The Phai are an

ethnic group 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, ...

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 ...

and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. They are one of two sub-groups of the

Lua people The Lua people () are a minority ethnic group native to Laos, although there is now a sizable community living in Thailand. ''Lua is their preferred autonym (self-designation), while their Lao neighbours tend to call them Thin, T'in or Htin ...

(the other one being the Mal).

Name Variation

The Phai are also commonly referred to as Prai, Phay, Thung Chan Pray, Kha Phay,Ethnologue report for Laos
/ref> and Pray. In Laos they are also referred to as Htin.Schliesinger, Joachim, ''Ethnic Groups of Laos, vol. 2'',

Language

The Phai speak a language also called ''Phai'', which belongs to the

Khmuic The Khmuic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken mostly in northern Laos, as well as in neighboring northern Vietnam and southern Yunnan, China. Khmu language, Khmu is the only widely spoken language in the group. Homelan ...

branch of

Austroasiatic languages 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 ...

There are several dialects called ''Phai'', that are sometimes hardly mutually intelligible.

Geographic Distribution

*Population in Thailand: 36,000 in Nan Province *Population in Laos: 15,000 in

Phongsali Phongsali or Phongsaly ( lo, ຜົ້ງສາລີ) is the capital of Phongsaly Province, Laos. It is the northernmost provincial capital in Laos, opposite Attapeu in the south. The town has about 8,000 inhabitants. It lies at approximately 1,4 ...

and Xaignabouli Provinces

References

{{Ethnic groups in Laos Ethnic groups in Laos Ethnic groups in Thailand Khmuic peoples