Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
is a country of some 70 ethnic groups, including at least 24 groups of ethnolinguistically
Tai peoples
Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, an ...
, mainly the
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
,
Northeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
, and
Northern Thai
Kam Mueang ( nod, , กำเมือง) or Northern Thai language ( th, ภาษาไทยถิ่นเหนือ) is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Southwestern Tai language that is closely rela ...
s; 22 groups of
Austroasiatic
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
peoples, with substantial populations of
Northern Khmer and
Kuy
Kuy, also known as Kui, Suay or Kuay ( th, ภาษากูย; km, ភាសាកួយ), is a Katuic languages, Katuic language, part of the larger Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic family spoken by the Kuy people of Southeast Asia. ...
; 11 groups speaking
Sino-Tibetan languages
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
('
hill tribes
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
'), with the largest in population being the
Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
; 3 groups of
Austronesian peoples, i.e., the
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
, the majority ethnic group in the southernmost three provinces, together with the
Moken
The Moken (also ''Mawken or'' ''Morgan''; ; th, ชาวเล, lit=sea people, translit=chao le) are an Austronesian people of the Mergui Archipelago, a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand. Most of the 2,0 ...
and
Urak Lawoi
Urak Lawoi ( ms, Orang Laut; th, อูรักลาโว้ย; ) are an Aboriginal Malay people residing on the islands of Phuket Province, Phuket, Phi Phi, Jum (island), Jum, Ko Lanta District, Lanta, Bulon and on Ko Lipe, Lipe and Ko Adan ...
('sea gypsies'); and both groups of
Hmong-Mien. Other ethnic groups include longstanding immigrant communities such as the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
Indians.
Historical development
Background
Thailand was mainly inhabited by indigenous
Austro-Asiatic
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...
(
Mon-Khmer
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...
,
Khmu
The Khmu (; Khmu: ; lo, ຂະມຸ ; th, ขมุ ; vi, Khơ Mú; ; my, ခမူ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising elev ...
, and
Lawa) peoples in the
central plains and
Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
, and in the South by
Malayo-Sumbawan
The Malayo-Sumbawan languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian languages that unites the Malayic and Chamic languages with the languages of Java and the western Lesser Sunda Islands (western Indonesia), except for Javanese (Adelaar ...
(
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
) peoples, until the
Tai
Tai or TAI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain
*Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless''
*Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon''
Businesses and organisations ...
arrived. Following the arrival of the Tai,
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
and
Mien
The Yao people (its majority branch is also known as Mien; ; vi, người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and reside in t ...
arrived in the West and North from China (
Guizhou
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
), either via
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
or
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
and then Lao, or in the case of the Loloish
Tibeto-Burman
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
peoples (
Akha,
Lahu), over several centuries up until approximately the twentieth century. The
Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
, another Tibeto-Burman people, arrived at and began populating the border between
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
in the 13th century. Thailand also became home to large numbers of
Thai Chinese
Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin ( th, ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; ''exonym and also domestically''), endonym Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย), are Chinese descenda ...
during the main period of Chinese emigration.
The arrival of the Tai
From approximately the 7th until the 13th centuries, the Tai, who may have originated in what is now
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
in China and bordering areas of Northwest Vietnam, gradually populated the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
,
Chao Praya
The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand.
Et ...
, and
Salween
, ''Mae Nam Salawin'' (
, name_etymology =
, image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar
, map ...
river valleys, fuelled by a sophisticated rice production system. Strong Tai societies emerged on the Shan plateau in
upper Myanmar
Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...
, along the Mekong in the north in Xishuangbanna, in the Yuan empire of
Lan Na
The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...
, and in the Middle Mekong in the Lao empire of
Lan Xang
existed as a unified kingdom from 1353 to 1707.
For three and a half centuries, Lan Xang was one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The meaning of the kingdom's name alludes to the power of the kingship and formidable war machine of the ea ...
. These societies subsequently developed into polities, for example
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...
, the capital of Lan Na, and
Sukhothai. The most powerful to emerge was
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to:
* Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767
** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
, which superseded Sukhothai in the 16th century. From the 16th to the 18th centuries the Burmese expanded east, occupying Lan Na and parts of the Xishuangbanna and eventually destroying Ayutthaya. Nonetheless,
Thonburi
__NOTOC__
Thonburi ( th, ธนบุรี) is an area of modern Bangkok. During the era of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, its location on the right (west) bank at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River had made it an important garrison town, which is ...
