Thai
Siamese ภาษาไทย phasa thai
Pronunciation	[pʰāːsǎː tʰāj]
Spoken in	Thailand  Laos (diplomatic language)  Vietnam (Northwest Ministry)  Cambodia  Burma  United States
Ethnicity	Thai
Native speakers	20 million  (2000)[1] Total: 60 million (2001)
Language family	Tai–Kadai Tai Southwestern (Thai) Chiang Saen Thai
Writing system	Thai script
Official status
Official language in	Thailand
Regulated by	The Royal Institute
Language codes
ISO 639-1	th
ISO 639-2	tha
ISO 639-3	tha
Linguasphere	47-AAA-b
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Thai (ภาษาไทย Phasa Thai^[2] [pʰāːsǎː tʰāj] ( listen)), more precisely Central Thai^[3] or Siamese,^[4] is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Some words in Thai are borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language. Thai also has a complex orthography and relational markers.^{[citation needed]} Thai is mutually intelligible with Lao.^[5]

Languages and dialects[link]

Thai is the official language of Thailand, spoken by over 20 million people (2000),^[6] Standard Thai is based on the register of the educated classes of Bangkok.^[7][8] Khorat Thai is spoken by about 400,000 (1984) in Nakhon Ratchasima; it occupies a linguistic position somewhere between Siamese Thai and Isan on a dialect continuum, and may be considered a variant of either. A majority of the people in the Isan region of Thailand speak a dialect of the Lao language, which has influenced the Siamese Thai dialect.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to Siamese Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages, including:

• Isan (Northeastern Thai), the language of the Isan region of Thailand, a socio-culturally distinct Thai–Lao hybrid dialect^{[citation needed]} which is written with the Thai script. It is spoken by about 15 million people (1983).
• Northern Thai (Phasa Nuea, Lanna, Kam Mueang, or Thai Yuan), spoken by about 6 million (1983) in the formerly independent kingdom of Lanna (Chiang Mai).
• Southern Thai (Pak Tai), spoken by 4.5 million (2006) in the formerly independent kingdom of Ligor (Nakhon Si Thammarat).
• Phu Thai, spoken by about half a million around Nakhon Phanom Province, and 300,000 more in Laos and Vietnam (2006).
• Phuan, spoken by 200,000 in central Thailand and Isan, and 100,000 more in northern Laos (2006).
• Shan (Thai Luang, Tai Long, Thai Yai), spoken by about 100,000 in north-west Thailand along the border with the Shan States of Burma, and by 3.2 million in Burma (2006).
• Lü (Tai Lue, Dai), spoken by about 80,000 (2001) in northern Thailand, and 600,000 more in China, Burma, and Laos (1981–2000).
• Nyaw language, spoken by 50,000 in Nakhon Phanom Province, Sakhon Nakhon Province, Udon Thani Province of Northeast Thailand (1990)
• Song, spoken by about 30,000 in central and northern Thailand (2000).

Most speakers of dialects and minority languages speak Central Thai as well, since it is the language used in schools and universities all across the kingdom.

Numerous languages not related to Thai are spoken within Thailand. Near Laos and Burma, ethnic minority hill tribes people speak Hmong–Mien (Yao), Karen, Lisu, and others. Near Cambodia many communities speak Khmer, and the Mon-Khmer language variously known as Suay (ส่วย) Guay or Kuay (กวย) (also spoken in central Suphanburi province.^[9]

Siamese Thai is composed of several distinct registers, forms for different social contexts:

• Street or common Thai (ภาษาพูด, spoken Thai): informal, without polite terms of address, as used between close relatives and friends.
• Elegant or formal Thai (ภาษาเขียน, written Thai): official and written version, includes respectful terms of address; used in simplified form in newspapers.
• Rhetorical Thai: used for public speaking.
• Religious Thai: (heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pāli) used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks.
• Royal Thai (ราชาศัพท์): (influenced by Khmer) used when addressing members of the royal family or describing their activities.

Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts. Street and elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations;^{[citation needed]} rhetorical, religious and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum.

Script[link]

Many scholars believe that the Thai script is derived from the Khmer script, which is modeled after the Brahmic script from the Indic family. However, in appearance, Thai is closer to Thai Dam script, which may have the same Indian origins as the Khmer script. The language and its script^{[citation needed]} are closely related to the Lao language and script. Most literate Lao are able to read and understand Thai, as more than half of the Thai vocabulary, grammar, intonation, vowels and so forth are common with the Lao language. Much like the Burmese adopted the Mon script (which also has Indic origins), the Thais adopted and modified the Khmer script to create their own writing system. While the oldest known inscription in the Khmer language dates from 611 CE, inscriptions in Thai writing began to appear around 1292 CE. Notable features include:

1. It is an abugida script, in which the implicit vowel is a short /a/ in a syllable without final consonant and a short /o/ in a syllable with final consonant.
2. Tone markers are placed above the final onset consonant of the syllable.
3. Vowels sounding after a consonant are nonsequential: they can be located before, after, above or below the consonant, or in a combination of these positions.

Transcription[link]

There is no universal standard for transcribing Thai into the Latin alphabet. For example, the name of King Rama IX, the present monarch, is transcribed variously as Bhumibol, Phumiphon, phuu^M mi^H phohn^M, or many other versions. Guide books, text books and dictionaries may each follow different systems. For this reason, most language courses recommend that learners master the Thai script.

What comes closest to a standard is the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS), published by the Thai Royal Institute.^[10] This system is increasingly used in Thailand by central and local governments,^{[citation needed]} especially for road signs. Its main drawbacks are that it does not indicate tone or vowel length. Retro-transliteration, that is, reconstruction of Thai spelling from RTGS romanisation, is not possible.

Transliteration[link]

The ISO published an international standard for the transliteration of Thai into Roman script in September 2003 (ISO 11940) [2]. By adding diacritics to the Latin letters, it makes the transcription reversible, making it a true transliteration. This system is intended for academic use, but is rarely used in any context.^{[citation needed]}

Grammar[link]

From the perspective of linguistic typology, Thai can be considered to be an analytic language. The word order is subject–verb–object, although the subject is often omitted. Thai pronouns are selected according to the gender and relative status of speaker and audience.

Adjectives and adverbs[link]

There is no morphological distinction between adverbs and adjectives. Many words can be used in either function. They follow the word they modify, which may be a noun, verb, or another adjective or adverb. Intensity can be expressed by a duplicated word, which is used to mean "very" (with the first occurrence at a higher pitch) or "rather" (with both at the same pitch) (Higbie 187-188). Usually, only one word is duplicated per clause.

• คนอ้วน (khon uan, [kʰon ʔûan ]) a fat person
• คนอ้วน ๆ (khon uan uan, [kʰon ʔûan ʔûan]) a very/rather fat person
• คนที่อ้วนเร็วมาก (khon thi uan rew mak, [khon tʰîː ʔûan rew mâːk]) a person who becomes/became fat very quickly
• คนที่อ้วนเร็วมาก ๆ (khon thi uan rew mak mak, [khon tʰîː ʔûan rew mâːk mâːk]) a person who becomes/became fat very very quickly

Comparatives take the form "A X กว่า B" (kwa, [kwàː]), A is more X than B. The superlative is expressed as "A X ที่สุด" (thi sut, [tʰîːsùt]), A is most X.

