Akha women returning to the village in a duststorm, carrying water. Members of the Loi Mi Akha, they are distinguishable by their silver headdress. The Akha are one of the most distinctive and colourfully dressed of the hilltribes that live in the mountainous border areas of Thailand, Burma, Laos and southern China. Of Tibeto-Burmese origin, they build their villages of stilted houses on the middle slopes of the forested hills. This is the village of Mae Cha’ Akha in Chiang Rai province.