As a symbol of development, iron sheet-roofed houses are rapidly replacing the traditional cogon-thatched cottages throughout the tribal region of northern Thailand. In this paper, drawn upon my ethnographic fieldwork in Greenhill, a Yao mountain village, I scrutinize this enigmatic phenomenon of housing development in northern Thailand. Specifically, I will first look into the Yao traditional cogon-thatched cottage, examining its major features and historical roles. Then, I will analyze both positive and negative impacts of the iron sheet-roofed house and detail the changes in house construction materials brought about by the iron sheet-roof and the impact of such changes upon the environment. Finally, guided by anthropological literature on housing in developing countries, I will analyze the tribal people's incentives to upgrade their housing in the context of the larger socioeconomic transformation, with an emphasis on how well the iron sheet-roofed house fulfills their physical, economic, and cultural needs.

Keywords: housing, cultural change, development, Yao, Thailand