Thai people
Tai ethnic group in Central and Southern Thailand / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Thai people (Thai: ชาวไทย; endonym), Chao Phraya Thai (Thai: ไทยลุ่มเจ้าพระยา; exonym and also academic),[lower-alpha 2] Central Thai people (Thai: คนภาคกลาง; exonym and also domestically),[lower-alpha 2] Southern Thai people (Southern Thai: คนใต้; exonym and also domestically),[lower-alpha 2] Siamese, Thai Siam (Thai: ไทยสยาม; historical exonym and sometimes domestically),[lower-alpha 2] Tai Noi people (Thai: ไทน้อย; historical endonym and sometimes domestically), are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Thailand. In a narrower sense, the Thais are also a Tai ethnic group dominant in Central and Southern Thailand (Siam proper).[29][30][31][32][33][2][34] Part of the larger Tai ethno-linguistic group native to Southeast Asia as well as Southern China and Northeast India, Thais speak the Sukhothai languages (Central Thai and Southern Thai language),[35] which is classified as part of the Kra–Dai family of languages. The majority of Thais are followers of Theravada Buddhism.
Total population | |
---|---|
c. 52–59 million[lower-alpha 1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Thailand c. 51–57.8 million[nb 1][1][2][3] | |
c. 1.1 million | |
United States | 319,794[4] (2017) |
South Korea | 185,389[5] (2018) |
Germany | 115,000[6] (2020) |
Australia | 81,850[7] (2019) |
Taiwan | 64,922[8] (2018) |
Japan | 61,771 (December 2023)[9] |
Malaysia | 51,000–70,000[10][11] (2012) |
Singapore | 47,700[10] (2012) |
United Kingdom | 45,000[12] (2018) |
Sweden | 44,339[13] (2019) |
France | 30,000 (2012)[10] |
Israel | 28,000[10] (2011) |
Libya | 24,600[10] (2011) |
Indonesia | 24,000[14] (2020) |
Canada | 22,275[15] (2021) |
Norway | 22,194[16] (2020) |
Netherlands | 20,106 (2017)[17] |
Laos | 15,497[18] (2015) |
UAE | 14,232[10] (2012) |
Russia | 14,087[19] (2015) |
Finland | 13,687[20] (2019) |
Belgium | 12,952 (2019)[21] |
Denmark | 12,947[22] (2020) |
Hong Kong | 11,493[23] (2016) |
Saudi Arabia | 11,240[10] (2012) |
New Zealand | 10,251 (born), c. 50,000 (ancestry)[24] (2018) |
Switzerland | 9,058[25] (2015) |
China | 8,618[10] (2012) |
Italy | 5,766[26] (2016) |
Brunei | 5,466[10] (2012) |
Austria | 3,773[10] (2012) |
India | 3,715[10] (2012) |
South Africa | 3,500[10] (2012) |
Qatar | 2,500[10] (2012) |
Bahrain | 2,424[10] (2012) |
Kuwait | 2,378[10] (2012) |
Egypt | 2,331[10] (2012) |
Brazil | 2,051[27] (2022) |
Rest of the world | c. 47,000[28] |
Languages | |
Central Thai, Southern Thai | |
Religion | |
Predominantly : Theravada Buddhism 97.6% Minorities: Islam 1.6% | |
Related ethnic groups | |
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Government policies during the late 1930s and early 1940s resulted in the successful forced assimilation of various ethno-linguistic groups into the country's dominant Central Thai language and culture, leading to the term Thai people to come to refer to the population of Thailand overall. This includes other subgroups of the Tai ethno-linguistic group, such as the Yuan people and the Isan people, as well as non-Southeast Asian and non-Tai groups, the largest of which is that of the Han Chinese, who form a substantial minority ethnic group in Thailand.