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Thai People

Thai
ไทย
Khon
Thai people at a cremation ceremony
Total population
c. 52–59 million
Regions with significant populations
 Thailand c. 51–57.8 million
 United States 237,583 (2010)
 Laos 180,000
 South Korea 94,134 (2014)
 Taiwan 74,770 (2011)
 Malaysia 70,000 (2014)
 Australia 61,910 (2014)
 Germany 58,784(2007)
 United Kingdom 44,086 (2011)
 Japan 45,379 (2015)
 Sweden 38,792 (2015)
 Hong Kong 30,000
 Saudi Arabia 23,000
 Netherlands 19,513 (2016)
 Norway 17,550 (2016)
 Canada 17,500 (2006)
 Singapore 16,251
  Switzerland 16,034
 Cambodia 14,265
 Denmark 9,851
 Indonesia 9,469
 Finland 9,412
 Vietnam 4,844
 Austria 4,708
 Brunei 4,164
 New Zealand 4,143
 UAE 4,058
Rest of the world c. 47,000
Languages
Thai languages (Siamese, Dambro, Lanna, Isan)
Religion
Predominantly Dharma Wheel.svg Theravada Buddhism with Hindu influence
Related ethnic groups
other Tai peoples (e.g. Lao people, Shan people, Dai people, Ahom people); Thai Chinese

The Thai people (Thai: ไทยสยาม), formerly known as Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China and Northeast India. Their language is the Thai language, which exists in different regional variants, and is classified as part of the Tai–Kadai family of languages, and the majority of Thai are followers of Theravada Buddhism.

"Thai people" usually includes central and southern Thai (Siamese proper, or Tai Siam), northern Thai (Lanna) and Isan people.

The term Thai people has a loose meaning and sometimes also refers to the population of Thailand in general, and not only to ethnic Thais.

There have been many theories proposing the origin of the Tai peoples, of which the Thai are a subgroup. Especially the association of the Tai people with the Kingdom of Nanzhao that has been proved to be invalid. Linguistic studies suggested that the origin of the Tai people lies around the Chinese Province of Guangxi, where the Zhuang people are still a majority. The ancient Tai people should be the part of Chinese Nanyue, referred to by Han leaders as "foreign servant" (Chinese: ), synecdoche for a vassal state. The Qin dynasty founded Guangdong in 214 BC, initiating the successive waves of Chinese migrations from the north for hundreds of years to come.


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Wikipedia

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