Abstract
Khamu, an ethnic group residing in the northern part of Thailand, are suggested to be the descendents of the Southeast Asian prehistoric inhabitants. Their language belongs to the Khmuic branch of Mon-Khmer subfamily within Austro-Asiatic family. This linguistic clustering suggests the shared common ancestor among the Khamu, H’tin, and hunter-gatherer Mlabri. Mitochondrial hypervariable region I of 39 Khamu and 19 Mlabri individuals, living in Nan province, were analyzed and compared with the other ethnic groups in northern Thailand. The investigation on their maternal inherited marker revealed that they were one of the Southeast Asian indigenous populations. Their current genetic structures were shaped by the intense drift effect due to the ancient migrations along Thai/Lao border. The Khamu are genetically closely related to the H’tin-Mal, a putative Mlabri’s ancestral stock. Thus, this study purposed the Khamu and H’tin-Mal as the possible ancestral source of the Mlabri.
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