Thai Chinese

The Thai Chinese is a group of overseas Chinese born in Thailand. They constitute about 14% of the population, although due to intermarriage there can be no definite figure.

The majority of the Thai Chinese traces their ancestry back to the Chaozhou prefecture in northern Guangdong, thus they speak the Minnan Chaozhou dialect. A minority traces their ancestry to Hakka and Hainanese immigrants. As of 1987, there are approximately six million Chinese living in Thailand.

Language

The Thai language has now largely supplanted Chinese, although Teochew is sometimes used as a commercial lingua franca among the Chinese in Thailand, principally in Bangkok. see Yaowarat Road. However, the wide usage and revival of Mandarin Chinese is gradually becoming the second language of the majority of the newer generation Thai-Chinese.

Unlike Singapore, and to a lesser extent Malaysia, the Chinese have largely eschewed Christianity and the speaking of Mandarin as their first language.

Religion

Theravada Buddhism has overshadowed the traditional Mahayana Buddhist and Taoist beliefs of the Thai Chinese, although some of the less assimilated Chinese do retain some or most of their beliefs. For example, the Teochew and Hainanese bring ashes from incense burned at the shrines in their villages. The Hakka have religious images in their houses called Faa Jukong, representing a male deity with black skin and upward pointing hair.

History

The history of Chinese immigration to Thailand dates back several centuries. Chinese traders in Thailand date back at least to the thirteenth century.

One of the most noted people in Thai history of possible Chinese descent is U Thong, later Ramathibodi I, is thought to have been from a family of a Chinese merchant, who acquired wealth and prestige from his trading connections with the Chinese imperial court.

There is evidence of Chinese settlement in Thailand (or Siam as it was known then) before the fifteenth century. A French account from 1687 reports about 3,000 Chinese at Ayuthia. By this time, the Chinese controlled most of the trade in the country.

With the accession of the half Chinese-Teochew and half Thai king Taksin, who actively encouraged their immigration, the Chinese, principally from Chaozhou prefecture, came in large numbers. The Chinese population in Thailand thus jumped from 230,000 in 1825 to 792,000 by 1910. By 1932, approximately 12.2% of the population of Thailand was Chinese.

However, such early Chinese immigartion consisted almost universally of Chinese men who later settled down to marry Thai women. Children of such intermarriages were known as Luk-jin.

This tradition of Chinese-Thai intermarriage declined to a considerable extent when large numbers of Chinese women began to immigrate into Thailand from the early 20th century onwards.

The corruption of the Chinese Qing government and the massive increase of the population in China, along with high taxes, encouraged many Chinese men to leave China for Thailand in search for jobs, thereby support their families back in China.

Soon, the Chinese population overtook the Thai population as the majority in Bangkok. The Chinese in Thailand were given much more freedom that those in the Straits Settlements, being exempt from many of the obligations imposed on native Thais. Many Chinese prospered under the tax farming system, whereby private individuals were sold the right to collect taxes at a price below the value of the tax revenues. The barriers between Thai and Chinese became more rigid in the early twentieth century with the emergence of Thai and Chinese nationalism and also the increased tendency of Chinese females to accompany male immigrants, which also reduced the amount of intermarriage.

The Chinese in Thailand were also discriminated under the military dictatorship of Prime Minister Plaek Pibulsonggram in the 1930s. State corporations took over commodities such as rice, tobacco and petroleum, and Chinese businesses found themselves subject to a range of new taxes and controls. However, the knowledge of the Chinese business tactics was in fact too valuable for anti-Chinese measures to be pushed far, but Phibun’s policies would have lasting effects. They stimulated Chinese assimilation into Thai society, through Sino-Thai business partnerships, intermarriage, and Chinese acceptance of Thai language, education and culture.

In spite of differences created by nationalism in Thailand and China likewise, the Chinese were still encouraged to become Thai citizens, and in 1970, it was estimated that more than 90 percent of the Chinese born in Thailand had done so. When diplomatic relations were established with China in the 1970s, resident Chinese not born in Thailand had the option of becoming Thai citizens; the remaining permanent resident Chinese alien population was estimated at fewer than 200,000.

Dialect Groups

The vast majorty of the Thai Chinese belong to various southern Chinese dialect groups. Of these, 56% are Teochew, 16% Hakka and 11% Hainanese. The Cantonese and Hokkien constitute 7% of the Chinese population each, and 3% belong to other Chinese dialect groups.

The Teochew Chinese, which constitute 56% of Thailand Chinese population, mainly settled in the region around Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Many of them worked in government sectors, while others are involved in trade. During the reign of King Taksin, many influential Teochew Chinese traders enjoyed certain privellages granted by the king. These Chinese were called "Royal Chinese" (Jin-luang in Thai).

The Hakka Chinese constitute approximately 16% of the Thai Chinese population. Many of them are found in Songkhla and Phuket. The Hakka owned many private banks in Thailand.

Notable Thai Chinese

• King Taksin, Chinese (Teochew)–Thai descent
• Chuan Leekpai, Prime Minister of Thailand (1992-1995, 1997-2001)
• Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand (2001-present), Chinese (Hakka)–Thai

External Links

• Thai-Chinese chamber of commerce
• Assessment for Chinese in Thailand