than Thai at home. The question on
languages spoken at home is asked at the household level, and this variable is assigned to
all household members. People who do not usually speak the language of their hill tribe
group may be enumerated but remain unidentifiable as members of their ethnic group.
Those who usually speak hill tribe languages might also include some people of Thai or
other ethnicity.
Measures
Our estimates of levels of fertility are based upon the Palmore Regression method
(Palmore 1978). The Palmore method estimates total fertility rate (TFR) from ratios of
children of age 0-4, 5-9, and 10-14 to total population, ratios of the same age group of
children to women ages 15-49, percent of ever-married women ages 20-24, 25-29, 35-39
and 45-49, median age of first marriage of women and a measure of mortality (infant
mortality rate (IMR)). Infant mortality rates of the Northern Thai from series of the
Surveys of Population Change carried out by the NSO (1964-1965, 1974-1976, 1985-
1986, 1989, 1992 and 1995-1996) with some interpolation to make it consistent with the
census periods are used. This is because the IMRs of hill tribe populations are not
available.2 This Palmore method does not assume stable population and is not sensitive to
infant mortality which is appropriate for fertility estimation of the hill tribes. The TFR
from this method refers to an average of 7.5 years prior to the census.
Multiple linear regression is employed for the analysis of factors affecting the change in
fertility of ever-married Karen and Hmong women age 15-49 years. Since we use data
both from population and housing files, matching these two files are carried out. In the
1990 census almost all records can be matched, but in the 2000 census about 88 percent
of the Karen and 70 percent of the Hmong can be matched. Unmatched records are
excluded from the analysis. The data sets from two years are pooled. We deflate the
sample weights so that the number of weighted observations equals the number of actual
observations. For ever-married women aged 15-49, there are 5,720 Karen and 1,476
Hmong in the 1990 sample and 11,303 Karen and 2,826 Hmong in the 2000 sample
included in the analysis. Unknown values are excluded from the analysis on a variable by
variable basis. However, the variations of unknown of variables used are small.
Number of children ever born is used as the dependent variable.3 All independent
variables, except age, are treated as categorical variables. The age squared term is used to
control any curvilinear relationships, because the number of children ever born and the
age of mother are not linearly related.
Religion
The original religion category includes 7 categories as follows: Buddhism, Christianity,
Hindu, Confusion, Others and No religion. For the hill tribes there are systematic sizable
number of Others and No religion between the two censuses. With personal
communication with the NSO at the head office and some northern provincial offices
where the hill tribes live, it is likely that the hill tribes who reported others and no
religion were those who professed animism, the traditional religion of the hill tribes.
These three categories are, therefore, combined into a category so called “ animism”.
Industry
The introduction of new standard classification of occupation in the 2000 census makes it
impossible to compare occupation overtime. Therefore, industry is used in stead. The
new standard classification of industry was also introduced in the 2000 census but the
new and the old classifications are more or less compatible.
Wealth index
“ Household possessions” refers to the ownership of items from a list of eleven modern
goods. These are radio, fan, bicycle, television, refrigeration, washing machine,
telephone, motorcycle, air-conditioner, ploughing machine and truck. The index is the
sum of points scored by the household according to the following scheme: 1 point each
for radio and fan, 2 points for bicycle, 3 points each for television, refrigeration, washing
machine and telephone, 4 points each for air-conditioner, motorcycle, and ploughing
machine and 6 points for truck. Allocation of points is based on approximate ordinal rank
of their cost. The wealth index is grouped into three categories. A “low” level means no
possessions while “medium” and “ high” levels refer to index scores of one to five and
more than five respectively.
FERTILITY DECLINE AMONG THE KAREN AND THE HMONG
Table 2 gives the total fertility rates (TFR) for the Thai, Northern Thai, hill tribes, Karen
and Hmong between 1970s and 1990s.4 It is evident that fertility was declining for all
ethnic groups. Hmong fertility was the highest and considerably higher than the Karen,
Thai and Northern Thai majorities. The finding was consistent with previous studies
(Soottipong 1995). Hmong had the slowest fertility decline. In early 1990s Hmong
women, on the average, had almost 3 children more than the Karen and about 4 children
more than the Thai and Northern Thai.
