It is relatively certain that the Lisu more or less followed the Salween River Valley from Tibet through China to Burma. Their migration was often the result of Chinese pressure. Population growth and soil depletion might have been factors as well. Their entry into Thailand probably took place not earlier than 200 years ago, with most migration in the 19th century.
The Lisu hill tribe people live in Thailand, China, India, Myanmar. In former times they drifted into North Thailand from Burma and can now be found in Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Sukhothai, Tak, Kamphaeng Phet, Phayao, Lampang Chiang Rai provinces. The vast majority of the Lisu hill tribe people still live in China, in their original heartland at the Mekong and Salween Rivers’ headwaters.