• เขาอ้วนกว่าฉัน (khao uan kwa chan, [kʰǎw ʔûan kwàː tɕ͡ʰǎn]) S/he is fatter than me.
• เขาอ้วนที่สุด (khao uan thi sut, [kʰǎw ʔûan tʰîːsùt]) S/he is the fattest (of all).

Because adjectives can be used as complete predicates, many words used to indicate tense in verbs (see Verbs:Tense below) may be used to describe adjectives.

• ฉันหิว (chan hiu, [tɕ͡ʰǎn hǐw]) I am hungry.
• ฉันจะหิว (chan cha hiu, [tɕ͡ʰǎn tɕ͡àʔ hǐw]) I will be hungry.
• ฉันกำลังหิว (chan kamlang hiu, [tɕ͡ʰǎn kamlaŋ hǐw]) I am hungry right now.
• ฉันหิวแล้ว (chan hiu laeo, [tɕ͡ʰǎn hǐw lɛ́ːw]) I am already hungry.

• Remark ฉันหิวแล้ว mostly means "I am hungry right now" because normally, แล้ว ([lɛ́ːw]) is a past-tense marker, but แล้ว has many other uses as well. For example, in the sentence, แล้วเธอจะไปไหน ([lɛ́ːw tʰɤː tɕ͡àʔ paj nǎj]): So where are you going?, แล้ว ([lɛ́ːw]) is used as a discourse particle.

Verbs[link]

Verbs do not inflect (i.e. do not change with person, tense, voice, mood, or number) nor are there any participles. Duplication conveys the idea of doing the verb intensively.

The passive voice is indicated by the insertion of ถูก (thuk, [tʰùːk]) before the verb. For example:

• เขาถูกตี (khao thuk ti, [kʰǎw tʰùːk tiː]), He is hit. This describes an action that is out of the receiver's control and, thus, conveys suffering.

To convey the opposite sense, a sense of having an opportunity arrive, ได้ (dai, [dâj], can) is used. For example:

• เขาจะได้ไปเที่ยวเมืองลาว (khao cha dai pai thiao mueang lao, [kʰǎw t͡ɕaʔ dâj paj tʰîow mɯːaŋ laːw]), He gets to visit Laos.

Note, dai ([dâj] and [dâːj]), though both spelled ได้, convey two separate meanings. The short vowel dai ([dâj]) conveys an opportunity has arisen and is placed before the verb. The long vowel dai ([dâːj]) is placed after the verb and conveys the idea that one has been given permission or one has the ability to do something. Also see the past tense below.

• เขาตีได้ (khao ti dai, [kʰǎw tiː dâːj]), He is/was allowed to hit or He is/was able to hit

Negation is indicated by placing ไม่ (mai,[mâj] not) before the verb.

• เขาไม่ตี, (khao mai ti) He is not hitting. or He doesn't hit.

Tense is conveyed by tense markers before or after the verb.

Present can be indicated by กำลัง (kamlang, [kamlaŋ], currently) before the verb for ongoing action (like English -ing form), by อยู่ (yu, [jùː]) after the verb, or by both. For example:

• เขากำลังวิ่ง (khao kamlang wing, [kʰǎw kamlaŋ wîŋ]), or
• เขาวิ่งอยู่ (khao wing yu, [kʰǎw wîŋ jùː]), or
• เขากำลังวิ่งอยู่ (khao kamlang wing yu, [kʰǎw kamlaŋ wîŋ jùː]), He is running.

Future can be indicated by จะ (cha, [t͡ɕaʔ], will) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the future. For example:

• เขาจะวิ่ง (khao cha wing, [kʰǎw t͡ɕaʔ wîŋ]), He will run or He is going to run

Past can be indicated by ได้ (dai, [dâːj]) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the past. However, แล้ว (laeo, :[lɛ́ːw], already) is more often used to indicate the past tense by being placed behind the verb. Or, both ได้ and แล้ว are put together to form the past tense expression, i.e. Subject + ได้ + Verb + แล้ว. For example:

• เขาได้กิน (khao dai kin, [kʰǎw dâːj kin]), He ate
• เขากินแล้ว (khao kin laeo, [kʰǎw kin lɛ́ːw], He (already) ate or He's already eaten
• เขาได้กินแล้ว (khao dai kin laeo, [kʰǎw dâːj kin lɛ́ːw]), He (already) ate or He's already eaten

Thai exhibits serial verb constructions, where verbs are strung together. Some word combinations are common and may be considered set phrases.

• เขาไปกินข้าว (khao pai kin khao, [kʰǎw paj kin kʰâːw]) He went out to eat, literally He go eat food
• ฉันฟังไม่เข้าใจ (chan fang mai khao chai, [tɕ͡ʰǎn faŋ mâj kʰâw tɕ͡aj]) I don't understand what was said, literally I listen not understand
• เข้ามา (khao ma, [kʰâw maː]) Come in, literally enter come
• ออกไป! (ok pai, [ʔɔ̀ːk paj]) Leave! or Get out!, literally exit go

Nouns[link]

Nouns are uninflected and have no gender; there are no articles.

Nouns are neither singular nor plural. Some specific nouns are reduplicated to form collectives: เด็ก (dek, child) is often repeated as เด็กๆ (dek dek) to refer to a group of children. The word พวก (phuak, [pʰûak]) may be used as a prefix of a noun or pronoun as a collective to pluralize or emphasise the following word. (พวกผม, phuak phom, [pʰûak pʰǒm], we, masculine; พวกเรา phuak rao, [pʰûak raw], emphasised we; พวกหมา phuak ma, (the) dogs) Plurals are expressed by adding classifiers, used as measure words (ลักษณนาม), in the form of noun-number-classifier (ครูห้าคน, "teacher five person" for "five teachers"). While in English, such classifiers are usually absent ("four chairs") or optional ("two bottles of beer" or "two beers"), a classifier is almost always used in Thai (hence "chair four item" and "beer two bottle").

Pronouns[link]

Subject pronouns are often omitted, with nicknames used where English would use a pronoun. See informal and formal names for more details. Pronouns, when used, are ranked in honorific registers, and may also make a T–V distinction in relation to kinship and social status. Specialised pronouns are used for those with royal and noble titles, and for clergy. The following are appropriate for conversational use:

The reflexive pronoun is ตัวเอง (tua eng), which can mean any of: myself, yourself, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves. This can be mixed with another pronoun to create an intensive pronoun, such as ตัวผมเอง (tua phom eng, lit: I myself) or ตัวคุณเอง (tua khun eng, lit: you yourself).

Thai does not have a separate possessive pronoun. Instead, possession is indicated by the particle ของ (khong). For example, "my mother" is แม่ของผม (mae khong phom, lit: mother of I). This particle is often implicit, so the phrase is shortened to แม่ผม (mae phom).