, the Tai successor state to Ayutthaya, established suzerainty over the Lanna,
Luang Prabang
Luang Phabang, ( Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ/ ຫຼວງພະບາງ) or ''Louangphabang'' (pronounced ), commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ (ຣ = silent r) ...
, and Malay states and thereby defeated the Burmese, ensuring the primacy of the Tai ethnic groups in the region.
The nation-building era
Under the Bangkok-based
Chakri dynasty
The Chakri dynasty ( th, ราชวงศ์ จักรี, , , ) is the current reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Thailand, the head of the house is the king, who is head of state. The family has ruled Thailand since the founding of the ...
, Siam formally incorporated and integrated large numbers of ethnically
Laotian people
This is a demographics, demography of the population of Laos including population density, Ethnic group, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Laos' popul ...
, themselves formed of various subgroups. Siam brought the remaining Lan Xang city-states of
Vientiane
Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...
(destroyed in 1827) and
Champasak under direct control in the 19th century. What remained of Lan Na became a vassal until 1896, when it was formally annexed, incorporating large numbers of
Kham muang speakers, together with the various ethnic groups sometimes called '
hill tribes
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
', such as the
Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
.
In the
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
, Siam extended formal rule over large numbers of Malay people. In 1816, Siam divided the Muslim tributary
Sultanate of Patani
Patani, or the Sultanate of Patani ( Jawi: كسلطانن ڤطاني) was a Malay sultanate in the historical Pattani Region. It covered approximately the area of the modern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of the north ...
into seven provinces as part of a policy of 'divide and rule'. Via administrative modernisation, in 1901 Siam incorporated all seven provinces into ‘
Monthon Patani’, under the new Ministry of Interior. When
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...
was ceded to the English under the
Anglo–Siamese Treaty of 1909, in exchange for what became
Satun Province, Thailand thereby cemented its official rule over hundreds of thousands of Malay people.
Siamese suzerainty over present-day Laos, together with some Cambodian provinces, was permanently ceded to the French during the formation of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
. In the early Chakri dynasty period, Siamese armies had invaded areas of Laos and returned with large numbers of prisoners of war, especially
Phuan and
Tai Dam
The Tai Dam ( Tai Dam: , lo, ໄຕດຳ, th, ไทดำ) are an ethnic minority predominantly from China, northwest Vietnam, Laos, Thailand. They are part of the Tai peoples and ethnically similar to the Thai from Thailand, the Lao from ...
peoples, who were subsequently resettled in the central plains. During the nation-building era, Siam's ethnic map became more varied, as the majority of the peoples of the
Khorat plateau
The Khorat Plateau ( th, ที่ราบสูงโคราช) is a plateau in the northeastern Thai region of Isan. The plateau forms a natural region, named after the short form of Nakhon Ratchasima, a historical barrier controlling access ...
, once part of Lan Xang empire, were formally integrated into Siam, incorporating more Lao,
Khorat, and
Phu Thai
Phu Thai (Phuu Thai; Thai, Phu Thai: ''Phasa Phuthai'', ภาษาผู้ไท or ภูไท) is a Southwestern Tai language spoken in Laos and Thailand. Although it appears different from the Isan and the Lao languages, it is spoken in ...
, but also smaller ethnic groups such as the
Yoy and
So, together with the
Khmu
The Khmu (; Khmu: ; lo, ຂະມຸ ; th, ขมุ ; vi, Khơ Mú; ; my, ခမူ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising elev ...
,
Kuy
Kuy, also known as Kui, Suay or Kuay ( th, ภาษากูย; km, ភាសាកួយ), is a Katuic languages, Katuic language, part of the larger Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic family spoken by the Kuy people of Southeast Asia. ...
, and
Nyahkur along the Khmer border.
As part of
Chinese emigration, Thailand received
Chinese immigrants
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ref ...
over several hundred years, and especially during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, until the 1930s, meaning many Thai urban centres now have
ethnically Chinese populations (mainly
Teochew speakers).
