Kaleun people
# Kaleun people

The Kaleun people (also called Laoeng) are an ethnic group of Thailand and Laos.

## Other names

### Prefixes

* Tai Kaleun
* Lao Kaleun

### Variations

* Kaleung
* Kalung
* Kalerng
* Kelung
* Khalong

## Ethnicity

The Kaleun are a Tai ethnic group. However, they may have been descended from Bru people who shifted to a Southwestern Tai language resembling Phuthai and Yoy, as the Vietnamese also refer to the Bru as Ka Leung. Chamberlain (2016) conjectures that the Kaleun may have originally been Vietic speakers.

## Geographic distribution

* Mukdahan Province of Thailand
* Nakhon Phanom Province of Thailand
* Sakhon Nakhon Province of Thailand
* Borikhamxai Province of Laos

## Religions

* Theravada Buddhism

## Language

The Kaleun typically speak Northeastern Thai as their primary language.