Thai has many more pronouns than those listed above. Their usage is full of nuances. For example:

• "ผม เรา ฉัน ดิฉัน ชั้น หนู กู ข้า กระผม ข้าพเจ้า กระหม่อม อาตมา กัน ข้าน้อย ข้าพระพุทธเจ้า อั๊ว เค้า" all translate to "I", but each expresses a different gender, age, politeness, status, or relationship between speaker and listener.
• เรา (rao) can be first person (I), second person (you), or both (we), depending on the context.
• When speaking to someone older, หนู (nu) is a feminine first person (I). However, when speaking to someone younger, the same word หนู is a neuter second person (you).
• The second person pronoun เธอ (thoe) (lit: you) is semi-feminine. It is used only when the speaker or the listener (or both) are female. Males usually don't address each other by this pronoun.
• Both คุณ (khun) and เธอ (thoe) are polite neuter second person pronouns. However, คุณเธอ (khun thoe) is a feminine derogative third person.
• Instead of a second person pronoun such as "คุณ" (you), it's much more common for unrelated strangers to call each other "พี่ น้อง ลุง ป้า น้า อา ตา ยาย" (brother/sister/aunt/uncle/granny).
• To express deference, the second person pronoun is sometimes replaced by a profession, similar to how, in English, presiding judges are always addressed as "your honor" rather than "you". In Thai, students always address their teachers by "ครู คุณครู อาจารย์" (each means teacher) rather than คุณ (you). Teachers, monks, and doctors are almost always addressed this way.

Particles[link]

The particles are often untranslatable words added to the end of a sentence to indicate respect, a request, encouragement or other moods (similar to the use of intonation in English), as well as varying the level of formality. They are not used in elegant (written) Thai. The most common particles indicating respect are ครับ (khrap, [kʰráp], with a high tone) when the speaker is male, and ค่ะ (kha, [kʰâ], with a falling tone) when the speaker is female; these can also be used to indicate an affirmative, though the ค่ะ (falling tone) is changed to a คะ (high tone).

Other common particles are:

Phonology[link]

Tones[link]

There are five phonemic tones: mid, low, falling, high, and rising, sometimes referred to in older reference works as rectus, gravis, circumflexus, altus, and demissus, respectively.^[11] The table shows an example of both the phonemic tones and their phonetic realization, in the IPA.

Thai language tone chart

Note that the full complement of five tones exist only on live syllables, those that end in a long vowel or a sonorant (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /j/, /w/). For dead syllables, which end in either a plosive (/p/, /t/, or /k/) or a short vowel, only two tonal distinctions are possible: Falling vs. low for syllables containing a long vowel, and high vs. low for syllables containing a short vowel (i.e. ending either in a short vowel + plosive, or in a short vowel alone). Note that syllables that phonemically end in a short vowel have an automatic glottal stop added to the end (especially in slower speech). Hence, an alternative characterization of dead syllables is simply those syllables ending in a phonetic plosive consonant.

Consonants[link]

Initials[link]

Thai distinguishes among three voice/aspiration patterns for plosive and affricate consonants:

• unvoiced, unaspirated
• unvoiced, aspirated
• voiced, unaspirated

Where English has only a distinction between the voiced, unaspirated /b/ and the unvoiced, aspirated /pʰ/, Thai distinguishes a third sound that is neither voiced nor aspirated, which occurs in English only as an allophone of /p/, approximately the sound of the p in "spin". There is similarly an alveolar /t/, /tʰ/, /d/ triplet. In the velar series there is a /k/, /kʰ/ pair and in the postalveolar series the /t͡ɕ/, /t͡ɕʰ/ pair.

In each cell below, the first line indicates International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the second indicates the Thai characters in initial position (several letters appearing in the same box have identical pronunciation).

^* ฃ and ฅ are no longer used. Thus, modern Thai is said to have 42 consonant letters.

^** Initial อ is silent and therefore considered as glottal plosive.

Finals[link]

Although the overall 44 Thai consonant letters provide 21 sounds in case of initials, the case for finals is different. For finals, only eight sounds, as well as no sound, called mātrā (มาตรา) are used. To demonstrate, at the end of a syllable, บ (/b/) and ด (/d/) are devoiced, becoming pronounced as /p/ and /t/ respectively.

Of the consonant letters, excluding the disused ฃ and ฅ, six (ฉ ผ ฝ ห อ ฮ) cannot be used as a final and the other 36 are grouped as following.

^* The glottal plosive appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel

Clusters[link]

In Thai, each syllable in a word is considered separate from the others, so combinations of consonants from adjacent syllables are never recognised as a cluster.

Thai has very limited number of clusters. Original Thai vocabulary introduces only 11 combined patterns:

• /kr/ (กร), /kl/ (กล), /kw/ (กว)
• /kʰr/ (ขร,คร), /kʰl/ (ขล,คล), /kʰw/ (ขว,คว)
• /pr/ (ปร), /pl/ (ปล)
• /pʰr/ (พร), /pʰl/ (ผล,พล)
• /tr/ (ตร)

The number of clusters increases when a few more combinations are presented in loanwords such as /tʰr/ (ทร) in อินทรา (/intʰraː/, from Sanskrit indrā) or /fr/ (ฟร) in ฟรี (/friː/, from English free). However, it can be observed that Thai language supports only those in initial position, with either /r/, /l/, or /w/ as the second consonant sound and not more than two sounds at a time.

Vowels[link]

The basic vowels of the Thai language, from front to back and close to open, are given in the following table. The top entry in every cell is the symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet, the second entry gives the spelling in the Thai alphabet, where a dash (–) indicates the position of the initial consonant after which the vowel is pronounced. A second dash indicates that a final consonant must follow.

Monophthongs of Thai. From Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:25)

The vowels each exist in long-short pairs: these are distinct phonemes forming unrelated words in Thai,^[12] but usually transliterated the same: เขา (khao) means "he" or "she", while ขาว (khao) means "white".

The long-short pairs are as follows:

Diphthongs of Thai. From Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:25)

The basic vowels can be combined into diphthongs. Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993) analyze those ending in high vocoids as underlyingly /Vj/ and /Vw/. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:

Additionally, there are three triphthongs, all of which are long:

For a guide to written vowels, see the Thai alphabet page.

Vocabulary[link]

Other than compound words and words of foreign origin, most words are monosyllabic. Historically, words have most often been borrowed from Sanskrit and Pāli; Buddhist terminology is particularly indebted to these. Old Khmer has also contributed its share, especially in regard to royal court terminology. Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the English language has had the greatest influence, especially for scientific and technical vocabulary. Many Teochew Chinese words are also used, some replacing existing Thai words (for example, the names of basic numbers; see also Sino-Xenic).^{[citation needed]}

As noted above, Thai has several registers, each having certain usages, such as colloquial, formal, literary, and poetic. Thus, the word "eat" can be กิน (kin; common), แดก (daek; vulgar), ยัด (yat; vulgar), บริโภค (boriphok; formal), รับประทาน (rapprathan; formal), ฉัน (chan; religious), or เสวย (sawoei; royal).

Thailand also uses the distinctive Thai six hour clock in addition to the 24 hour clock.

History[link]

Thai has undergone a number of sound changes in its history. Some of the most significant changes, at least in terms of consonants and tones, have occurred between the Old Thai spoken at the time when the language was first written and the Thai language of the present time, and are reflected in the orthography.

Old Thai[link]

Old Thai had a three-way tone distinction on live syllables (those that did not end in a stop consonant) and no possible tone distinction on dead syllables (those ending in a stop consonant, i.e. either /p/, /t/, /k/ or the glottal stop that automatically closes syllables otherwise ending in a short vowel).

