MON - KHMER
In northern Vietnam, the Mon–Khmer language group includes five ethnic groups: Xinh Mun, Mảng, Kháng, Khơ Mú, and Ơ Đu, with a combined population of over 141,000 people (as of 2019). In southern Vietnam, the group comprises sixteen ethnic groups: Rơ Măm, Brâu, Bru – Vân Kiều, Khmer, Cơ Tu, Giẻ-Triêng, Ba Na, Tà Ôi, Mạ, Cor, Chơ-ro, Xơ Đăng, Cơ Ho, Hrê, M’nông, and Stiêng.
They practice slash-and-burn rice cultivation, raise livestock and poultry, and have developed bamboo and rattan weaving. Hunting, foraging in forests, and fishing in rivers and streams also play a significant economic role. They traditionally live in stilt houses with turtle shell-shaped roofs, often decorated at the ridge with buffalo horn motifs or fern designs. Patrilineal nuclear families typically settle together in villages along mountainsides. The Mảng people, however, live in scattered settlements with simple houses, reflecting their nomadic, shifting cultivation lifestyle.
Due to long-standing coexistence in shared territories, Thai culture has penetrated many aspects of life for these communities. At the same time, many of their traditional cultural elements have been integrated into Thai life, visible in architecture, home decorations, clothing, and even in folktales.
(Source: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology)