Notes: a TFRs of the Thai and Northern Thai are from the 1974-1976, 1985-1986, 1991 and
1995-1996 Surveys of Population Change carried out by the National Statistical Office and
referred to those periods.
b
Based on the Own-children technique ( National Statistical office 1997).
Source: The Population and Housing Census, 1990.
c. Based on Palmore’s method. Own-children method cannot be applied to the 2000 census since
there is no identification to match children and their mothers.
Sources: The Population and Housing Censuses, 1990 and 2000.
It can be seen from Figure 1, which presents age specific fertility rates of the Karen and
Hmong between early 1980s and1990s, that fertility declined in all age groups. Fertility
of women in the youngest (15-19) and oldest age group (45-49), however, declined
almost to a negligible level. The Karen women experienced a shift in the age pattern of
fertility, with women aged 20-24 having the highest fertility in early 1990s. For the
Hmong, the highest fertility was at aged 20-24.
Notes: a Percent current contraceptive of the currently married Thai and Northern Thai aged 15-49 is from
the 1995-1996 Survey of Population Change
b
NA = Not available
Sanitary types of toilet include flush latrine or molded bucket latrine.
Safe drinking water includes bottles drinking water, tap water, rain water or private well.
Sources: The Population and Housing Censuses, 1990 and 2000.
The Hmong women had the lowest age of marriage and the lowest rate of contraceptive
use. Even though the Karen and the Hmong had much lower standard of living than the
Thai, the situation of both ethnic groups was improved significantly over the 10 year
period. The improvement in sanitation is generally related to mortality decline and
consequently leads to fertility reduction as stated in the ‘Fertility Transition Theory’
(Kirk 1996). Previous studies show that this explanation is true for the Karen (Soottipong
1995), but not the Hmong. Fear of child death was infrequently mentioned as a motive
for having more children (Kunstadter et. al. 1992).
Comparing between the Karen and the Hmong, socioeconomic development and standard
of living of the Hmong improved more quickly than that of the Karen, but fertility of the
Hmong declined at a much slower rate than the Karen.
The Hmong’ s characteristics, which were the opposite of Karen’s, that made Hmong
fertility highest were probably due to their patrilineal society, strong son preferences and
extended family. Based on the previous study, the Hmong had higher mean preferred
family size (4.6 children) compared with the Karen (3.7 children) and the Thai (2
children) (Kamnuansilpa et al., 1987).
Between 1990 and 2000, the Hmong were more integrated into Thai society than the
Karen as measured by education, speaking Thai and Buddhism. Education of the Hmong
progressed remarkably for both boys and girls. The status of Hmong women, as
manifested by education attainment, was improved significantly. It can be seen from
Table 4 that the gender gap in compulsory primary education (6 years schooling)5 and
higher of the Hmong almost disappeared during the 10 year period. In 1990, only about
12 percent of Hmong women aged 15-19 completed compulsory primary school
compared with about 47 percent of their men counterpart. In 2000, this level of education
increased to over 80 percent for both males and females. We need to explore whether the
change in education contributed to fertility decline among the Hmong.
Note: * The Thai language is their mother tongue.
Sources: The Population and Housing Censuses, 1990 and 2000.
FERTILITY DIFFERENTIALS WITHIN THE KAREN AND THE HMONG
Our earlier findings show that fertility decline among the Thai majority spreads across
linguistic boundaries to the hill tribes, Karen and Hmong even though their
socioeconomic conditions are less favourable. Since changing fertility behavior does not
occur to individuals simultaneously, our next step is to investigate fertility differentials
with the two ethnic groups.
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS
Tables 5 and 6 show the results of regression analysis of the number of children ever
born from the pooled data sets of 1990 and 2000 censuses of the Karen and the Hmong
respectively. The analyses of dynamics of underlying changing of patterns of fertility
differences by socioeconomic characteristics were conducted with 4 Models as shown.
The Karen
When compared to 1990, the findings confirm that fertility of the Karen declined during
1990-2000. The coefficient of year increases after controlling for age and social
integration variables (ability to speak Thai, religion and education) and somewhat
decreases after including additional variables which represent migration status, working
activities, economic status or geographical variables. These results indicate that the
decrease in number of children ever born of ever-married Karen women aged 15-49 is the
result of changing composition of the population in terms of socioeconomic, migration
status and geographical composition.
