The Golden Palaung of Myanmar

The Golden Palaung of Myanmar, numbering approximately 215,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a distinct subgroup of the Palaung (Ta’ang) people, an Indigenous Austroasiatic (Mon‑Khmer) ethnic group predominantly in northern Shan State, Myanmar. They are called "Golden" because of the gold-colored style of women's traditional dress and ornamentsShwe Palaung They are an Indigenous people, in the Mon-Khmer people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Buddhism - Theravada. They primarily speak Palaung, Shwe.

Golden Palaung in Myanmar photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Golden Palaung

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Palaung, Shwe (pll)
Primary Religion(s): Buddhism - Theravada
Population: 215,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009429
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Golden Palaung of Myanmar

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Buddhism - Theravada
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

%
Buddhism - Theravada Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Palaung, Shwe
Language Family: Austroasiatic

%
Palaung, Shwe Speakers

Media Resources in Palaung, Shwe:

Films:

No entries found for: Palaung, Shwe(pll). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Palaung, Shwe:

Or check out the Palaung, Shwe bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Golden Palaung

The Golden Palaung are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Golden Palaung

The Golden Palaung are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Golden Palaung

The Golden Palaung are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Golden Palaung of Myanmar

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that those who are deceived about what brings peace will not settle for any lies they’ve heard about God and will diligently seek Him and be satisfied when they learn the truth about who He is and what He’s done.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
readEphesians 6:13

Pray that God will send believers to the lost of this people group and that, as they share the gospel, they will take up the whole armor of God so that they can stand firm when trials come.

Palaung, Golden (ROP3 - 103423) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

Scroll to Top