The Mla Bri are a small group of nomadic hunter-gatherers (about 400) living in northern Thailand who since the 1990s have begun to settle in semi-permanent villages. The Mla Bri are well-known to anthropologists because, until recently, they engaged extensively in foraging, gathering, and hunting as the primary means of subsistence, making them an outlier in a region traditionally dominated by people tied to rice cultivation. Indeed, they were not tied to the agricultural cycle, although they did occasionally hire themselves out as laborers to agricultural people. As nomads, they typically shifted campsites every few weeks. However, between 2005 and 2008, there were five fatal suicides in this group, including four males and one female. This is apparently a new phenomenon; suicide was virtually unknown among the Mla Bri before more permanent settlements were established. From 1980 to 2010, many changes occurred in the world of the Mla Bri, bringing both new opportunities and the formidable challenge of settling into permanent dwellings with all that that entails. Traditionally, so far as we can ascertain, there has been very little intra-group violence among the Mla Bri, though they were often subject to attacks from outsiders. But, in recent years, as alcohol use/abuse has become more common, so has violence. Examples are men fighting physically when they are drunk, physical abuse of wives by drunk husbands, and wives fighting back. Prior to 1993, there were no permanent Mla Bri settlements, and 2001 was an important year for them because not only were the first settlements legally established, but they were also granted Thai citizenship which gave them identity cards and ready access to health care, schooling, and other modern government services. Ultimately, the most general explanation for the emergence of suicide among the Mla Bri is a classic one found in many societies. The rapid social change of the last thirty years has been deeply disorienting for the Mla Bri, as they stopped living in the remote forest, and took up the modern life of permanent housing, schooling, medical care, electricity, television, and other accoutrements. Such kind of "civilization" contributed to material well-being and a healthier lifestyle, but at the same time led to a breakdown in the system of social norms. As with many other groups, the effects of this are probably elevated rates of alcoholism, marital dissolution, and the suicide problems.