Although Malaya is rich in forest products, several lines of historic and ethnographic evidence suggest that the forest dwelling people, such as the Semelai studied by the author, have not participated to any great extent in the emerging forest products trade networks of southeast Asia. Low population density is one contributing cause. In contrast with Malaya, Sumatra, which had similar forests but a larger, more stable labor supply, became involved in the forest products trade early on. Sumatra is also located closer to the protohistoric and colonial trade routes. The author's own work shows that the Semelai and other Orang Asli groups do collect and sell a variety of forest products when they can receive a good price. Market forces and political conditions help determine supply of forest products from southeast Asia, but the Orang Asli have chosen a strategy emphasizing autonomy and minimizing their reliance on wider trading networks.