Ethnic groups in Thailand

Ethnolinguistic groups of Thailand in 1974.

Thailand is a country of some 70 ethnic groups, including 24 groups of Tai peoples. According to the Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice,^[1]:3 62 ethnic communities are officially recognised in Thailand. Twenty million Central Thai (together with approximately 650,000 Khorat Thai) make up approximately 20,650,000 million (34.1 percent) of the nation's population of 60,544,937^[2] at the time of completion of the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data (1997).^[3]

The 2011 Thailand Country Report provides population numbers for mountain peoples ('hill tribes') and ethnic communities in the Northeast and is explicit about its main reliance on the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data.^[3] Thus, though over 3.288 million people in the Northeast alone could not be categorised, the population and percentages of other ethnic communities circa 1997 are known and constitute minimum populations. In descending order, the largest (equal to or greater than 400,000) are a) 15,080,000 Lao (24.9 percent) consisting of the Thai Lao^[4] (14 million) and other smaller Lao groups, namely the Thai Loei (400-500,000), Lao Lom (350,000), Lao Wiang/Klang (200,000), Lao Khrang (90,000), Lao Ngaew (30,000), and Lao Ti (10,000; b) six million Khon Muang (9.9 percent, also called Northern Thais); c) 4.5 million Pak Tai (7.5 percent, also called Southern Thais); d) 1.4 million Khmer Leu (2.3 percent, also called Northern Khmer); e) 900,000 Malay (1.5%); f) 500,000 Ngaw (0.8 percent); g) 470,000 Phu Thai (0.8 percent); h) 400,000 Kuy/Kuay (also known as Suay) (0.7 percent), and i) 350,000 Karen (0.6 percent).^[1]:7-13 Khmer and Mon-Khmer make up approximately 6%, the Malays of southern Thailand make up around 3%. Among the groups categorized as hill tribes in the northern provinces, Hmong (Mien), Karen and other small hill tribes make up over 1%.

In official Thai documents the term "hill tribe" (chao khao) began to appear in the 1960s. This term highlights a "hill and valley" dichotomy that is based on an ancient social relationship existing in most of northern and western Thailand, as well as in Sipsongpanna and northern Vietnam. For the most part the Dai/Tai/Thai occupied the more fertile intermontane basins and valleys, while the less powerful groups lived at the less rich higher elevations. This dichotomy was often accompanied by a master/serf relationship.^[5]

Alphabetical list

1. Akha
2. Bru
3. Cham
4. Chinese (primarily Teochew and Hakka)
5. Chong
6. Hmong
7. Isan
8. Karen
9. KhmerKhmu
10. Khun（Thai Khun）
11. Kuy
12. Lahu
13. Lao
14. Lao
15. Lao Nyaw
16. Lawa
17. Lisu
18. Lolo (Yi)
19. Lua
20. Lue (Thai Lü)
21. Malay
22. Mani (Negrito)
23. Mlabri
24. Moken
25. Mon
26. Nyahkur (Nyah Kur, Chao-bon)
27. Palaung (De'ang)
28. Pear
29. Phai
30. Phu Thai
31. Phuan
32. Saek
33. Sa'och
34. Shan（Thai Yai）
35. So
36. Tai Dam (Black Tai)
37. Tai Ya
38. Thai (central Thai; Siamese)
39. Urak Lawoi
40. Vietnamese
41. Yao
42. Yuan（Thai Yuan; Lanna）
43. Japanese people
44. Korean

Listed by language group

The following table comprises all the ethnic groups recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice^[1]

Five ethnolinguistic families of Thailand recognised by the Royal Thai Government^[1]