There was a two-way voiced vs. voiceless distinction among all fricative and sonorant consonants, and up to a four-way distinction among stops and affricates. The maximal distinctions occurred in labials (/p ph b ʔb/) and dentals (/t th d ʔd/), while a three-way distinction occurred among velars (/k kh g/) and palatals (/tɕ tɕh dʐ/), with the glottalized member of each set apparently missing.

The major change between Old Thai and modern Thai was due to the loss of voicing distinctions and concomitant tone split. This may have happened between about 1300 and 1600 AD, possibly occurring at different times in different parts of the Thai-speaking area. All of the voiced/voiceless pairs of consonants lost the voicing distinction:

• Plain voiced stops (/b d g dʐ/) became voiceless aspirated stops (/ph th kh tɕh/). (The glottalized stops /ʔb ʔd/ were unaffected, as they were treated in every respect like voiceless unaspirated stops due to the initial glottal stop. These stops are often described in the modern language as phonemically plain stops /b d/, but the glottalization is still commonly heard.)
• Voiced fricatives became voiceless.
• Voiceless sonorants became voiced.

However, in the process of these mergers the former distinction of voice was transferred into a new set of tonal distinctions. In essence, every tone in Old Thai split into two new tones, with a lower-pitched tone corresponding to a syllable that formerly began with a voiced consonant, and a higher-pitched tone corresponding to a syllable that formerly began with a voiceless consonant (including glottalized stops). An additional complication is that formerly voiceless unaspirated stops/affricates (original /p t k tɕ ʔb ʔd/) also caused original tone 1 to lower, but had no such effect on original tones 2 or 3.

The above consonant mergers and tone splits account for the complex relationship between spelling and sound in modern Thai. Modern "low"-class consonants were voiced in Old Thai, and the terminology "low" reflects the lower tone variants that resulted. Modern "mid"-class consonants were voiceless unaspirated stops or affricates in Old Thai — precisely the class the triggered lowering in original tone 1 but not tones 2 or 3. Modern "high"-class consonants all remaining voiceless consonants in Old Thai (voiceless fricatives, voiceless sonorants, voiceless aspirated stops). The three most common tone "marks" (the lack of any tone mark, as well as the two marks termed mai ek and mai tho) represent the three tones of Old Thai, and the complex relationship between tone mark and actual tone is due to the various tonal changes since then. Note also that the since the tone split the tones have changed in actual representation to the point that the former relationship between lower and higher tonal variants has been completely obscured. Furthermore, the six tones that resulted after the three tones of Old Thai were split have since merged into five in standard Thai, with the lower variant of former tone 2 merging with the higher variant of former tone 3, becoming the modern "falling" tone. (Note that modern Lao and northern Thai dialects are often described as having six tones, but these are not necessarily due to preservation of the original six tones resulting from the tone split. For example, in standard Lao, both the high and low variants of Old Thai tone 2 merged; however, the mid-class variant of tone 1 became pronounced differently from either the high-class or low-class variants, and all three eventually became phonemic due to further changes, e.g. /kr/ -> /kh/. For similar reasons, Lao has developed more than two tonal distinctions in "dead" syllables.)

Early Old Thai also apparently had velar fricatives /x ɣ/ as distinct phonemes. These were represented by the now-obsolete letters ฃ kho khuat and ฅ kho khon, respectively. During the Old Thai period, these sounds merged into the corresponding stops /kh g/, and as a result the use of these letters became unstable.

At some point in the history of Thai, a palatal nasal phoneme /ɲ/ also existed, inherited from Proto-Tai. A letter ญ yo ying also exists, which is used to represent a palatal nasal in words borrowed from Sanskrit and Pali, and is currently pronounced /j/ at the beginning of a syllable but /n/ at the end of a syllable. Most native Thai words that are reconstructed as beginning with /ɲ/ are also pronounced /j/ in modern Thai, but generally spelled with ย yo yak, which consistently represents /j/. This suggests that /ɲ/ -> /j/ in native words occurred in the pre-literary period. It's unclear whether Sanskrit and Pali words beginning with /ɲ/ were borrowed directly with a /j/, or whether a /ɲ/ was re-introduced, followed by a second change /ɲ/ -> /j/.

Proto-Tai also had a glottalized palatal sound, reconstructed as /ʔj/ in Li Fang-Kuei (1977). Corresponding Thai words are generally spelled หย, which implies an Old Thai pronunciation of /hj/ (or /j̥/), but a few such words are spelled อย, which implies a pronunciation of /ʔj/ and suggests that the glottalization may have persisted through to the early literary period.

Vowel developments[link]

The vowel system of modern Thai contains nine pure vowels and three centering diphthongs, each of which can occur long or short. According to Li (1977), however, many Thai dialects have only one such long-short pair (/a aː/), and in general it is difficult or impossible to find minimal long-short pairs in Thai that involve vowels other than /a/ and where both members have frequent correspondences throughout the Tai languages. More specifically, he notes the following facts about Thai:

• In open syllables, only long vowels occur. (This assumes that all apparent cases of short open syllables are better described as ending in a glottal stop. This makes sense from the lack of tonal distinctions in such syllables, and the glottal stop is also reconstructible across the Tai languages.)
• In closed syllables, the long high vowels /iː ɨː uː/ are rare, and cases that do exist typically have diphthongs in other Tai languages.
• In closed syllables, both long and short mid /e eː o oː/ and low /ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː/ do occur. However, generally, only words with short /e o/ and long /ɛː ɔː/ are reconstructible back to Proto-Tai.
• Both of the mid back unrounded vowels /ǝ ǝː/ are rare, and words with such sounds generally cannot be reconstructed back to Proto-Tai.

Furthermore, the vowel that corresponds to short Thai /a/ has a different and often higher quality in many of the Tai languages compared with the vowel corresponding to Thai /aː/.

This leads Li to posit the following:

1. Proto-Tai had a system of nine pure vowels with no length distinction, and possessing approximately the same qualities as in modern Thai: high /i ɨ u/, mid /e ǝ o/, low /ɛ a ɔ/.
2. All Proto-Tai vowels were lengthened in open syllables, and low vowels were also lengthened in closed syllables.
3. Modern Thai largely preserved the original lengths and qualities, but lowered /ǝ/ to /a/, which became short /a/ in closed syllables and created a phonemic length distinction /a aː/. Eventually, length in all other vowels became phonemic as well and a new /ǝ/ (both long and short) was introduced, through a combination of borrowing and sound change. Li believes that the development of long /iː ɨː uː/ from diphthongs, and the lowering of /ǝ/ to /a/ to create a length distinction /a aː/, had occurred by the time of Proto-Southwestern-Tai, but the other missing modern Thai vowels had not yet developed.

Note that not all researchers agree with Li. Pittayaporn (2009), for example, reconstructs a similar system for Proto-Southwestern-Tai, but believes that there was also a mid back unrounded vowel /ǝ/ (which he describes as /ɤ/), occurring only before final velar /k ŋ/. He also seems to believe that the Proto-Southwestern-Tai vowel length distinctions can be reconstructed back to similar distinctions in Proto-Tai.

