Drivers, Facilitators, and Sources of Stigma Among Akha and Lahu Hill Tribe People who used Methamphetamine in Thailand: A Qualitative Approach

Background: The stigma related to drug use has several impacts, including effects on users’ physical and mental health. Methamphetamine is the major drug that is used among hill tribes living in the border areas of Thailand and Myanmar. This study aimed to understand the drivers, facilitators, sources and outcomes of the stigma surrounding drug use, including the expectations among Akha and Lau hill tribe people who use methamphetamine in Thailand.Methods: Qualitative data were used to elicit information from the key informants, members of the hill tribes who used methamphetamine. Questions guild was developed from a literature review and tested for validity before use. In-depth interviews were used to gather information confidentially from the participants in private rooms in villages. Each interview lasted 45 minute, and a thematic analysis was conducted to examine the findings.Results: A total of 46 participants were recruited to provide information; 95.7% were male, and 50.0% were aged between 15-34 years. The majority were married (47.8%), 76.1% were Christian, and 45.7% graduated high school. Six drivers of stigma were detected, being: poor, illiterate, unemployed, working age, female sex, and marital status. Culture and tribe acted as facilitators of the stigma attached to methamphetamine use. Four sources of stigma were found: self, family members, peers, and community members. Three outcomes stigma were determined, poor: physical health, mental health, and relationships with others. There were four levels of expectations: no expectations, expectations for themselves, expectations for their family members, and expectations for their community members.Conclusions: Many personal traits, people living nearby, and socioeconomic factors, including culture and tribes, act as drivers, facilitators, and sources of stigma among hill tribe people who use methamphetamine. A program to reduce methamphetamine use among hill tribes should be implemented, which could eventually minimize stigma.

A Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Initiative in Ethnic Communities of Northern Thailand: Local Perspectives and Future Prospects

Background: Nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) interventions can contribute to improved food security and household dietary diversity. As well as undertaking trials, contextual factors that influence sustainability need to be scoped. Objective: To explore locals’ views of an NSA initiative, designed to improve food security and reduce malnutrition in children younger than 5 years, scoping future prospects 6 months after the conclusion of the trial. Methods: The initiative that was formally trialed over 6 months (November 2014 to April 2015) entailed keeping hens and home gardens. It occurred in the ethnic hill tribes of northern Thailand. In November 2015, 20 in-depth interviews were undertaken with villagers who had been involved in the initiative. Dialogue occurred in Thai with assistance of a translator and was recorded, transcribed, and translated to English. A detailed thematic analysis was undertaken. Results: Eggs produced by the hens were appreciated and fed to children, and the message of providing children with an egg a day was widely remembered. Subsequently, the hens ceased laying or died. The home gardens had seasonal scarcity of water. Less visible, but fundamental, women lacked time for these activities due to heavy burdens of farm labor. Conclusion: Keeping hens has potential to become a sustainable activity. Home gardens need water infrastructure to be viable. Women do not necessarily have spare capacity for such initiatives. The required labor needs deliberation by villagers.

Experiences and expectations regarding COVID-19 prevention and control measures among the hill tribe population of northern Thailand: a qualitative study

Background COVID-19 has been a major human threat for a year. A large number of people have been infected and killed globally, including hill tribe people living in remote and border areas between Thailand and Myanmar. Different expectations of and experiences with the implemented disease prevention and control measures by local, national and international organizations have been widely reported. This study aimed to understand the experiences and expectations regarding the disease prevention and control measures that were implemented among hill tribe people in Thailand. Methods Qualitative data were collected from participants aged 20 and older who belonged to the hill tribes living on the border of northern Thailand and Myanmar. A semistructured questionnaire was used to guide interviews. Information was extracted for thematic analysis by the NVivo program. Results Fifty-seven participants (36 female, 21 male) were interviewed; 27 participants were Thai Yai, 14 participants were Yunnan Chinese, 8 participants were Akha, and 8 participants were from other tribes. The average age was 45.8 years (min = 20 years, max = 90 years). Thirty participants had never attended school, and the other 27 participants had received education at different levels, from primary school to higher education. Forty participants were unemployed, 13 worked as agriculturists, and the other 4 were attending school. Both positive experiences, such as improving personal hygiene practices, maintaining close contact and increasing relationships among family members and demonstrating the leadership of the villager leaders, and negative experiences, including interruption of social interactions, family financial problems, poor access to medical care services, and invisible people to the government, were found. Different expectations were observed regarding organizations at the local, national, and international levels. Expectations at the local level included villagers and community leaders taking action to strongly contribute to prevention and control measures and to prevent unscreened people from entering the village. Obtaining accurate information about the disease and being financially supported were expectations at the national level, while closing borders to protect cases from overflowing into their villages was an international-level expectation. Conclusion Although hill tribes reside in very remote rural areas, they experience both positive and negative effects of the disease prevention and control measures implemented by organizations. Their expectations are formally and informally voiced to policy makers at the local, national and international levels.

