The Karen (Kariang, Yang) like to settle in foothills, and live in bamboo houses raised on stilts, beneath which live their domestic animals: pigs, chickens, and buffaloes. They, like all the tribes, are skilled farmers who practice crop rotation, and they also hunt for game, with spears and crossbows, and use tame elephants to help them clear land.

Karen women are skilled in sewing and dyeing, and dress in white blouse-sarong combinations with colorful patterns or beads for trim. They wear their long hair tied back in a bun and covered with white scarves.

The Karen are gentle, peaceful, and cooperative people, who, like all the Hilltribes, reserve their highest veneration for their ancestors and living elders.

• TRADITIONAL LOCATION(S): West and Southwestern sections of Thailand.
• MAJOR TRIBAL DIVISIONS: Sgaw (in western locations) & Pwo (Plo) (in mid to southwestern sections of Thailand.
• POPULATION: (1992) est.: Sgaw: 187,000 Pwo (Plo): 47,000
• LANGUAGE(S): Karenic group of Tibet-Burman language family; Sgaw & Pwo not mutually intelligible.
• FAMILY GROUP: Nuclear Family: Parents and unmarried children.
• RELIGION: Traditional: Spiritual Ancestor Worship; Current: Thai Buddhism; Transitory: Christianity.
• VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS: Mountain Villages, Plains Villages and small Town Settlements (less than 2%)
  

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