|
|
|
Historical Setting
|
The Emergence of the Thais
The origin of the Thai (or Tai) race
is shrouded in mystery. Many theories
and hypotheses have been put forward.
some more convincing tlhan others.
One theory holds that the Thai race
emigrated southwards into Southeast
Asia from the Altai mountain range in
northwestern China and Mongolia: but
since archaeological, ethnographic, and
linguistic researches do not bear this
out. the theory now has few champions.
Another convincing hypothesis contends
that the Thai. having migrated from
Sachuan province in central China, founded
a kingdom in southern China called
Nanchao, from which they were driven
further south by the all-conquering
Mongol ruler Kublai (Kubhii Khan) in
1253, into Indochina and present-day Thailand. This theory is not very tenable
because Nanchao was not a Thai-dominated kingdom, and it also appears that
Thai had emigrated into the area thai is
now Thailand well before 1253.
A third theory propounds that the
Thai were originally of Austronesian
rather than Mongoloid stock and had
migrated northwards from the Malay
Archipelago. The most convincing theory.
however, is that which relies largely on
linguistic evidence. From research done
in the southern Chinese provinces of
Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnaii.
where the Thai language is slill spoken.
the proponents of this theory maintain
that the Thai migrated southward from
these provinces.
The fifth, and latest, hypothesis
claims that archaeological and anthropological evidence prove that
Thailand
has been inhabited continuously since
prehistoric times and thai ethnic groups
mixed with each other until it was difficult to tell them apart. Animism, material
culture, and folklore, however, poini to
a continuity in the set dement of this area.
This hypothesis has been cogently put
forward hy its proponents, but it avoids
loo conveniently the issue of Thai
migration by maintaining that the Thai
have been here all along, the presentday Thai nation being
but a mixture of various races.
The controversy over the origin of
the Thai shows no sign of abating, and
further research is needed he lore we can
draw any delmile conclusions. What is
beyond dispute, however, is that by the
13th century the Thai had become a
force to he reckoned with in mainland
Southeast Asia. and that Thai princes
ruled over stales as far apart as Lanna,
Suphannaphum (Suphanburi,.
Nakhon Si Thammarat and
Sukhothai).
| | |
|
|