Development of Thai ethnocentrism
The 1904 Siamese census deliberately omitted the Lao ethnic identity so as to discourage further French colonial predations, resulting in the Thai officially becoming 85% of the population by ethnicity, rising to 89% in 1912. In the 1900s, membership of the Thai 'race' came to form the basis of citizenship of the modern Thai nation-state. In the 1930s,
Thai nationalist Thai nationalism is a political ideology involving the application of nationalism to the political discourse of Thailand. It was first popularized by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI, reigned 1910–1925), and was subsequently adopted and adapted by variou ...
Luang Wichitwathakan
Major-General Luang Wichitwathakan (also known as just Wichit Wichitwathakan) (Thai หลวงวิจิตรวาทการ, วิจิตร วิจิตรวาทการ; Chinese 金良) (11 August 189831 March 1962) was a T ...
developed
ethnocentric
Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead o ...
policy which came to equate the Tai linguistic family with a greater
pan-Thai race-based ‘nation.’ The first of the
12 Cultural Mandates, of June 24, 1939, renamed Siam ‘Thailand’, or as it was during the Second World War, the ‘Great Thai Empire’, an assertion of Thai imperial identity over subject peoples. Then, in 1943, the influential National Culture Commission, which has survived in various incarnations until the present day (as the
Thai Ministry of Culture) was established in order to define and disseminate official Thai national culture.
Post-war era
Thailand received an influx of tens of thousands of Vietnamese after the end of the
French Indochina war
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
. During the Cold War, further nation-building resulted in a polity where 'Thai' and 'Tai' continued to be deliberately conflated and, in the official discourse, nearly everyone was ethnically Thai and so spoke Thai or Thai ‘dialects’, as the regional languages and most smaller Tai languages were described. From the 1960s, census data described up to 99% of the population as ethnically Thai.
Nonetheless, academic research of the Cold War period suggests that of these, only 33% spoke
Central Thai, with over 50% speaking Lao dialects (
Isan
Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...
), an indication of the number of ethnic Lao or users of Lao as a second language or ''lingua franca'' for the Northeast. Thai censuses still do not disaggregate by either the largest or smallest ethnic groups and so reflect Thai national identity rather than the scientific consensus.
Thailand saw an influx of a large number of
Northern Khmer during the
rule of the Khmer Rouge, some of whom permanently settled with indigenous Khmer.
Official and academic position
According to the Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the UN committee responsible for the
, available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice,
62 ethnolinguistic communities are officially recognised in Thailand. However, of these, only 56 were listed in the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's 2015 ''Master Plan for the Development of Ethnic Groups in Thailand 2015-2017'',
with the larger, ethnoregional ethnic communities, including the Central Thai, being omitted; it, therefore, covers only 9.7% of the population.
Twenty million Central Thai (together with approximately 650,000
Khorat Thai
Khorat Thai, Korat Thai, Thai Korat or Thai Khorat ( th, ไทโคราช; ) refers to an ethnic group named for their main settlement area in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, unofficially called "Korat". Korat Thai people call themselves Thai Bo ...
) made up approximately 20,650,000 (34.1 percent) of the nation's population of 60,544,937 at the time of completion of the Mahidol University ''Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand'' data (1997), which provides population numbers for most ethnolinguistic minorities.
The 2011 Thailand Country Report provides population numbers for mountain peoples ("
hill tribes
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
") and ethnic communities in the northeast and is explicit about its reliance on the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data.
Thus, though over 3.288 million people in the northeast alone could not be categorised, the population and percentages of other ethnic communities c. 1997 are known and constitute minimum populations. In descending order, the largest (equal to or greater than 400,000) are:
*15,080,000 Lao (24.9 percent) consisting of the Thai Lao
(14 million) and other smaller Lao-related groups, namely the Thai Loei (400-500,000), Lao Lom (350,000), Lao Wiang/Klang (200,000), Lao Khrang (90,000), Lao Ngaew (30,000), and Lao Ti (10,000)
*six million Khon Muang (9.9 percent, also called Northern Thais)
*4.5 million Pak Tai (7.5 percent, also called Southern Thais)
*1.4 million Khmer Leu (2.3 percent, also called Northern Khmer)
*900,000 Malay (1.5 percent)
*500,000 Nyaw (0.8 percent)
*470,000 Phu Thai (0.8 percent)
*400,000 Kuy/Kuay (also Suay) (0.7 percent)
*350,000 Karen (0.6 percent).