Tai	Austroasiatic	Sino-Tibetan	Austronesian	Hmong-Mien
24 Groups	22 groups	11 Groups	3 Groups	2 Groups
Kaleung	Kasong	Guong (Ugong)	Malay (Malayu / Nayu / Yawi	Hmong (Meo)
Kammuang / Yuan (Northern Thai)	Kuy / Kuay	Karen (7 subfamilies)	Moken / Moklen	Mien (Yao)
Tai Dam	Khmu	- Sgaw Karen	Urak Lawoi
Nyaw	Thailand Khmer, Northern Khmer	- Pwo Karen
Tai Khun	Chong	- Kaya Karen
Central Thai	Sa-oc	- Bwe Karen
Thai Korat	Sakai (Kensiw / Manique)	- Pa-O Karen
Thai Takbai	Samre	- Padaung Karen
Thai Loei	So (Thavuang)	- Kayo Karen
Tai Lu	So	Jingpaw / Kachin
Tai Ya	Nyah Kur (Chaobon)	Chinese
Tai Yai, Shan	Nyeu	Yunnanese Chinese
Southern Thai	Bru (Kha)	Bisu
Phu Thai	Plang (Samtao)	Burmese
Phuan	Palaung (Dala-ang)	Lahu (Muzur)
Yong	Mon	Lisu
Yoy	Mal-Pray (Lua / Tin)	Akha
Lao Khrang	Mlabri (Tongluang)	Mpi
Lao Ngaew	Lamet (Lua)
Lao Ti	Lavua (Lawa / Lua)
Lao Wiang/Lao Klang	Wa
Lao Lom	Vietnamese
Lao Isan
Saek

The above table has not yet been harmonised with the alphabetical listing of languages below and is more comprehensive.

The following table shows all the ethnic groups of Northeast Thailand, as recognised in the same report.

Ethnic groups of Northeast Thailand by language family^[1]

Tai Language Family	Persons	Austroasiatic Language Family	Persons
Lao Esan / Thai Lao	13,000,000	Thailand Khmer / Northern Khmer	1,400,000
Central Thai	800,000	Kuy / Kuay (Suay)	400,000
Thai Khorat / Tai Beung / Tai Deung	600,000	So	70,000
Thai-Loei		Bru	combined
Phu Thai	500,000	Vietnamese	20,000
Ngaw	500,000	Ngeu	10,000
Kaleung	200,000 for	Ngah Kur / Chao Bon / Khon Dong	7,000
Yoy	Kaleung, Yoy and Phuan	So (Thavaung)	1,500
Phuan	combined	Mon	1,000
Tai-dam (Song)	(not specified)
Total	16,103,000	Total	1,909,000
Cannot specify ethnicity and amount			32,888,000
			21,300,000

Note that population numbers are for the Northeast region only. Languages may have additional speakers outside the Northeast.

Incomplete alphabetical listing of groups:

• Tai–Kadai – Siamese (Thai Chinese, southern Thai), Laotian (Phu Thai), Lanna, Lü, Saek, Shan, Tai Dam, Tai Nüa
• Mon–Khmer – Bru, Khmer, Khmu, Kuy, Lawa, Lua, Mani, Mlabri, Mon, Nyahkur (Nyah Kur, Chao-bon), Palaung (De'ang), Phai, So
• Sino-Tibetan – Chin Haw, Akha, Karen, Lahu, Lisu, Lolo (Yi)
• Malayo-Polynesian – Cham, Malay, Moken, Urak Lawoi
• Hmong–Mien – Hmong, Yao
• Thai Indians (kaek)

See also

• Demographics of Thailand

References

1. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention: Thailand (PDF) (in English with appended Thai government translation). United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
2. World Bank Group. (n.d.). Population, total [Thailand]. Washington, DC: Author. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=TH
3. Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand (PDF) (in Thai). Office of the National Culture Commission. 2004. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
4. Draper, John; Kamnuansilpa, Peerasit (2016). "The Thai Lao Question: The Reappearance of Thailand's Ethnic Lao Community and Related Policy Questions". Asian Ethnicity. doi:10.1080/14631369.2016.1258300. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
5. Kusuma Snitwongse & W Scott Thompson eds. Ethnic Conflicts in Southeast Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (14 October 2005) ISBN 978-9812303370, pg. 157

External links

• Ethnologue report for Thailand