Chinatown à Bangkok © aluxum - iStockphoto.com.jpg

The Thais (or Thai Siam)

The country's majority ethnic group is defined by its language, Thai, and is part of a larger group, the Tai people. The Thais came little by little from China, probably from Guangxi, emigrating to the south since the 6th century. The migratory flow accelerated as the Chinese Empire became more structured, especially when Kubilai Khan extended his empire southwards. The Thais wanted to escape from sinisation and maintain their political and cultural autonomy. Converted very early to Buddhism theravāda, they occupied the plains, whose inhabitants they pushed back to the mountains. They are traditionally farmers, but urbanization has pushed them towards the cities where they are largely mixed with the Chinese.

The Malays

The Malay, not to be confused with Malaysians, defines an ethnic group from the Malay Peninsula whose language is Malay. They would be between 2 and 4 million in Thailand, mainly in the south of the country. Muslims, they constitute the largest religious minority in the country. They feel economically - the product of the export of tin and rubber, the wealth of the South, is largely reinvested in the North - and culturally. In the 1960s, they were one of the rear bases of the guerrilla movement of the Malay Communist Party. Attacks attributed to Muslim independence fighters have been frequent in recent years in the south of the country, in the provinces close to the Malaysian border. Moreover, not all Malaysians today are insensitive to the sirens of Muslim fundamentalism.

The Lao

It is a people of Thai origin who, after the establishment of the border between the Kingdom of Siam and Laos, settled mainly in Isan, in the north-east of the country. They used to be called Lao Thai to distinguish them from Thai Siam, Lao being a language belonging to the Tai-Kadai language family, like Thai. Lao people are generally Buddhist, but the survival of animism is very strong in the infertile northeast where they live. Farmers, living in a particularly arid region, they are led to go into debt and many emigrate, first to the capital where they constitute a cheap labour force, then to the Gulf countries or Singapore. For the same reasons, they also constitute a reservoir from which greedy middlemen draw.

The Chinese

The Chinese from southern China have emigrated all over Southeast Asia. They form important minorities in many countries such as Vietnam or Indonesia. Everywhere, they are traders. They are often stigmatized and used as scapegoats when the government faces internal difficulties. In Thailand, on the contrary, since the end of the last century, many of them have harmoniously integrated into the population. Many Thais in Bangkok, in the administration, the army or private industry, are half or a quarter Chinese and do not hide it. They control a large part of the trade once despised by the Thai elites. They originally monopolized the rice trade. Some Buddhist temples will probably attract your attention, especially in the Chinatown district of Bangkok, or in Phuket Town.

The Shan

This ethnic group, originally from Yunnan, which played a leading role in the history of Burma, settled in western Thailand. They are characterized by their language, Shan, which is also part of the Tai Kadai language family. They mainly practice Buddhism theravāda. While there are a few tens of thousands of them living today in Thailand, mainly northwest of Chiang Mai, there are more than 2 million in Myanmar, where they form one of the states of the Myanmar Federation. In rebellion against the authorities in Rangoon, they are demanding independence.

The Khmers and the Mon

The Khmer live mainly on the border with Cambodia, in the provinces of Surin and Srisaket, while the Mon live on the border with Myanmar and around Bangkok. These two ethnic groups share a common Mon-Khmer language, from the Austro-Asian language family. They would be a little more than one million in Thailand.

Mountain people or hill tribes

The Hmong. Pejoratively called "Meo" (wild) by the Thais, they came from China in the 19th century. They would be about 250 000 in the country. They live in the mountains, in small woven bamboo houses. They practice slash-and-burn agriculture, which has contributed to the deforestation of Thailand's mountains. Traditionally, they also grow poppies, a crop that requires a lot of care; almost horticulture. They extract opium from it, which they themselves do not smoke until they are old enough. It is a bit of a "retirement" for the mountain dweller who is tired from a hard life. He lights his pipe, once richly decorated, carrying out the ritual gestures slowly and diligently. With age, habit and increasing doses, the old man sinks into a soft torpor and dies painlessly. The Hmong form clans with a very united structure. Their language is close to Chinese and ignores the use of writing. They are animists. Many Hmong from Laos took refuge in Thailand after 1975. They adapted, not without sorrow, but effectively, to the sedentary lifestyle.

The Yao. Like the Hmong, they came from China at the end of the last century. They know the Chinese script, but the origin of their language remains mysterious. There are only a few tens of thousands of them living in the mountains of northern Thailand, but several million in China, Laos and Vietnam. The women wear a magnificent costume: large turban, finely embroidered trousers and a tunic decorated with red wool bolero around the collar. Like the Hmong, they traditionally cultivate slash-and-burn mountain rice and opium.

The Karen. Living in the mountains, but less than 1,000 m above sea level, they are the country's largest tribal minority, numbering nearly a million people. It's actually a mosaic of different ethnicities. They mainly occupy the border areas with Myanmar, in central and southern Thailand, where their independence movement is threatening the stability of Myanmar.

The Lahu. Originally from the Tibetan plateau, they are found in the provinces of Khampeng Phet, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Outstanding hunters, they also excel in the art of weaving.

The Akhas. Originally from Tibet and the Yunnan province in China, they are estimated to be about 20,000 living mainly near the Burmese border in the mountains, in small villages at high altitude. Animists, many converted to Christianity.

Other tribes. The Palong who come from Burma are 60,000. Specialized in the culture of tanatep, a big leaf to wrap cigars, they also grow rice, corn, black beans and peanuts. The Lisu people, originally from Tibet, are said to number 20,000 souls in northern Thailand. The Moken, a maritime nomadic people present in the Surin Islands in the Andaman Sea. But also the Thins, the Lawa, the Khamu..