The purpose of the Lanna Literacy Project is to expose Northern Thai people to the Northern Thai Scriptures through literacy activities, language development activities, Northern Thai art forms, social media, apps, and presentations in order to build an appreciation for their heritage language and an understanding of how easy the Northern Thai Bible is to read and understand. The audio versions of the scriptures are also promoted and distributed.
Northern Thai is the language of communication for over 6 million people living in Northern Thailand. The ancient Lanna script is taught in Buddhist temples and seen on signs throughout Northern Thailand, but very few people can read it. Many consider it their heritage script and desire to learn to read it, but think it will be too difficult.
The teaching method and materials we have developed make it easy and fun to learn and quickly break down the preconceived belief that it is too difficult. Nitchanan Phantit (Mai) has become a skilled writer and teacher of the language and is vital to the success of this project.