Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Journal of Ethnopharmacology 116 (2008) 508–517 A comparative study on medicinal plants used in Akha’s traditional medicine in China and Thailand, cultural coherence or ecological divergence? Angkhana Inta a,∗ , Pei Shengji b , Henrik Balslev c , Prasit Wangpakapattanawong a , Chusie Trisonthi a a Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Huaykaew Road, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand b Department of Ethnobotany, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, China c Department of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Building 1540, Ny Munkegade, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark Received 10 October 2007; accepted 28 December 2007 Available online 6 January 2008 Abstract Aim of the study: : The survey aims to study the effect of geographic separation of ethnic groups on local knowledge of medicinal plants used by Akha people in Thailand and China, who were separated 100–120 years ago, to see how different the two geographically distinct but culturally similar groups were in this respect. Materials and methods: : Interviewing 10 villagers in each of five Akha villages, three in Thailand and two in China, about which plants they used and how they used them. Results: : A total of 95 medicinal plants registered in the five villages only 16 were shared between China and Thailand. Otherwise the use patterns were quite similar with respect to which plant families and plant growth forms were used and also in terms of in which habitats the Akha found their medicinal plants. Conclusions: : The moving to a different site has forced the Akha to find a new set of species, but that when using these new species they have maintained other traditions relating to medicinal plants. © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Aini; Hani; Hill tribe; Xishuangbanna; Chiang Rai 1. Introduction We look into how splitting of ethnic groups followed by migrations affect their knowledge of natural resources. In par- ticular we investigate how local knowledge of medicinal plants vary between five Akha villages in southern China and northern Thailand that were separated due to migrations that occurred 100–120 years ago. The forested mountains of Southeast Asia and southern China have for centuries been inhabited by ethnic groups that migrated into the area from other parts of Asia. These groups, though culturally diverse, share a number of socio- cultural characteristics. Their traditional subsistence economy is based on slash and burn agriculture, husbandry, hunting and gathering, and various forms of forestry. One of those groups, the Akha, spread over a territory that covers parts of present day Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and China, and currently the ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 5394 3346/1234; fax: +66 5389 2259. E-mail address: aungkanainta@hotmail.com (A. Inta). largest group of Akha, counting some 156,000 people, lives in the Yunnan province of China, whereas the Thai Akha popula- tion is less than half that size, or ca. 69,000 people (He et al., 2000; Henin, 1996; Janet, 2004; Toyota, 2003; Tribal Research Institute, 1995). Because of political problems, wars, economic instability, and other social pressures some Akha from Myan- mar migrated to northern Thailand in 1887, and in the beginning of the twentieth century a group of Akha from Xishuangbanna in southwestern Yunnan, China, migrated to the same region, especially to Thailand’s Chiang Rai province (Anderson, 1993; Hanks and Hanks, 1975; Henin, 1996; Trisonthi and Trisonthi, 1999). The Akha live on steep mountain ridges and in deep valleys, mostly in villages established halfway or more up the mountain sides, and usually between 1000 and 1500 m above sea level (Anderson, 1993; Qibo, 2003; Rerkasem, 2003). They were formerly shifting cultivators and now they grow upland rice, a variety of fruits, and rubber trees on the mountain sides. The Akha continue to use plants from the forests for their subsistence, especially for food and medicine (Anderson, 1993; Shengji, 0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2007.12.015