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Kula people (Asia)

The Kula people (Thai: กุลา; Khmer: កុឡា, Kŏla [kolaː]; also spelt Gula and Kola) are the descendants of migrants from Burma[1] who settled in the Pailin-Chanthaburi region along the Cambodia–Thailand border during the 19th century. To which Burmese ethnic group the Kulas belong remains uncertain,[2] with some speculating a Bamar,[3] Shan[4] or multi-ethnic heritage.[5]

Languages[edit]

The Kula people speak Burmese, Shan, Pa'O and Mon as first languages. Many also speak Khmer or Thai as second languages.

History[edit]

Journey in Thailand[edit]

Kula merchants traded in Isan and along the banks of the Mekong. Their presence in Isan is recorded as early as the reign of King Rama IV. The first written record of Kula in the region comes from a dispute between a Kula merchant over the purchase of 577 cattle from the governors of Roi Et, Suwannaphum, and Khon Kaen, who refused to hand over the cattle. The Kula were protected at that time by Britain, therefore Bangkok acted as mediator and returned the 2764 baht owed.


Kula merchants travelled in caravans, some of which consisted of 100 or more people who rode in ox carts and on horses and elephants. The merchants would buy and sell many types of items including elephants, ivory, horns, tusks and antlers, silk, water buffalo, firearms, and other assorted items. Smaller caravans would consist of only 5 to 50 members and would be heavily armed with knives and swords but also sacred magic charms for protection. The Kula distinguished themselves by being nomadic and staying in temples, or in the jungle, prairies and forests. The Thung Kula Ronghai, or 'plain of the crying Kula' is so named in memory of the nomadic Kula. It is a vast, arid plain, with areas of the swamp as well. Sparsely populated during the early 19th century, many caravans would become lost, never to find their way out. The communities in the plain erected large wooden poles and planted trees as route markers. There were five main routes through the plain: from Dong Paya Fai, Nakhon Ratchasima to Pak Phriao, Saraburi; from Dong Paya Klang, Nakhon Ratchasima to Sanam Chang, Lopburi; from Thanko pass in Nakhon Ratchasima into Kabin Buri District, Prachinburi through Panatnikom in Saraburi to Phanom Sarakham District, Chachoengsao; from Mottama, Mawlamyine, Myanmar to Phetchabun to the Rahaeng Subdistrict in Tak; and from the Jorn Pass in Surin to Sisophon, Cambodia.


As travelling merchants, the Kula played a major role in providing communities in Isan with essential goods, skills and information. They aided the spread of skills such as ironwork and goldsmithing in rural communities and spread information from town to town. As the regional economy advanced and began to prosper, the Kula faced competition from Chinese and Indian merchants as well as individual Thai. Paved roads and railways were built, linking Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, making goods more easily available to remote regions also contributed to the decline of Kula trading. When the Bowring Treaty ended, it sealed the demise of Kula merchant-caravans in Thailand. Small caravans of Kula still continued to travel to Thailand into the 20th century and many Kula descendants living in northern Thailand still practice their nomadic tradition of trading throughout Isan, though they sell pottery and artificial flowers now.


Kula would sometimes settle in a community once they married, while others returned to Cambodia once the trading era was over. Many Kula traditions and customs have disappeared over the generations through assimilation with local Thai and Lao communities.

Guideline for Conservation, Revitalization and Development of the Identity and Customs of the Kula Ethnic Group in Northeast Thailand (2009)

The Central Position of the Shan/Tai as 'Knowledge Brokers' in the Cambodia.

Decentering Colonial Cartography.

Minority Ethnics in Cambodia (2009)

Folk dance of Cambodia (1965)

Field report Pailin (2008–2009)

Why the Kula wept: A Report on the Trade activities of The Kula in Isa at the end of 19th century by Junko Koizum.