Tai People / Thai People, The History of Siam and Thailand.

[theblether]

Okay this is going to be a vast topic and there is no doubt many of you are far more knowledgeable on this subject than I. I intend to split off a couple of sub regions such as Lanna and Pattani as they have been relatively late additions to the Kingdom. It will be interesting to see how all the pieces came together in this fabulous jigsaw of a country. I'm going to start with Wiki again, and the first post deals with the Tai people, and the spread of Tai language.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_peoples

This post gives an overview of Thai and Siamese history.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Thailand

Feel free to come in at any point of the history of the nation that suits you. It will be impossible to do this subject in chronological order.

[theblether]

The first thing that caught my eye was the amount of people in Northern India that are still speaking a derivitave of the Tai language, estimated at 8-10 million people......and the further spread of the Tai people across the mountains into South East Asia. These Tai ladies are from Yunnan, China.

[theblether]

Taken straight from Wiki, here's a list of Tai people and by which name they are known in their respective countries.

China.......Dai People.

Burma......Shan People

Vietnam...Tay

Laos........Lao

Thailand..Thai

China also has the Rau Tai speaking people, here's the Wiki link to their spread.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rauz_peoples

I was recently on a boat on the Lao Mekong and the young Lao man next to me was explaining that his wife was from Yunnan, China. I did wonder how that came to be and about the language compatibility however now I can see that many the Tai language link from Yunnan to Laos, so now we can see the greater spread the Tai language and people, and that it goes far beyond the borders of Thailand.

We recently discussed the usefulness and spread of the language on this topic......

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/2-general-topics/

Edited August 6, 2013 by theblether

[Salapoo]

These Tai ladies are from Yunnan, China.

Actually, almost all Tai ladies (and males) are from Yunnan, China, so to speak.

[theblether]

These Tai ladies are from Yunnan, China.

Actually, almost all Tai ladies (and males) are from Yunnan, China, so to speak.

I was just reading there that the Tai originated in Northern India then crossed over into South East Asia, many settling in Southern China then migrating down to Siam as it became known. Would it be fair to say that the ancestral home of the Tai is Northern India?

Just for the sake of clarity, I'm trying to get to the bottom of the origin of the Tai people, as distinct from the Tai/Thai people that migrated in the 10th century, eventually founding Siam and later the Kingdom of Thailand.

.

Edited August 6, 2013 by theblether