The Thai Lu, also Tai Leua, are an ethnic minority group and a subgroup of the Tai, who migrated some 200 years ago from China  to Thailand and settled mainly in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao, and Nan. They still exist in China, yet also emigrated to Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

In Thailand, they are estimated to be with ca. 100,000. The word Lu, Leu or Leua in the Tai languages means ‘North’, akin to the Thai word Neua (เหนือ).