Regarding religion, holding the other variables constant, the Karen who were Buddhist
had the lowest fertility, about 0.04 fewer children than those who were Christian. Fertility
of the Karen who were animists was in the middle. The findings may reflect the self-
identification of being Thai rather than their religious belief. The highest fertility among
the Christian Karen may be due to Karen nationalism promoted by the Catholic Church
(Soottipong, Lucas and Gray 1998).
Relative to Karen women with no education, those with some schooling (mainly primary
school) had about had 0.07 fewer children.
Model 4 document the significance of changing composition of working activity and
level of wealth on fertility of the Karen. Karen women engaged in the non- agricultural
sector, relative to those in the agricultural sector, had lower fertility, and those with
highest level of wealth, relative to those with lower levels of wealth, had the lowest
fertility.
The Hmong
The findings are very similar to those of the Karen; i.e the changing composition of
education attainment, working activity, and level of wealth had significant influence on
changing in fertility among the Karen. The difference is that, relative to Hmong women
with lowest level of wealth, the higher the level of wealth Hmong women had, the higher
was the level of their fertility. Additionally, Hmong women who lived in urban area had
.06 more children than those lived in rural area. These findings are not surprising since
the Hmong preferred to have more children if they could afford it. In addition, the
Hmong had the strong son preference. This finding, to some extent, is consistent with the
aggregate level of Hmong fertility that the pace of their fertility decline did not catch up
with the increase in their social and economic development.
Some education and non-education
The common factors leading to fertility decline of the Karen and Hmong are education
and non-agricultural occupation. Even though the Thai government introduced Thai
schooling in the hill tribe areas in 1950s, only one in five ever-married Karen and Hmong
women in the reproductive ages had some education in 2000, mostly or over 80 percent
primary level (6 years schooling). The results show that there was an increase in
proportion of Karen and Hmong women with some form of education in all age groups
over the ten- year period (Figure 2). However, the increase in this level of education was
considerably faster among the young generation ever-married Hmong women aged below
24 than among the Karen counterpart.
Figure 2. Percentage of ever-married Karen and Hmong women aged 15-49 years with primary schooling
and higher, by age group, 1990 and 2000.
Sources: The Population and Housing Census, 1990 and 2000.
Agriculture and non-agriculture status
Associated with increased contact with outsiders and increased educational attainment of
Karen and Hmong women was an expansion in their economic activity outside the home.
Figures 4 and 5 show that the Karen and the Hmong increasingly moved away from their
agricultural sector during 1990-2000. This phenomenon occurred to every age group at
quite a constant rate. It is evident that Hmomg women engaged in the non-agricultural
sector considerably more quickly than Karen women. Women from both ethnic groups
engaged in the non-agricultural sector were mainly employees in textile and garment
manufacturing and personal services or self-employed in the retail trade concerning their
handicraft.
Karen
Percentage
Age
22
Figure 3. Percentage of ever-married Karen and Hmong women aged 15-49 years with non-agricultural
industry, by age group, 1990 and 2000.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
We have examined evidence on fertility behaviour among the Karen and the Hmong in
Thailand, using data from two population censuses in 1990 and 2000. During this ten
year period, there were substantial changes in their lives. Even though it is claimed that
the government does not have specific policy towards any hill tribe group, the socio-
economic development is slower among the Karen than the Hmong.
The increase in levels of socioeconomic development of the two ethnic groups was not
consistent with the decrease in their fertility levels. Total fertility of the Karen declined
from 5.5 in late 1970s to 3.4 in early 1990s while total fertility of the Hmong declined
much slowly from 6.6 to 6.0 during this 20 year period. The Northern Thai fertility
declined from 3.7 to 1.9.
Our results suggest that the lack behind fertility of the Karen compared to the Thai is
likely to be a temporary phenomenon. Common forces of socioeconomic change and
cultural integration will eventually overcome the resistance to small family size and
contraception.
The Hmong have almost begun fertility transition if we use convention definition of
fertility decline more than 10 percent below their historical high (Bongaarts and Watkins
1996). The pace of decline was much slower among the Hmong, opposite to the Karen,
even though mass schooling (proportion of children aged 15-19 with compulsory primary
school and over) was achieved and social interaction with the Thai was more convenient
(proportion of adults speaking Thai). The finding suggests that the Thai nation building
policy did not work at the macro level, at least in our study.