See also[link]

• Thai numerals
• Literature in Thailand
• The Royal Institute of Thailand
• Thai honorifics

Notes[link]

References[link]

• อภิลักษณ์ ธรรมทวีธิกุล และ กัลยารัตน์ ฐิติกานต์นารา. 2549.“การเน้นพยางค์กับทำนองเสียงภาษาไทย” (Stress and Intonation in Thai ) วารสารภาษาและภาษาศาสตร์ ปีที่ 24 ฉบับที่ 2 (มกราคม – มิถุนายน 2549) หน้า 59-76
• สัทวิทยา : การวิเคราะห์ระบบเสียงในภาษา. 2547. กรุงเทพฯ : สำนักพิมพ์มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์
• Diller, Anthony van Nostrand. 2008. The Tai–Kadai Languages.
• Gandour, Jack, Tumtavitikul, Apiluck and Satthamnuwong, Nakarin. 1999. “Effects of Speaking Rate on the Thai Tones.” Phonetica 56, pp. 123–134.
• Rischel, Jørgen. 1998. 'Structural and Functional Aspects of Tone Split in Thai'. In Sound structure in language, 2009.
• Tumtavitikul, Apiluck, 1998. “The Metrical Structure of Thai in a Non-Linear Perspective”. Papers presentd to the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 1994, pp. 53–71. Udom Warotamasikkhadit and Thanyarat Panakul, eds. Temple,Arizona:Program for Southeast Asian Studies, Arizona State University.
• Apiluck Tumtavitikul. 1997. “The Reflection on the X’ category in Thai”. Mon–Khmer Studies XXVII, pp. 307–316.
• อภิลักษณ์ ธรรมทวีธิกุล. 2539. “ข้อคิดเกี่ยวกับหน่วยวากยสัมพันธ์ในภาษาไทย” วารสารมนุษยศาสตร์วิชาการ. 4.57-66.
• Tumtavitikul, Appi. 1995. “Tonal Movements in Thai”. The Proceedings of the XIIIth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Vol. I, pp. 188–121. Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University.
• Tumtavitikul, Apiluck. 1994. “Thai Contour Tones”.Current Issues in Sino-Tibetan Linguistics, pp. 869–875. Hajime Kitamura et al., eds, Ozaka: The Organization Committee of the 26th Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics,National Museum of Ethnology.
• Tumtavitikul, Apiluck. 1993. “FO – Induced VOT Variants in Thai”. Journal of Languages and Linguistics, 12.1.34 – 56.
• Tumtavitikul, Apiluck. 1993. “Perhaps, the Tones are in the Consonants?” Mon–Khmer Studies XXIII, pp. 11–41.
• Higbie, James and Thinsan, Snea. Thai Reference Grammar: The Structure of Spoken Thai. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2003. ISBN 974-8304-96-5.
• Nacaskul, Karnchana, Ph.D. (ศาสตราจารย์กิตติคุณ ดร.กาญจนา นาคสกุล) Thai Phonology, 4th printing. (ระบบเสียงภาษาไทย, พิมพ์ครั้งที่ 4) Bangkok: Chulalongkorn Press, 1998. ISBN 978-974-639-375-1.
• Nanthana Ronnakiat, Ph.D. (ดร.นันทนา รณเกียรติ) Phonetics in Principle and Practical. (สัทศาสตร์ภาคทฤษฎีและภาคปฏิบัติ) Bangkok: Thammasat University, 2005. ISBN 974-571-929-3.
• Segaller, Denis. Thai Without Tears: A Guide to Simple Thai Speaking. Bangkok: BMD Book Mags, 1999. ISBN 974-87115-2-8.
• Smyth, David. Thai: An Essential Grammar. London: Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0-415-22614-7.
• Tingsabadh, M.R. Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur (1993), "Thai", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (1): 24–28 

External links[link]

Thai language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Thai proverbs

• IPA and SAMPA for Thai

Glossaries and word lists

• Thai phrasebook in Wikitravel
• Thai Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)

Dictionaries

• English-Thai dictionary, NECTEC English<–>Thai dictionary; free download with sound files.
• English–Thai Dictionary: English–Thai bilingual online dictionary
• The Royal Institute Dictionary, official standard Thai–Thai dictionary
• Longdo Thai Dictionary LongdoDict
• Thai-English dictionary
• Thai2english.com: LEXiTRON-based Thai–English dictionary
• Daoulagad Thai: mobile OCR Thai–English dictionary

Learners' resources

• thai-language.com English speakers' online resource for the Thai language
• Say Hello in the Thai Language
• Thai Language Wiki (Online lectures)
• Spoken Thai (30 exercises with audio)
• Thai books+Audio, a lot of books in Thai with audio.
• USA Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Thai basic course

Thai Keyboard

• Thai Keyboard Virtual Thai Keyboard

lez:Тай чӀал

Thai people of Chinese Origin
泰國華人 or 泰国华人
ไทยเชื้อสายจีน

Visitors at Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, one of the most prominent Chinese Buddhist temples in Thailand
Total population
8,000,000 12% of the Thai population (2011)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Central Metropolitan • Ayutthaya • Suphanburi • Nakhonsawan Eastern and Isan Khon Kaen • Chachoengsao • Chonburi • Rayong Northern Chiang Mai • Chiang Rai Southern Krabi • Nakhon Si Thammarat • Pattani • Phang Nga • Phuket • Ranong Songkhla • Surat Thani • Trang • Yala
Languages
Thai
Religion
Theravada Buddhism • Mahayana Buddhism • Confucianism Taoism • Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Teochews • Hokkien • Hakka • Hainan Southern Chinese • Peranakan Overseas Chinese

Thai Chinese are Thai citizens of Chinese, - primarily of Han Chinese - origin. Thailand is home to the second largest Overseas Chinese community after the Chinese community Indonesia. It is the oldest, most prominent, and well integrated overseas Chinese community in the world with a population of approximately eight million accounting for 12% of the Thai population as of 2011.^[1] Most Thai Chinese have been in Thailand for five generations or more; the Thai-Chinese have been deeply ingrained into all elements of Thai society for the past 400 years. The present Thai royal family, the Chakri Dynasty, was founded by King Rama I who himself was partly Chinese. His predecessor, King Taksin of Thonburi dynastry, was the son of Chinese immigrant from Guangdong Province and was born with a Chinese name. Nearly all of Thai Chinese identify themselves as being Thai due to the highly successful integration of Chinese communities into Thai society. Descendants of most ennobled Chinese are among the leading Thai families today.^[2] In addition, over half of ethnic Thais (the rest are southern Thai who are mostly of Malay descent) are descendants of people who migrated from southern China approximately 1,000 years ago and are directly associated, racially, culturally, and linguistically, with China's modern day ethnic minority group, the Dai people.

