Thai people

This article is about Thailand's ethnic majority. For other Tai ethnic groups, see Tai peoples.

The Thai (or Tai) are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Tai-Kadai family of languages, and the majority of Thai are followers of the Buddhist faith.

History

Historically, the modern Thai trace much of their ancestry to a population that originated in Mongolia and migrated into Thailand and other parts of southeast Asia during the early 1st millennium CE. The earliest mention of the Thai, as farmers in south China, comes from Chinese records dating back to the sixth century BCE. These early Thai emanated out of the Yunnan region and dispersed into the general area of what is today Thailand. These Thai peoples arrived in various waves and displaced the earlier Mon and Khmer populations as they settled the region with a large group settling in Thailand during the Sung period of China roughly around 960 CE. Cousins of the Thai, the Lao split off from the early Tai-Kadai peoples and moved into Southeast Asia, mainly Laos, while another kindred people the Shan made their way into Myanmar.

The founding of the Sukhothai kingdom culminated in the emergence of the first Thai nation-state founded in 1238. Various conflicts in the Chinese-dominated region of Nanchao facilitated increased migration of the Thai, especially mercenaries fleeing from the Mongol conquest of China, and helped establish the Thai as a regional power. Successful wars with the Mon helped to establish the kingdom of Lan Na as the Thai increased their hold upon Thailand. The early Thai brought their Buddhist and Chinese traditions, but also assimilated the Indo-Chinese culture of Southeast Asia. (See Thai Chinese for more details)

A new city-state known as Ayutthaya, named after the Indian city of Ayodhya, was founded by Ramathibodi (a descendent of Chiang Mai) and emerged as the center of the growing Thai Empire starting in 1350. Though much inspired by Indian culture, the Thai maintained a staunch Theravada Buddhist faith that they protected from the declining Hindus of the region. Conquests of the Ayutthaya Empire led to greater Thai settlements as the Khmer were severely weaked after 1444 following their defeat at Angkor. During this period, the Thai developed a feudal system as various vassal states paid homage to the Thai kings. Even as Thai power expanded at the expense of the Mon and Khmer, the Thai Ayutthaya faced setbacks at the hands of the Malay at Malacca and were checked by the Toungoo of Burma.

Though sporadic wars continued with the Burmese and other neighbors, Chinese wars with Burma and European intervention elsewhere in Southeast Asia allowed the Thai to develop an independent course by trading with the Europeans as well as playing the major powers against each other in order to remain independent. The Chakkri dynasty under Rama I held the Burmese at bay, while Rama II and Rama III helped to shape much of Thai society, but also led to Thai setbacks as the Europeans moved into areas surrounding modern Thailand and curtailed any claims the Thai had over Cambodia, in dispute with Burma and Vietnam. The Thai learned from European traders and diplomats, while maintaining an independent course. Chinese, Malay, and British influences helped to further shape the Thai people who often assimilated foreign ideas, but managed to preserve much of their native culture and resisted the European colonization that engulfed their neighbors.

Geography and demographics

The vast majority of the Thai people live in Thailand, although some Thai can also be found in other parts of Southeast Asia. Over 50 million alone live in Thailand ^*, while thousands can also be found in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and the U.S..

Culture and society

The Thai can be broken down into various regional groups including the main Thai, northeastern, northern, and southern Thai with their own regional dialects of their mutually intelligible Thai language. Modern Central Thai has become more dominant due to official government policy which was designed to assimilate and unify the disparate Thai in-spite of ethnolinguistic and cultural ties between the northeastern Thai and the Lao for example. Thai is written in the indigenous Thai alphabet that can be traced back to an Indic alphabet known as Brāhmī that the Khmer had adopted in ancient times.

The modern Thai are predominantly Theravada Buddhist and strongly identify their ethnic identity with their religious beliefs that include aspects of ancestor worship (see Culture of Thailand). Much of modern Thai literature is ultimately derived from India, while genetically the Thai are mostly linked to the Lao and the south Chinese. Indigenous arts include Muay Thai (kick boxing), Thai dance, and Nang Yai (shadow play). Thai cuisine tends to be quite eclectic and resembles the foods of neighboring states with a sweet to sour variation that is not unlike that of Chinese cuisine.

Sizeable minorities of non-Thai peoples have helped to shape much of modern Thai culture as well. The Chinese influence has been visible for centuries and many Thai customs borrow from the Chinese as well as some Indian customs such as the greeting wai which corresponds to a slight bow of the head and clasping of the hands together as if to pray.

The Thai have a high literacy rate hovering at 90% and a strong predilection towards education and national development.

Related sub-groups

Kindred Thai peoples can be found from Vietnam and China (the Dai and Nung) to the Ahom of Assam.

References

Girsling, John L.S., Thailand: Society and Politics (Cornell University Press, 1981).
Terwiel, B.J., A History of Modern Thailand (Univ. of Queensland Press, 1984).
Wyatt, D.K., Thailand: A Short History (Yale University Press, 1986).

Online references

Tai peoples | Ethnic groups in Thailand

Suku Thai | Tajlanđani | บุคคลไทย