When we consider education of women at the individual level, similarly to the Karen,
Hmong women’ s schooling contributed to the decline. The shift in their economic base
from agriculture to non-agriculture also resulted in fertility decline. The Hmong and
Karen, like other groups who moved away from their agrarian roots, will continue to be
influenced by the trend away from farming into non-fram occupation.
Reducing language diversity was not found statistically significant in fertility reduction in
our study. This is probably because ability to speak Thai is developed not only through
schooling but also communication with the Thai. Even though those who could speak
Thai can have closer contact through face- to- face communication with the Thai, they
may not agree with the Thai attitude or behaviour. It’s not necessary that the Hmong
want to be like a Thai with the increasing contact with the Thai majority, particularly if
they fell disadvantaged and want to preserve their group strength. The Hmong were often
accused by the Thai as trouble people 6
The role of schooling that insists teaching in the official Thai language plays in changing
attitudes and behaviour is unclear. It is likely that the relationship between schooling and
fertility decline is rather associated with an increase in the status of women, particularly
Hmong women than with better communication with the Thai majority through the
common Thai language.
The lack of substantial change in fertility among the Hmong seems to be consistent with
minority status hypothesis that the combination of a pronatalist ideology, low desire of
acculturation and a sense of political disadvantage lead to their higher fertility. To some
extent, the minority status hypothesis also recognises that politial context can play a role
(Goldscheider, 1971). One important aspect of the political context is government
population policies and particularly the extent of state involvement in family planning
programs. However, statistics show that the Thai family planning programs for the hill
tribes were relatively unsuccessful compared with the Thai majority. The latent demand
for small family size of the Thai (two-child family norm) still does not exist among the
Hmong. It is difficult to speculate that the pace of fertility decline among the Hmong
will be faster with an increase in proportion of educated women or non-farm women if
they still prefer large family size.
25
References
Axinn, W. 1992. ‘Family organization and fertility limitation in Nepal’, Demography 29:
503-521.
Axinn, William G. 1992. “The effects of children’ s schooling on fertility limitation”,
Population Studies 47 (3): 481-493.
Bhruksasri, Wanat. 1989. “Government policy: highland ethnic minorities”, in John
McKinnon and Bernard Vienne (eds.) Hill Tribes Today. Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd.,
pp. 5-32.
Blackwood, Larry. 1981. ” Alaska native fertility trends, 1950-1978″, Demography 18
( 2): 173-179.
Bongaarts, John and Susan Cotts Watkins. 1996. “ Social interactions and contemporary
fertility transitions”, Population and Development Review 22 (4): 639-682.
Bradley, David. 1989.”Structural assimilation and the consensus: clearing grounds on
which to rearrange our thoughts” in John McKinnon and Bernard Vienne (eds.) Hill
Tribes Today. Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., pp. 303-360.
Cassen, R. H. 1976. “ Population and development: A survey”, in World Development,
Vol. 4, No. 10 & 11: pp. 149-174.
Chuengsatiansup, Komatra and Ratree Pinkeaw. 2003. “ Ethinicity, medicalised state and
the nationalisation of medicine in Hmong community in Northern Thailand” paper
presented at the Second Annual National Anthropological Meeting, Bangkok, Thailand,
May 26-28. (in Thai).
Caldwell, John C. 1982. Theory of Fertility Decline. New York: Academic Press.
Coedes, G. 1925. ” Document sur l’histoire politique et religieuse du Laos occidental”,
Bulletin de I’Eole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient 25: 12-13.
Geddes, William R. 1967. “ The tribal research centre, Thailand: an account of plans and
activities”. in Peter Kunstadter (ed.), Southeast Asian Tribes, Minorities, and Nations.
Vol. 2. Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press , pp.553-582.
Geddes, W. R. 1976.Migrant of the Mountain: the Cultural Ecology of the Blue Miao of
Thailand. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Goldscheider, Calvin. 1971. Population, Modernization and Social Structure. Boston:
Little, Brown Company.
Goldscheider, Calvin and Peter R. Uhlenberg. 1969. ” Minority group status and
fertility”, American Journal of Sociology 74 (4): 361-372.
Goldscheider, Calvin and William Mosher. 1988. “ Religious affiliation and
contraceptive usage: changing American patterns, 1955-82”, Studies in Family Planning
19 (1): 48-57.
Gray, A.1983. Australian Aboriginal Fertility in Decline, Unpublished Ph. D Thesis,
Australian National University.