General public’s knowledge and practices on face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional exploratory survey from Dharan, Nepal

Background: Facemasks are considered a cheap, effective, and safe method to control the spread of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). This study assessed the knowledge and practice of face mask use amongst the Nepalese public during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-developed, validated questionnaire (Cronbach alpha 0.556) was conducted in Dharan, Nepal during May 2020. Pharmacists from ten pharmacies throughout Dharan city administered and recorded responses from a selected sample, stratified across age, gender, education, and place of residence. Completed questionnaires were entered in SPSS, coded, and normality tested using a one-sample K-S test. Demographic characteristics were described using descriptive statistics. Median scores among subgroups were compared using inferential statistics. Descriptive analyses were performed for demographic parameters and inferential statistics for outcome variables, calculating median scores among subgroups which were further compared using non-parametric tests at alpha=0.05. Results: 381 individuals participated - 211 males (55.4%) and 170 females (44.6%) . 93 (24.5%) respondents were between 20-30 years of age and three (0.8%) were over 70. 200 (52.5%) participants were educated between classes VIII to XII; seven (1.8%) having postgraduate education. 129 (33.9%) participants were from hill tribes. Knowledge scores were high (median score 16; maximum score 18). Around 20% of participants had never used a face mask before the pandemic; most knew about the ongoing pandemic (80%), about washing hands before using a mask (92.6%), and covering the mouth and nose (78.7%), Under half knew to avoid touching the mask while wearing it (42.3%). Knowledge scores were higher among men (p=0.038), younger age groups (p=0.010), and those with greater education (p=0.048). Conclusion: Knowledge was good, and the public were aware of the proper use of face masks. Educational interventions could be targeted to those with lesser knowledge, and steps to promote sustained face mask use could be beneficial.

A review of the short story collection of Neelamalai

Review of the collection of short stories 'Neelamalai' written by Malayalam writer Urubu One of the notable writers in the world of Malayalam literature, PC Kuttikrishnan, also known as uhd Urubu, wrote a collection of short stories called 'Neelamalai' by. Kuttikrishna Menon is the whole point of Asha php. ‘Urubu’ is his nickname. Eva was born on June 8, 1915 in Ponnani, Kozhikode district. Evangel, Short Story, Drama, Poetry, as has given reassurance to all departments. MP Milk Award. Government of Kerala Award for Best Screenplay. Sahitya Akademi Award. The teacher sometimes lived in the Nilgiris and Wayanad hills, Short story Ava has said. There are a total of 6 short stories in this collection. The titles are set in relation to the central theme of the story. As the stories are centered on the Nilgiris and Wayanad, the technique of setting the beginning of the story with descriptions of places is used in all the stories. The characters in these stories are mostly hill people. Mountain races like Thotawa, Vaduga are shown. On a small scale vulgaris, gpw are shown as human beings. The hill tribesmen who come in male roles are hard workers. He has a hard working body and an owl mind that does not know the outside world. The women who come as female characters are innocent who do not know the outside world. So that he is deceived by others and, cannot break the rules. The characters, who are vulgar and, civilized, plunder the labor and life of the hill people. Pure Malayalam language is used in the stories. The vernacular is also used in the conversation of the hill tribes. vadugha language. Since the stories become the author's experience, it seems to be the best strategy to have the stories set by the teacher. The story is set in the Nilgiris, Wayanad hills, their biographical background, language, culture, customs, etc. The technique used in the stories is good. Having the meaning of the words in their own language helps the reader to understand the story.

