Lahu
The Lahu tribe, like all the others, have turned to western clothing. But they’ve kept one traditional part of their outfit due to practical purposes.

A great way to identify a member of the Lahu is by a large flat woven purse they carry. It has a wide cloth strap with lots of room for stuff inside. Both men and women use it to carry things, even though they otherwise wear western clothing. Interestingly it’s become a bit of a fad to have these, so you’ll see tourists and even Thais and those of other tribes use them. I once even saw a white girl in the US with one of these. I recognized it, so I asked her about it. She said it was a gift from a friend who went to Thailand (aha!).

A few example traditional outfits of the Lahu can be found on this page.

A few months ago I was wandering around in Chiang Rai province. At one famous tourist site, this van opened up in a parking lot and a dozen mid-aged people came out. They all had big towels on their heads, but otherwise wore western-ish clothing. No, I don’t mean ‘towel’ as in the Arabic/Indian turban sense. I mean they literally had large bath and beach towels wrapped on their heads. I later learned these were Lahu people. As they modernized, they’ve supposedly traded in their traditional hats and now prefer towels. (note: it might have been another tribe and my memory is wrong, but all the info I can find online points to the Lahu)

Lisu
The Lisu is another tribe of Thailand. It is believed that the Lisu ancestors can be traced all the way to Tibet. Their traditional hats for women look very similar to that of the Lahu tribe, and I honestly don’t know how to distinguish between them (maybe a reader can help!).