Halli, Shivalingappa S. 1987.How Minority Status Affects Fertility Asian Groups in
Canada. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
Halli, Shivalingappa S. 1990.” The fertility of ethnic groups” in Shiva S. Halli, Frank
Trovato, and Leo Driedger (eds.) Ethnic Demography. Ottawa, Ontario: Carleton
University Press, pp.61-74.
Hammel, E. A. 1988. ” A Glimpse into the demography of the Ainu”, American
Anthropologist 90 (1): 25-41.
HAN, Jing-Qing, Lee-Jay Cho, Minja Kim Choe, and Chi-Hsien Tuan. 1988. ” The
fertility of Korean minority women in China: 1950-1985″, Asia-Pacific Population
Journal 3 (1): 31-54.
26
Hechang, Li, Song Tingyou, and Li Cheng.1984. ” Current fertility status of women in
the Han and Minority Nationalities in rural areas”, in Analysis on China’s National One-
per-thousand-population fertility Sampling Survey, Beijing: China Population
Information Centre.
Hinton, Peter. 1979. “The Karen, millennialism, and the politics of accommodation to
lowland states”, in Charles F. Keyes (ed.), Ethnic Adaptation and Identity: the Karen on
the Thai Frontier with Burma. Philadelphia: A Publication of the Institute for the Study
of Human Issues, pp. 81-98.
Hinton, Peter. 1983. ” Do the Karen really exist?”, in J. McKinnon and W. Bhruksasri
(eds.), Highlanders of Thailand. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, pp. 155-168.
Howell, Nancy. 1979.Demography of the Dobe !Kung. New York: Academic Press.
Kamnuansilpa, Peerasit, Peter Kunstadter, and Nanta Auamkul. 1987. Hill Tribe Health
and Family Planning: Results Of a Survey of Hmong (Meo) and Karen Households in
Northern Thailand. Bangkok: Ministry of Public Health.
Kammerer, Cornelia Ann. 1989. ” Territorial imparatives: Akha ethnic identity and
Thailand’ s national integration”, in John McKinnon and Bernard Vienne (eds.) Hill
Tribes Today. Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., pp. 259-302.
Kirk, Dudley. 1996. “Demographic transition theory”. Population Studies 50: 361-387.
Knodel, John, A. Chamratrithirong, and N. Debavalaya. 1987. Thailand’s Reproductive
Revolution:Rapid fertility Decline in a Third World Setting. Madison, Wisconsin:
University of Wisconsin Press.
Knodel, John, Rossarin Soottipong Gray, Porntip Sriwatcharin, and Sara Peraccca. 1999.
“ Religion and reproduction: Muslims in Buddhist Thailand” Population Studies 53: 149-
164.
Kunstadter, P. 1967. ” The Lua? (Lawa) and Skaw Karen of the Mae Hongson province,
northwestern Thailand”, in Peter Kunstadter (ed.) Southeast Asian Tribes, Minorities, and
Nations, (2). Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press, pp. 639-676.
Kunstadter, P. 1983. ” Highland population in northern Thailand”, in J. McKinnon and
W. Bhruksasri (eds.) Highlanders of Thailand. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press ,
pp. 16-45.
Kunstadter, Peter, Chupinit Kesmanee, and Prawit Pothi-art. 1987. Hmong and Karen
Health and Family Planning: Cultural and other Factors Affecting Use of Modern Health
and Family Planning Services by Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand. Bangkok: Ministry of
Public Health.
Kunstadter, P., SL. Kunstadter, P. Leeprecha, C. Podhisita, M. Laoyang, CS. Thao, RS.
Thao, and WS. Yang. 1992. “ Causes and consequences of increases in child survival
rate: ethnoepidemiology among the Hmong of Thailand”, Human Biology 64 (6): 821-41.
Leepreecha, Prasit. 2001. Kinship and Identity among Hmong in Thailand, A dissertation
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Washington.
Manndorff, Hans. 1967. ” The hill tribe program of the Public welfare Department,
Ministry of Interior, Thailand: research and socio-economic development” in Peter
Kunstadter (ed.) Southeast Asian Tribes, Minorities, and Nations, (2). Princeton:
Princeton University Press, pp. 525-552.
Mottin, Jean. 1980. The History of the Hmong (Mao). Bangkok: Rung Ruang Ratana
Printing.
