Throughout her long
history, Thailand has absorbed immigrants. Many were skilled as
writers, painters, sculptors, dancers, musicians, and architects.
These immigrants helped to enrich Thailand's indigenous culture.
Minorities of Thailand include the Chinese, Thai Malays, and the
Laotian. Anything between 9% - 15% of Thailand's population is
thought to be Sino-Thai (depending on how Chinese is defined). In
the early 19th and 20th Century, Chinese immigrants came and settled
down here. They married Thai women, took Thai names, most of them
adopted Buddhism (although they were not required to renounce their
ancestor worship) and learnt Thai. As elsewhere in the region, these
Chinese immigrants proved to be remarkably adept at money making and
today control a disproportionate slice of businesses.
The Thai Malays are found mostly in the southern region. They speak
Malay rather than Thai and the majority are Muslims instead of
Buddhists. The Laotian of the northeastern region, though
constituting nearly one-third of the nation's population, are the
least visible. Known better as the "Isan", they are often regarded
by the central Thais as being equivalent to "country bumpkins".
Today, the people of Thailand share a rich ethic diversity - mainly
of Mon, Khmer, Tai, Chinese, Malay, Laotian, and Indian stock - with
the result that there is no typically Thai physiognomy or physique.
There are petite Thais, statuesque Thai, round faced Thais,
dark-skinned Thais, and light-skinned Thais.
About 80% of all Thais are connected in some way with agriculture,
which (in varying degrees) influences and is influenced by the
religious ceremonies and festivals that help make Thailand such a
distinctive country. |
Thailand
