Thai people
Thai people (Thai: ชาวไทย; endonym), Chao Phraya Thai (Thai: ไทยลุ่มเจ้าพระยา; exonym and also acedemic),[b] Central Thai people (Thai: คนภาคกลาง; exonym and also domestically),[b] Southern Thai people (Southern Thai: คนใต้; exonym and also domestically),[b] Siamese, Thai Siam (Thai: ไทยสยาม; historical exonym and sometimes domestically),[b] 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.
c. 1.1 million
319,794[4] (2017)
185,389[5] (2018)
115,000[6] (2020)
81,850[7] (2019)
64,922[8] (2018)
61,771 (December 2023)[9]
47,700[10] (2012)
45,000[12] (2018)
44,339[13] (2019)
30,000 (2012)[10]
28,000[10] (2011)
24,600[10] (2011)
24,000[14] (2020)
22,275[15] (2021)
22,194[16] (2020)
20,106 (2017)[17]
15,497[18] (2015)
14,232[10] (2012)
14,087[19] (2015)
13,687[20] (2019)
12,952 (2019)[21]
12,947[22] (2020)
11,493[23] (2016)
11,240[10] (2012)
10,251 (born), c. 50,000 (ancestry)[24] (2018)
9,058[25] (2015)
8,618[10] (2012)
5,766[26] (2016)
5,466[10] (2012)
3,773[10] (2012)
3,715[10] (2012)
3,500[10] (2012)
2,500[10] (2012)
2,424[10] (2012)
2,378[10] (2012)
2,331[10] (2012)
2,051[27] (2022)
c. 47,000[28]
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.
Genetics[edit]
A genetic study published in 2021 indicated that the present-day Tai-Kadai speaking groups from different geographic regions in Thailand show different genetic relationships; the northern groups (Khon mueang) are closely related to the ethnic groups in southern China, such as the Dai people, Palaungic Austroasiatic groups, and Austroasiatic-speaking Kinh, as well as the Austronesian-speaking groups from Taiwan; the northeastern groups (Thai Isan) are genetically close to the Austroasiatic-speaking Khmu-Katu and Khmer groups, the Tai-Kadai-speaking Laotians, and Dai, while the central and southern groups (previously known as Siamese) strongly share genetic profiles with the Mon people in Myanmar, but the southern groups also shown a relationship with the Austronesian-speaking Mamanwa and some ethnic groups in Malaysia and Indonesia.[44]