Autosomal Microsatellite Investigation Reveals Multiple Genetic Components of the Highlanders from Thailand

The hill tribes of northern Thailand comprise nine officially recognized groups: the Austroasiatic-speaking (AA) Khmu, Htin and Lawa; the Hmong-Mien-speaking (HM) IuMien and Hmong; and the Sino-Tibetan-speaking (ST) Akha, Karen, Lahu and Lisu. Except the Lawa, the rest of the hill tribes migrated into their present habitats only very recently. The Thai hill tribes were of much interest to research groups focusing on study of cultural and genetic variation because of their unique languages and cultures. So far, there have been several genetic studies of the Thai hill tribes. However, complete forensic microsatellite database of the Thai hill tribes is still lacking. To construct such database, we newly generated 654 genotypes of 15 microsatellites commonly used in forensic investigation that belong to all the nine hill tribes and also non-hill tribe highlanders from northern Thailand. We also combined 329 genotypes from previous studies of northern Thai populations bringing to a total of 983 genotypes, which were then subjected to genetic structure and population relationships analyses. Our overall results indicated homogenous genetic structure within the HM- and Tai-Kadai (TK)-speaking groups, large genetic divergence of the HM-speaking Hmong but not IuMien from the other Thai groups, and genetic heterogeneity within the ST- and AA-speaking groups, reflecting different population interactions and admixtures. In addition to establishing genetic relationships within and among these populations, our finding, which provides a more complete picture of the forensic microsatellite database of the multiple Thai highland dwellers, would not only serve to expand and strengthen forensic investigation in Thailand, but would also benefit its neighboring countries of Laos and Myanmar, from which many of the Thai hill tribes originated and where large populations of these ethnic groups still reside.

Cultural Elements Expressed in the Wedding Ceremonies of the Yelagiri Hill Tribes

Marriage is a kind of relationship that takes place in human life. A marriage takes place depending on the respective culture and tradition of a particular group of people living as a society. This is a process that takes place all over the world according to their circumstances. These circumstances reveal the prosperity of their cultural practices. In this case, the marriage ceremony of the tribes living in the Yelagiri hills of Tirupattur district depends on the old customs and traditions. This article goes to apply Richard M.Dorson’s folk cultural aspect theory to know the methods and record the marriage system as an essential part of these tribes.

Reconstructing the human genetic history of mainland Southeast Asia: insights from genome-wide data from Thailand and Laos

Thailand and Laos, located in the center of Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), harbor diverse ethnolinguistic groups encompassing all five language families of MSEA: Tai-Kadai (TK), Austroasiatic (AA), Sino-Tibetan (ST), Hmong-Mien (HM) and Austronesian (AN). Previous genetic studies of Thai/Lao populations have focused almost exclusively on uniparental markers and there is a paucity of genome-wide studies. We therefore generated genome-wide SNP data for 33 ethnolinguistic groups, belonging to the five MSEA language families from Thailand and Laos, and analysed these together with data from modern Asian populations and SEA ancient samples. Overall, we find genetic structure according to language family, albeit with heterogeneity in the AA-, HM- and ST-speaking groups, and in the hill tribes, that reflects both population interactions and genetic drift. For the TK speaking groups, we find localized genetic structure that is driven by different levels of interaction with other groups in the same geographic region. Several Thai groups exhibit admixture from South Asia, which we date to ∼600-1000 years ago, corresponding to a time of intensive international trade networks that had a major cultural impact on Thailand. An AN group from Southern Thailand shows both South Asian admixture as well as overall affinities with AA-speaking groups in the region, suggesting an impact of cultural diffusion. Overall, we provide the first detailed insights into the genetic profiles of Thai/Lao ethnolinguistic groups, which should be helpful for reconstructing human genetic history in MSEA and selecting populations for participation in ongoing whole genome sequence and biomedical studies.

Negotiating Representation: The Self and Community in The Story of a Tribal: An Autobiography

Literature as a means of representation and understanding selfhood and identity was oral based for the Khasis prior to colonialism but the coming of education via the proselytising efforts of the Welsh Mission led to the development of Khasi literature by the end of the 19th century. As mode of representation, literature for Khasis became a space of negotiation and of adaptation of foreign modes of expression and representation to reclaim an identity which has been suppressed by the colonial rulers via their discursive practices. This is clearly seen in the trend of the literary production of the community. The 20th century saw a mushrooming of literary production by Khasi writers, with most of them preferring to write in their own language and about their oral tradition. Interestingly, despite this trend, the first autobiography by a Khasi, B. M. Pugh’s The Story of a Tribal (1976), was written in English. The title of the text itself alerts the readers of the highly politicised term ‘tribal’ as Pugh himself points out in his Preface and along with the fact that it is an autobiography the implication of issues of representation in terms of identity and selfhood cannot be missed. The text is also historically significant because of the author’s articulation of his understanding of identity making in the midst of the cultural and political forces of colonialism and later Indian nationalism especially because it provides a glimpse of the hill state movement that surged in the Northeast immediately after Independence. This text thus gives an eye-witness account of the struggle that the hill tribes of Northeast faced to maintain their political and cultural identity.