A good story is the first step towards captivating people's interest in disciplines such as scenic arts and literature, but also in scientific articles. However, even the most interesting issue should be complemented with a well-built script to ensure success. The article ‘Genetic affinity and admixture of northern Thai People along their migration route in Northern Thailand: evidence from autosomal STR loci’ by Kutanan et al.1 is an example of that. The authors make good use of a set of commercial STRs (AmpFISTR Identifiler Kit, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), which are not exactly the state-of-the-art markers in human genetics, to draw an interesting hypothesis about the peopling of northern Thailand, thanks to a valuable collection of samples and a very detailed statistical approach.

The authors combine historical, ethnical, linguistic and genetic evidences to analyze 10 Khon Mueang populations, which constitute the majority of northern Thai people, together with 10 other neighboring populations from seven different ethnic groups. The main conclusions emphasize the admixed origin of the Khon Mueang from parental Tai and Mon-Khmer groups, the high heterogeneity among Khon Mueang groups, and the lack of correlation between geographic and genetic distances. Different historical and demographical factors are used to explain the human settlement of such a complex geographical area.

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