Samtse District: History and culture
Historically, Samtse was sparsely populated as the mountain-dwelling Bhutanese considered the low-lying district to be prone to tropical disease. During the early 20th century, the district experienced a large influx of Nepali people who were invited to the area to assist in forest-clearing. Overall, the district population has been increasing, and there have been housing shortages in Samtse as reported by Kuensel.
Samtse is also home to the Lhop (Doya) people, a little-studied ethnic group of approximately 2,500 persons. Some Bhutanese believe them to be the aboriginals of south west Bhutan. The Lhop are noted for their animistic religious beliefs, their practice of marrying cross-cousins, and their unique burial customs.