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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Phunoi of Laos

The Phunoi of Laos, numbering approximately 48,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic tribal group of Laos, northern Thailand, and Vietnam. They are an Indigenous people, in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Phunoi.

Phunoi in Laos photo
Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Phunoi

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Laos
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Phunoi (pho)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 48,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): No Evangelicals, Churches or Resources
People Group ID: PG020934

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Pray for the Phunoi of Laos

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Phunoi
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Phunoi Speakers

Media Resources in Phunoi:

Films:

No entries found for: Phunoi(pho). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Phunoi:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Phunoi bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Phunoi

The Phunoi 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 Phunoi

The Phunoi 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 Phunoi

The Phunoi 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 Phunoi of Laos

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
readLuke 7:50

Pray for the good news of Jesus Christ to reach many so that they can place their faith in Him and have lasting hope.

Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
readPsalm 25:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the merciful nature and steadfast love of God as they walk with Him daily.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Phunoi (ROP3 - 108015) 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.

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