Thai Chinese are well-represented in all levels of Thai society and make up a significant percentage of Thailand's business and upper class.^[3] They are estimated to produce 50% of Thailand's overall GNP.^[4] They play a leading role in the Thai business and commerce sector as they are estimated to control 81 to 90 percent of the Thai economy.^[5][6][7][8] The Thai Chinese business class is also dominant in the Thai finance sector.^[9] Thai Chinese are also well represented in the Thai political scene, when in 1986, Thai-Chinese invested heavily in the electoral campaign and successfully gained 86 of the 347 seats in the Thai house of representatives.^[10] In addition, the leading majority of Thai Prime Ministers were of Chinese or partial Chinese origin.^[10]

Slightly more than half of the ethnic Chinese population in Thailand trace their ancestry to the Chaozhou prefecture in eastern Guangdong. This is evidenced by the prevalence of the Minnan Chaozhou dialect among the Chinese in Thailand. A minority trace their ancestry to Hakka and Hainanese immigrants.^[11]

Demographics[link]

Official statistics in 1987 shows that about 15% of Thailand's population claim to be of Chinese ethnicity.^[12] However, it is estimated that at least 30% - 40% (21 - 27 million people) of Thai population are of Chinese descent when taking into account people of mixed ancestry. The community is the best-integrated overseas Chinese community in the world and any type of racial conflict is close to non-existent.

History[link]

Thai Chinese in the past set up small enterprises so as to eke out a living as street vendors, a profession that was passed on until present day.

The history of Chinese immigration to Thailand dates back many centuries. Chinese traders in Thailand, mostly from Fujian and Guangdong, began arriving in Ayutthaya by at least the thirteenth century. According to the Chronicles of Ayutthaya, it was mentioned that King Ekathotsarot (r. 1605-1610) had been "concerned solely with ways of enriching his treasury," and was "greatly inclined toward strangers and foreign nations," especially Portugal, Spain, the Philippines, China, and Japan.

Ayutthaya was under almost constant Burmese threat from the 16th century onwards, and Qianlong, the Emperor of Qing was alarmed by the Burmese military might. From 1766-1769, Qianlong sent his armies four times to subdue the Burmese, but the Sino-Burmese Wars ended in complete failure. Ayutthaya then fell in the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767). The Chinese efforts diverted the attention of Burma's Siam army; General Taksin, himself the son of a Chinese immigrant, took advantage of the situation by organizing his force and attacking them. Taksin actively encouraged Chinese immigration and trade. Settlers principally from Chaozhou prefecture came in large numbers.^[13] The Chinese population in Thailand jumped from 230,000 in 1825 to 792,000 by 1910. By 1932, approximately 12.2% of the population of Thailand was Chinese.^[14] However, early Chinese immigration consisted almost entirely of Chinese men who married Thai women. Children of such intermarriages were aptly called Sino-Thai^[15] or known as Luk-jin (ลูกจีน) in Thai.^[16] This tradition of Chinese-Thai intermarriage declined when large numbers of Chinese women began to emigrate into Thailand in the early 20th century.

The corruption of the Qing Dynasty and the massive population increase in China, along with very high taxes, caused many men to leave China for Thailand in search of work. If successful, they sent money back to their families in China. Many Chinese prospered under the "tax farming" system, whereby private individuals were sold the right to collect taxes at a price below the value of the tax revenues.

In the late 19th century, when Thailand was busy defending its independence from the colonial powers, Chinese bandits from Yunnan Province began raids into the country in the Haw wars (Thai: ปราบกบฏฮ่อ). Thai nationalist attitudes at all levels were accordingly colored by anti-Chinese sentiment. Members of the Chinese community had long dominated domestic commerce and had served as agents for the royal trade monopolies. With the rise of European economic influence, however, many Chinese shifted to the opium traffic and tax collecting, both of which were despised occupations. In addition, Chinese millers and rice traders were blamed for an economic recession that gripped Siam for nearly a decade after 1905. Accusations of bribery of officials, wars between the Chinese secret societies, and use of violent tactics to collect taxes served to foster Thai resentment against the Chinese at a time when the community was expanding rapidly due to immigration. Chinese were also accused of producing poverty for the Thai peasant, charging astronomically high interest rates, when in reality, the Thai banking business was highly competitive.^[17] In 1879, the Chinese controlled 100% of the steam powered rice mills, mostly which were sold by the British. Though most of the leading businessmen in Thailand were of Chinese extraction and comprised a significant portion of the Thai upper class, some Thai-Chinese during this period lived in huts without any electric and toilet facilities.^[17]

By 1910, nearly 10 percent of Thailand's population was Chinese. Moreover, the new arrivals frequently came in families and resisted assimilation. Chinese nationalism, encouraged by Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the Chinese revolution, had also begun to develop, parallel with Thai nationalism. The Chinese community even supported a separate school system for its children. From 1882 to 1917, approximately 13,000 to 34,000 Chinese per year entered the country. In total, nearly 1.5 million Chinese immigrants enter the country as a whole. made up ten percent of the population and mostly settled in Bangkok. Most of the Chinese came from Southern China where it was subject to floods and drought, and predominated in occupations requiring arduous labor, skills, or entrepreneurship. They worked as blacksmiths, railroad laborers, and rickshaw pullers. While most Thais were engaged in rice production, Chinese brought new ideas towards crops and new methods to supply labor on its rubber plantations, both domestically and internationally.^[17]

Over the years between World War I and World War II, Thailand's major exports, rice, tin, rubber, and timber were under Chinese control. Though Western predominance from the Australians, Europeans, and Americans, competed best with the Chinese in forestry, dredge mining, and steam-powered rice mills. By 1924, ethnic Chinese controlled 3 of the 9 sawmills in Bangkok. Marketing gardening, sugar production and fish exporting remained dominant by the Chinese also. Despite British dominance in the Thai economy in 1890's, Chinese also controlled 62 percent of the import export business, that operated as agents for the British as well as the Chinese.^[17]

Legislation by King Rama VI (1910-1925) that required the adoption of Thai surnames was largely directed at easing tensions with Chinese community by encouraging assimilation. Thai Chinese had to choose between forsaking their Chinese identity or being regarded as foreigners. Most opted to become Thai. A number of ethnic Chinese families left Burma between 1930 and 1950 and settled in the Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi Provinces of Western Thailand. A few of the ethnic Chinese families in that area had already emigrated from Burma in the 19th century. Ethnic Chinese families can be recognized by the shrines in their homes and shops, which are mostly located straight on the ground and painted in red, decorated with gold tinsel and small red lamps.

The Chinese in Thailand also suffered discrimination between the 1930s to 1950s under the military dictatorship of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram, (in spite of being part-Chinese himself).^[18] State corporations took over commodities such as rice, tobacco and petroleum, and Chinese businesses found themselves subject to a range of new taxes and controls. Nevertheless, the Chinese were still encouraged to become Thai citizens, and by 1970 it was estimated that more than 90 percent of the Chinese born in Thailand had done so. When diplomatic relations were established with China.^[19]

Culture[link]

Contrary to its neighboring countries, Chinese culture and tradition are highly regarded and celebrated in Thailand as part of Thai culture itself. Nearly all of Chinese Thai are fully integrated. Unlike most other overseas Chinese communities, Thai Chinese consider themselves as being Thai rather Chinese and have little interest or knowledge of their Chinese roots. Up until 1980s, Thailand's have long restricted the use of Chinese names to gain citizenship and prohibited the teaching of Chinese language as to fully integrate Chinese immigrants into Thai society. As the result, more than 99% of Thai Chinese have only Thai names and no knowledge of Chinese language. Extensive intermarriages with the Thais, especially in the past has resulted in many people who claim Chinese ethnicity with Thai ancestry, or mixed.^[20] People of Chinese descent are concentrated in the coastal areas of Thailand, principally Bangkok.^[21]