Khmer and Mon-Khmer make up approximately 6 percent, the Malays of southern Thailand make up around 3 percent. Among the groups categorized as hill tribes in the northern provinces, Hmong (Mien), Karen, and other small hill tribes make up over 1 percent.
In official Thai documents, the term "hill tribe" (''chao khao'') began to appear in the 1960s. This term highlights a "hill and valley" dichotomy that is based on an ancient social relationship existing in most of
northern and
western Thailand
Western Thailand is a region of Thailand bordering Myanmar on the west, Southern Thailand on the south, and central Thailand on the east.
Geography
Thailand's long mountainous border with Myanmar continues south from northern Thailand into weste ...
, as well as in
Sipsongpanna
Xishuangbanna, Sibsongbanna or Sipsong Panna ( Tham: , New Tai Lü script: ; ; th, สิบสองปันนา; lo, ສິບສອງພັນນາ; shn, သိပ်းသွင်ပၼ်းၼႃး; my, စစ်ဆောင် ...
and northern Vietnam. For the most part the Dai/Tai/Thai occupied the more fertile intermontane basins and valleys, while the less powerful groups lived at the less rich higher elevations. This dichotomy was often accompanied by a master/serf relationship. Vestiges of this dichotomy remain today: for example, 30 percent of ethnic minority children in Thailand cannot read by second grade. The corresponding figure for Bangkok is one percent.
List (by population size)
*
Tais
''Tais'' is a form of ''Tenun'' weaving tradition native to the eastern Indonesian regions of the Maluku Islands, the Tanimbar Islands, and the East Nusa Tenggara Islands (in Timor Island, the political government divided into West Timor of ...
– c. 53–56.5 million
**
Central Thai (Siamese) – c. 25 million
**
Isan
Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...
(Thai-Lao; Thai Isan; Isan Lao) – c. 18.5–20 million
**
Yuan (Thai Yuan; Lanna) – c. 6–7 million
**
Southern Thai
Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus.
Geography
Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounded t ...
(Thai Pak Tai, Southern Siamese) – c. 5.5 million
*
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
(primarily
Teochew ) – c. 6–9 million
**assimilated Sino-Thai (Luk Chin) – > 4.5 million
**non-assimilated Chinese – c. 1.4 million
*
Malays – 2–4 million
*
Khmer – > 1.2 million
*
Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
– c. 1 million
*
Phu Thai
Phu Thai (Phuu Thai; Thai, Phu Thai: ''Phasa Phuthai'', ภาษาผู้ไท or ภูไท) is a Southwestern Tai language spoken in Laos and Thailand. Although it appears different from the Isan and the Lao languages, it is spoken in ...
– 470,000
*
Indians – 450,000
*
Kuy
Kuy, also known as Kui, Suay or Kuay ( th, ภาษากูย; km, ភាសាកួយ), is a Katuic languages, Katuic language, part of the larger Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic family spoken by the Kuy people of Southeast Asia. ...
– 400,000
*
Pakistanis
Pakistanis ( ur, , translit=Pākistānī Qaum, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. According to the 2017 Pakistani national census, the population of Pakistan stood at over 213 million people, making it the w ...
– 250,000
*
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
– 250,000
*
Lao – 222,000
*
Phuan – 200,000
*
Mon – 114,500
*
Lahu – 100,000
*
Shan (Thai Yai)– 95,000
*
Lue Lue or LUE may refer to:
People
* Andrew Lue (born 1992), Canadian retired football player
* Cachet Lue (born 1997), Canadian-born Jamaican footballer
* Lue Gim Gong (1860–1925), Chinese-American horticulturalist
* Lee Lue (1935–1969), Laotian ...
(Thai Lü) – 83,000
*
Iranians – 70,000
*
Sô – 70,000
*
Nyaw
The Lao Nyaw, Thai Nyaw or Tai Yo (Thai/Isan: ไทญ้อ, , Isan pronunciation: , Khmer: ឡាវញ៉) are an ethnic group of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, scattered throughout the provinces of Isan such as Nong Khai, Sakon Nakhon, Na ...
– 50,000
*
Tai Ya
Tai Ya (), also known as Tai-Cung, Tai-Chung and Daiya, is a Southwestern Tai language of southern China. It is also known as Tai Hongjin () in China.
