- published: 17 Mar 2015
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The Thai people, or formerly Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Tai–Kadai family of languages, and the majority of Thai are followers of Theravada Buddhism. The term Thai people may also refer to the population of Thailand in general, and not only to ethnic Thais. Today, "Thai people" usually includes Central and Southern Thai (Siamese proper), Northern Thai (Lanna) and Isan people (strictly speaking Western Lao).[citation needed]
There have been many theories proposing the origin of the Tai people, especially the association of the Tai people with the Kingdom of Nanzhao that has been proved to be invalid. Linguistic studies suggested that the origin of the Tai people lies around the Chinese Province of Guangxi, where the Zhuang people are still a majority. The ancient Tai people should be the part of Chinese Nanyue or "southern barbarians". The Qin dynasty founded Guangdong in 241 BC, initiating the successive waves of Chinese migrations from the north for hundred years to come.
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Thailand, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Thailand's population is relatively homogeneous, however, this is changing due to immigration. Ethnic Thais make up the majority of the population with 75 percent of all inhabitants. Thai Chinese make up 14 percent with the remaining 11 percent made up of various other groups.
The language of the central Thai population is the educational language and administrative language. Several other small Tai groups include the Shan, Lue, and Phutai.
Malay and Yawi-speaking Muslim's language of the south comprise another significant minority group (2.3%). Other groups include the Khmer; the Mon, who are substantially assimilated with the Thai; and the Vietnamese. Smaller mountain-dwelling tribes, such as the Hmong and Mein, as well as the Karen, number about 788,024. Some 300,000 Hmong, who ironically have lived this area for more generations than the Thais themselves, are to receive citizenship by 2010.[citation needed]
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:
Race (hereditary reasons), nationality, citizenship, place of residence (geographical factors), and ancestry (historical and genealogical factors) can be used to define someone as Chinese.