National Statistical Office. 1997. ‘Own-children’ Estimates of Fertility of the Thai Hill Tribes . Bangkok: National
Statistical Office.
27
Palmore, James A. 1978. Regression Estimates of Changes in Fertility, 1955-69 to 1965-
75, for Most Major Nations and Territories. Papers of the East-West Population Institute,
No. 58. Honolulu: East-West Center.
Park, Chai Bin and Jing Qing Han. 1990. ” A minority group and China’ s one-child
policy: the case of the Koreans”, Studies in Family Planning 21 (3): 161-170.
Podhisita, Chai, P. Kunstadter and S. L. Kunstadter. 1989. “ Evidence for early fertility
transition among the Hmong in Northern Thailand”, unpublished paper presented at
the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Baltimore, MD.,
March 30-April 1.
Pool, D. I. 1977. The Maori Population of New Zealand 1769-1971. Aukland: Aukland
University Press.
Pool, D. I. 1985. “ Mortality trend and differentials”, in Population of New Zealand (1),
Country Monograph Series No. 12, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand.
Romaniuk, A.1981. ” Increase in natural fertility during the earlier stages of
modernization: Canadian Indian case study”, Demography 17 (2): pp. .
Romaniuk, A. 1987. ” Transition from traditional high fertility to modern low fertility:
Canadian Aboriginals”, Canadian Studies in Population 14 (1): 69-88.
Romaniuk, Anatole. 1993. ” Fertility transition among Canadian aboriginal population”,
Paper accepted for the General Conference of the International Union for the Scientific
Study on population, at its Session: Fertility and the Status of Women, in Montreal,
September 24-October 1.
Shapiro, David. 1996. “ Fertility decline in Kinshasa”. Population Studies 50: 89-103.
Soottipong, Rossarin. 1995. Fertility Differentials Among the Karen, A Hill Tribe
Minority in Northern Thailand, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, the Australian National
University.
Soottipong, Rossarin, David Lucas and Alan Gray. 1998. The Roles of Policy and
Community Organisation in Fertility Reduction of the Karen People in Thailand,
Working Papers in Demography, No. 75, the Australian National University.
Tribal Research Institute (TRI). 1989. The Hill Tribes in Thailand. Chiang Mai: Chang-
Puak Compugraphic.
Tribal Research Institute (TRI). 1991. “ Hill tribes and development”, documented
prepared for the 50th anniversary of the Department of Public Welfare, Ministry of
Interior. (in Thai).
Wasao, Samson W. 1996. “ An anlysis of factors related to parity among the Amish in
Northeast Ohio”. Population Studies 50: 235-246.
Watkins, Susan Cotts. 1991. From Provinces into Nations Demgraphic Integration in
Western Europe, 1870-1960. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Wells, Kenneth E. 1958. History of Protestant Work in Thailand: 1828-1958. Bangkok:
Church of Christ in Thailand.
The population censuses in Thailand, which are carried out by the National Statistical Office, do
not yet attempt to enumerate all members of hill tribe groups. Only hill tribes who do not shift
their habitation or are under the central administrative system of the Royal Thai government are
included in the coverage of censuses, but appropriate ethnic designation was not available until
the 1990 census.
We estimated their IMRs using Trussell ’s method, but the results seemed to be unreliable. This
may reflect, to some extent, quite the low quality of reported children died from the two censuses.
However, the errors are systematic that should not seriously affect our multivariate analysis.
A major difficulty in attempting to relate individual characteristics to children ever born is that
most characteristics refer to current status while number of children ever born is a cumulative
measurement relating to some past period.
Hill tribes include nine major ethnic groups: the Karen, Hmong, Lahu, Akha, Lua , lisu, Yao
Khamu and Htin, and Northern Thai refers to those living in the administrative Northern Region.
Between 1978-1991, Thai compulsory education consists of 6 years of schooling. In 1992,
Thailand adopted the policy to extend compulsory education from 6 to 9 years, and it becomes
law in 2003. The 1997 current Constitution provides for the first time that all the Thai people will
have equal rights to receive basic education for at least 12 years, of quality and free of charge.
From an article “Current Hmong Issues: 10 point statement” by Dr. Gary Lee and
Dr. Nick Tapp at Web site: www.neeg.org/page12.html.