Speakers of Tai Hongjin live in the Red River (红河 or 元江) and Jinsha River (金沙 ...
– 50,000
*
Lua
Lua or LUA may refer to:
Science and technology
* Lua (programming language)
* Latvia University of Agriculture
* Last universal ancestor, in evolution
Ethnicity and language
* Lua people, of Laos
* Lawa people, of Thailand sometimes referred t ...
– 48,000
*
Lisu Lisu may refer to:
*Lisu people, an ethnic group of Southeast Asia
*Lisu language, spoken by the Lisu people
* Old Lisu Alphabet or Fraser Alphabet
*Lisu syllabary
* Lisu (Unicode block), the block of Unicode characters for the Lisu language.
*Lisu ...
– 40,000
*
Yao – 40,000
*
Bru – 25,000
*
Akha – c. 20,000
*
Phai – 20,000
*
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
– 17,662
*
Lawa – 17,000
*
Saek – 11,000
*
Khmu
The Khmu (; Khmu: ; lo, ຂະມຸ ; th, ขมุ ; vi, Khơ Mú; ; my, ခမူ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising elev ...
– 10,000
*
Khun Khum may refer to:
*Khun (, long vowel, middle tone) is the colloquial Thai name for the Golden Shower Tree.
*Khun (courtesy title) (, short vowel, middle tone) is a common Thai honorific
*Khun (noble title) (, short vowel, rising tone) is a former ...
(Thai Khun) – 6,280
*
Palaung (De'ang) – 5,000
*
Cham
Cham or CHAM may refer to:
Ethnicities and languages
*Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia
**Cham language, the language of the Cham people
***Cham script
*** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script
*Cham Albania ...
– 4,000
*
Urak Lawoi
Urak Lawoi ( ms, Orang Laut; th, อูรักลาโว้ย; ) are an Aboriginal Malay people residing on the islands of Phuket Province, Phuket, Phi Phi, Jum (island), Jum, Ko Lanta District, Lanta, Bulon and on Ko Lipe, Lipe and Ko Adan ...
– 3,000
*
Moken
The Moken (also ''Mawken or'' ''Morgan''; ; th, ชาวเล, lit=sea people, translit=chao le) are an Austronesian people of the Mergui Archipelago, a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand. Most of the 2,0 ...
– c. 2,000
*
Nyahkur (Nyah Kur, Chao-bon) – 1,500
*
Tai Dam
The Tai Dam ( Tai Dam: , lo, ໄຕດຳ, th, ไทดำ) are an ethnic minority predominantly from China, northwest Vietnam, Laos, Thailand. They are part of the Tai peoples and ethnically similar to the Thai from Thailand, the Lao from ...
(Black Tai) – 700
*
Chong – less than 500
*
Pear
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...
– less than 500
*
Sa'och – less than 500
*
Mlabri Mlabri can refer to:
* Mlabri people
The Mlabri ( Thai: มลาบรี) or Mrabri are an ethnic group of Thailand and Laos, and have been called "the most interesting and least understood people in Southeast Asia". Only about 400 or fewer Mlab ...
– less than 400
*
Mani
Mani may refer to:
Geography
* Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia
* Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad
* Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece
* Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...
(
Negrito
The term Negrito () refers to several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands. Populations often described as Negrito include: the Andamanese peoples (including the Great Andamanese, the Onge, ...
) – 300
*
Lolo (Yi) – unknown
List by language group
The following table comprises all the ethnolinguistic identities recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for the
International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice
Five ethnolinguistic families of Thailand recognized by the Royal Thai Government
The following table shows all the ethnic groups of Northeast Thailand, as recognised in the same report.
Ethnic groups of Northeast Thailand by language family
Note that population numbers are for the northeast region only. Languages may have additional speakers outside the northeast.
See also
*
Demographics of Thailand
The demographics of Thailand paint a statistical portrait of the national population. Demography includes such measures as population density and distribution, ethnicity, educational levels, public health metrics, fertility, economic status, reli ...
*
Languages of Thailand
Thailand is home to 71 living languages, with the majority of people speaking languages of the Southwestern Tai family, and the national language being Thai. Lao is spoken along the borders with the Lao PDR, Karen languages are spoken along ...
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
Ethnologue report for Thailand
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...