ABSTRACT
Highland ethnic groups of Northern Thailand encon1pass a range of religious beliefs. Traditional beliefs are often n1ixed with influences fron1 Buddhism (Theravada and/or Mahayana), Daoism, or missionary Christianity. Frequent messianic and millenarian moven1ents have gathered large numbers of adherents, at tin1es leading to open resistance against majority don1ination. Several authors have pointed out that the n1illenarian n10vements an10ng the highland minorities may be regarded as part of an ethnic profiling against the Thai n1ajority (see for exan1ple Hinton 1979; Keyes 1979; Stern 1968; Tapp 1989). In this chapter I suggest that, in addition, there is a cultural propensity towards n1illenarian movements shown in certain 111ythical traditions which are comn10n to n1any of these ethnic minorities. The interrelations between religious belief and political action in an ethnic n1inority situation are discussed.