Language[link]

Nearly all ethnic Chinese in Thailand speaks only Thai language, but an extremely small number (mostly elders) are also conversant in Chinese with varying degrees of fluency. The Teochew dialect of Chinese is used as a commercial lingua franca among a very few elderly Chinese business circles, principally in Chinatown of Bangkok. The proficiency of the Thai language among the ethnic Chinese is attributed to the fact that Thai is a compulsory subject in all schools, while students from a handful of Chinese-medium schools (fewer than 0.1% of all schools) are more proficient in Chinese than those from other schools in general.^[22]

Economic aptitude[link]

British East India Company agent John Crawfurd used detailed Company censuses kept on Prince of Wales's Island from 1815 to 1824 to report specifically on the economic aptitude of the 8585 Chinese there as compared to others. He uses the data to estimate the Chinese — about five-sixths of whom were unmarried men in the prime of life — as equivalent to an ordinary population of above 37,000, and ...to a numerical Malay population of more than 80,000!^[23]:p.30. He surmised this and other differences noted as providing, "a very just estimate of the comparative state of civilization among nations, or, which is the same thing, of the respective merits of their different social institutions."^[23]:p.34 Of the five billionaires in Thailand in the late 20th century, 100 percent were all ethnic Chinese or of partial Chinese descent.^[24] On 17 March 2012, Mr. Chaleo Yoovidhya, of humble Chinese origin, died while listed on Forbes list of billionaires as 205th in the world and 3rd in the nation, with an estimated net worth of US $5 billion.^[25]

Red Bull is an energy drink created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz in partnership with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya, inventor of an earlier energy drink that had been popular in Thailand.^[26][27][28]

Mid-twentieth-century Thailand was isolationist, its economy mired in state-owned enterprises. Over the next several decades, internationalization and market-oriented policies led to the dramatic emergence of a massive export-oriented, large-scale manufacturing sector, which in turn jump-started the economy. joining the Tiger Cub Economies. Virtually all of the new manufacturing establishments were Chinese controlled. Despite Thai-affirmative action based policies in the 1930s, 70% of the retailing outlets and 80 to 90 percent of the rice mills were controlled by ethnic Chinese.^[29] A survey of Thailand's roughly seventy most powerful business groups found that all but three were owned by Thai Chinese.^[30] Although Bangkok has its own Chinatown, Chinese influence is much more pervasive and subtle throughout the city. The Chinese control more than 80 per cent of companies listed on the stock market. Kukrit Pramoj, the aristocratic former prime minister and distant relative of the royal family, once said that most Thais had a Chinese "hanging somewhere on their family tree."^[31][32] In Thailand it is said that 50 ethnic Chinese families controlled most of the country’s business sectors or 81 to 90 percent of the overall market capitalization of the Thai economy.^{[5][7][8][33]} Highly publicized profiles of Chinese enterprise attracted great public interest and were used to illustrate the community’s strong economic presence.^[34] More than 80% of top 40 richest people in Thailand are Thai of full or partly Chinese descent.^[35] It is estimated that roughly 4% (~400,000 individuals) of Thai Chinese family are USD millionaires (USD 1 million or more of liquid financial assets such as cash and stocks. Other financial assets are held in commodities, as well as minor financial market securities such as hedge funds, private placements, and bonds are utilized to shield uncertain economic conditions such as hyperinflation. Thai Chinese entrepreneurs are influential in the sectors of real estate, agriculture, banking and finance, as well as wholesale trading.^[36][37]

In the late 1950s, ethnic Chinese comprised 70% of Bangkok's business owners and senior business managers^[3] and to 90 percent of the shares in Thai corporations are said to be held by Thais of Chinese extraction.^[38][39] 90 percent of Thailand's industrial and commercial capital are also held by ethnic Chinese.^[40] 90% of all investments in the industry and commercial sector and at least 50% of all investments in the banking and finance sectors is controlled by ethnic Chinese.^[41] Thai Chinese also control 96 percent of Thailand's 70 most powerful business groups with the exceptions being the Thai Military Bank, the Crown Property Bureau, and a Thai-Indian corporation.^[42][43][44] Family firms are extremely common in the Thai business sector as they are passed down from one generation to the next.^[45] 90 percent of Thailand’s manufacturing sector and 50 percent of Thailand’s service sector is controlled by ethnic Chinese.^[45] According to a Financial Statistics of the 500 Largest Public Companies in Asia Controlled by Overseas Chinese in 1994 chart released by sociologist Dr. Henry Yeung of the National University of Singapore, 39 companies were concentrated in Thailand with a market capitalization of 35 billion and total assets of 94 billion US.^[45] In Thailand, ethnic Chinese control the four largest private banks, of which Bangkok Bank is the largest and most profitable private bank in the region.^[46][47]

Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, structural reforms imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Indonesia and Thailand led to the loss of many monopolistic positions long held by the ethnic Chinese elite.^[48] Nevertheless, Thai Chinese are estimated to own 60 percent of the national trade, 90 percent of all local investments in the commercial sector, 90 percent of all local investments in the manufacturing sector, and 50 percent of all local investments in the banking and finance sector.^[49][50]

Thai-Chinese businesses in China[link]

Thai-Chinese-run businesses are now the largest investors in China among all overseas Chinese communities worldwide.^[51] An example is the Charoen Pokphand (CP Group), a Thai conglomerate with US$25 billion in annual sales founded by a Thai-Chinese Chearavanont family, is currently the single largest foreign investor in China with hundreds of businesses from agricultural food products, to retail and leisure, to industrial manufacturing and employing more than 150,000 people in China.^[51] It is known in China under the well-known household names such as the "Chia Tai Group" and "Zheng Da Ji Tuan". CP Group also owns and operates Tesco Lotus, one of the largest foreign invested hypermarket operators with 74 stores and 7 distribution centers throughout 30 cities across China. One of CP Group's flagship businesses in China is a USD400mm Super Brand Mall, the largest mall in the Shanghai's most exclusive area of Pudong business district. Reignwood Pine Valley,^[52] China's most exclusive golf and country clubs, are founded and owned by a Thai-Chinese business tycoon, Chanchai Rouyrungruen (operator of Red Bull drink business in China). It is cited as the most popular course in Asia; it has held many international golf tournaments, such as Johnnie Walker Classics, and has been visited by former US President Bill Clinton. In 2008, Mr. Chanchai became the first owner of a business jet in the Chinese mainland.^[53] Anand's Saha-Union, Thailand's leading industrial group, have so far invested over USD 1.5 billion in China, and is operating more than 11 power plants in three of China's provinces. With over other 30 businesses in China, the company employs approximately 7,000 Chinese workers.^[51] Central Group, Thailand's largest operator of shopping centers (and owner of Italy's leading department store, La Rinascente) with US$3.5 billion in annual sales founded by a Thai-Chinese Chirathivat family, have recently opened three new large scale department stores in China.^[51]

Religion[link]

A Chinese temple in Bangkok

The first-generation Chinese immigrants were followers of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. Theravada Buddhism has since become the religion of many ethnic Chinese in Thailand, especially among the assimilated Chinese. Very often, many Chinese in Thailand combine practices of Chinese folk religion with Theravada Buddhism.^[54] Major Chinese festivals such as Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and Qingming are widely celebrated especially in Bangkok, Phuket, and other parts of Thailand where there are large Chinese populations.^[55]

The Chinese in Phuket are noted for their nine-day vegetarian festival between September and October. During the festive season, devotees will abstain from meat and Mortification of the flesh by Chinese mediums are also commonly seen, and the rites and rituals seen are devoted to the veneration of Tua Pek Kong. Such idiosyncratic traditions were developed during the 19th century in Phuket by the local Chinese with influences from Thai culture.^[56]

In the north, there are some Chinese people who practice Islam. They belong to a group of Chinese people, known as Chin Ho. Most of the Chinese Muslim are descended from Hui people who live in Yunnan, China. There are currently seven Chinese mosques in Chiang Mai,^[57] one of them is Baan Haw Mosque, a well known mosque in the north.

