The Tai Group

(This article was first published in Small World Ezine on 14 October 2002)

 

Today is another day in Thailand's sad history. What 
happened was something similar to the tragedy at Tien An 
Menh Square of China. I'd better not talk about it anymore 
because we are trying to forgive those politicians and 
ignorant military commanders. It happened in 1973, during 
the Communist attack. And this Comminist-phoebia (anybody's 
created a word for it yet) was a big epidemic. Big powers 
were afraid to lose their position (and wealth). Whoever
brave enough to turn against them were instantly accused of
being Communists and traitors. Okay, I said I was not
going to talk about it.



Let's talk about something not too sad, something that 
makes me proud to be a Thai. How about... "The origin of 
the Thai people."


I am always asked why aren't people from Thailand called
"Thailander", the same way we call "New Zealander".

My first reaction was "Who know...". But then I think I 
know why. Because there were Thai people long before there 
was Thailand! So when we established this country, we 
called it "Thailand" -- "The land of Thais".

And who are the Thais? Actually?


"Tai" is an ethnic group as well as Chinese or Indian. Of 
how the Tai came from, or where they lived was still 
unknown. Academics said we were from the Altai mountain 
range of Mongolia. There is also a new theory about
the Tais from Yunnan (South of China). And the most recent
research said we were not from anywhere. We were here since 
the beginning.

Nowadays, you can find the people from Tai ethnic group in
Yunnan (Tai Juang -- they were there at least 2,000 years), 
Shan State (North of Myanmar -- this group is called Tai 
Yai or "Big Tai". It's the closest to the Thais in Thailand 
today), North of Vietnam (Tai Dum -- the most conservative 
and spiritual group), Loas (Tai Lur), and India's Assam 
State (Tai Ahom -- This group practices Hindu).

And the largest group is the "Tai Noi" or "Tai Siam", who 
live in today's Thailand.

While "Tai Dum" or the Black Tai got their name because of
their black clothing, "Tai Siam" or "Dark Tai" got their
name because of their darker skin. In the early time, the
country was called Siam. But there was a time the 
government needed to grow the sense of nationalism in the
Thai people, so they changed the name of the country to
"Thailand", after the name of the ethnic group. (The word
"Tai" pronounced in a softer tone as the way Siamese
pronounced it.)

The other thing was the meaning of "tai" was "freedom". 
The government at the time needed to remind the people 
that we were never colonised, and we had to fight... never 
run! I guess it was the time we were trying to ask France 
to return some of our provinces they forcefully took from 
us decades earlier. 

If you want to know, we DID win this war but the result of 
the WWII (few years after that) led to the re-mapping, etc. 
and Thailand lost the case. Well... whatever.

Back to the Tai ethnic groups. These people speak similar 
languages with the same structure. They still share some 
beliefs though each group had received the influences of
different religions, i.e. Tai Ahom become Hindu, Tai Yai 
and Tai Siam are Theravada Buddhists, some Tais in China 
are Mahayana Buddhists, and Tai Dum and the rest people 
still keep the old spiritual beliefs. 


Back in about 1300s A.D., when there was neither Thailand 
nor Siam in the world map, the Khmer (who built Ankor Wat
in Cambodia... now believed to be extinct) were the big 
power in the region. Three Tai leaders (of three Tai 
groups) made an allied agreement and led their people to 
fought the Khmer leaders out of the lands they lived. When
the Khmer left, the leaders separated to rule their lands.

Two of the three leaders went back to their lands (now 
northern provinces of Thailand). And the third had become 
the first King of Thailand. He founded a city called 
Sukhothai, which is the first official capital city of the
land of the free Tais.


Here's the picture of a ruin of a temple. You'll see 
the Buddha smile! We think the people of Sukhothai must
have been very happy.
  

The Ruin of a temple of Sukhothai, The first official Capital City of the Siamese People 

(Genesis Stock Photo)

From then, there comes Ayudhaya, Thonburi, and Bangkok (Krungthep Mahanagara). With lives and blood, and brains of our ancestors, we'd managed to remain free  until today.  Okay, I am not going to talk about globalisation and the cultural colonisation. 

It hurts ;-)

  A History of Thailand