Dialect groups[link]

The vast majority of the Thai Chinese belong to various southern Chinese dialect groups. Of these, 56% are Teochew (also commonly spelled as Teochiu), 16% Hakka and 11% Hainanese. The Cantonese and Hokkien each constitute 7% of the Chinese population, and 3% belong to other Chinese dialect groups.^[58]

The Teochews mainly settled around Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Many of them worked in government sectors, while others were involved in trade. During the reign of King Taksin, some influential Teochew traders were granted certain privileges. These prominent traders were called "Royal Chinese" (Jin-luang or จีนหลวง in Thai).

The Hokkiens constitute the largest dialect group among the Chinese in Songkhla, Satun and Phuket, while the Hakkas are mainly concentrated in Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Central Western provinces. The Hakka own many private banks in Thailand, notably Kasikorn Bank.

A large number of Thai Chinese are the descendants of intermarriages between Chinese immigrants and Thais, while there are others who are of predominantly or solely of Chinese descent. People who are of mainly Chinese descent are descendants of immigrants who relocated to Thailand as well as other parts of Nanyang (the Chinese term for Southeast Asia used at the time) in the early to mid 20th century due to famine and civil war in the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong (Teochew, Cantonese, Hainan, Hakka groups) and Fujian (Hokkien, Hakka). Among the ethnic Chinese, assimilation and adoption of Thai culture tends to take place among the Chinese who have a significant amount of Thai ancestry.

In the southern Thai provinces, notably the Chinese community in Phuket Province, the assimilated group is known as Peranakans. These people share a similar culture and identity with the Peranakan Chinese in neighboring Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.^[59][60][61] Ethnic Chinese in the Malay-dominated provinces in the south used Malay, rather than Thai as their lingua franca, and occasionally intermarry with the local Malays.^[62]

Substantial numbers of Chinese people of (mainly) Yunnanese descent can be found in villages around Chiang Rai Province. These are descendants of Kuomintang soldiers who fought against the Chinese Communist soldiers in the 1940s, before fleeing to the northern regions and settling among the local people.^[63][64][65] The Chinese Muslim community, also known as Haw or Hui settled in parts of northern Thailand during the years of the Panthay Rebellion, who eventually formed a distinct community in Chiangmai by the late 1890s.^[66]

Linguistic concentrations[link]

• Teochew
• Hakka
• Hainanese
• Cantonese
• Hokkien

Surnames[link]

Almost all Sino-Thais possess a Thai surname, as was required by King Rama VI in order for them to become Thai citizens. The few who retain native Chinese surnames are either recent immigrants or resident aliens.

However, Sino-Thai surnames are often distinct from the general population, with generally longer names mimicking those of high officials and upper-class Thais^[67] and with elements of these longer names retaining their original Chinese surname in translation or transliteration. For example, the former prime minister Banharn Silpa-Archa's unusual Archa element is a translation into Thai of his family's former name Ma (trad. 馬, simp. 马, lit. "horse"). Similarly, the Lim in Sondhi Limthongkul's name is the Hainanese pronunciation of the name Lin (林). Or it may have been done for them. For an example, see the background of the Vejjajiva Palace name.^[68] Note that the latter-day Royal Thai General System of Transcription would transcribe it as "Wetchachiwa" and that the Sanskrit-derived name refers to "medical profession."

In Southern Thai, it is common to simply prefix Sae- (from Chinese: 姓, "surname") to a transliteration of their name to form the new surname; Wanlop Saechio's last name thus derived from the Chinese 周.

Thai Prime Ministers of Chinese origin[link]

Chuan Leekpai

Banharn Silpa-archa

Thaksin Shinawatra

Kon Hutasingha (Chinese)

1st Prime Minister 1932-33

General Phot Phahonyothin (Teochew/Thai)

2nd Prime Minister 1933-38, half Thai on mother's side

Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram (Cantonese/Thai)

3rd Prime Minister 1938-44 & 1948-57, half Thai on mother's side

Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj (Thai/Hokkien)

6th Prime Minister 1945-46, half Thai on father's side, descended from Rama II's Chinese wife^[who?] surnamed Lim

Dr. Pridi Banomyong (Chinese)

7th Prime Minister 1946, Chinese immigrant originally named Chen

Rear Admiral Thawal Thamrong Navaswadhi (Thai/Chinese)

8th Prime Minister 1946-47, descended from Chinese^[which?] surnamed Zheng

Pote Sarasin (Hainanese/Thai)

9th Prime Minister 1957-58, half Thai on mother's side, Chinese surname Huang

Mom Rajawongse Kukrit Pramoj (Thai/Hokkien)

13th Prime Minister 1975-76, Seni Pramoj's younger brother

Tanin Kraivixien (Chinese/Thai)

14th Prime Minister 1976-77

General Chatichai Choonhavan (Teochew/Thai)

17th Prime Minister 1990-91, son of Phin Choonhavan, Chinese surname Kai (开)

Anand Panyarachun (Mon/Hokkien-Thai)

18th Prime Minister 1991-92, half Mon on father's side, Hokkien-Thai on mother's whose Chinese surname was Liu

General Suchinda Kraprayoon (Chinese/Mon)

19th Prime Minister 1992, Chinese surname Lu (盧)

Chuan Leekpai (Hokkien/Southern Thai)

20th Prime Minister 1992-95 & 1997-2001, third-generation Thai-Chinese, descended from the Lü family

Banharn Silpa-archa (Teochew)

21st Prime Minister 1995-96, originally named Ma

General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (Chinese-Thai/Laotian)

22nd Prime Minister 1996-1997

Dr.Thaksin Shinawatra (Hakka/Thai-Lanna)

23rd Prime Minister 2001-06, originally named Ku

General Surayud Chulanont (Thai/Chinese)

24th Prime Minister 2006-08 and Privy Council

Samak Sundaravej (Thai/Chinese)

25th Prime Minister 2008, originally named Li (李)

Abhisit Vejjajiva (Thai/Hokkien)

27th Prime Minister 2008-11, originally named Yuan (袁)

Yingluck Shinawatra (Hakka/Thai-Lanna)

28th Prime Minister 2011, the younger sister of Thaksin Shinawatra

See also[link]

	Thailand portal
	China portal

• People's Republic of China–Thailand relations
• Yaowarat Road

References[link]