Now for a bit of history to complete
the bird's eye view of Thailand's culture. A thousand or more
years ago, most of Thailand apart from the southern area in
the Malay Peninsula, was under the domination of the hinduiz
ed Mon-speaking people of Dvaravati (457-657 A.D.) and the
Khmer or Cambodian Empires (957-1257 AD); while the Malay
Peninsula was under the suzerainty of Srivijaya, the hinduized
Sumatran Empire (657-1157 A.D.). During these times the Thai,
as a race, emigrated gradually from their home in Southern
China into the Indo-Chinese Peninsula.
During these times many off-shoots of the Thai
tribesmigrated by slow degrees into the Indo-Chinese
Peninsula. One of the western off-shoots became the Shans
of Burma. On the other side of the Peninsula many of the
Thai tribes come into Tongking, including the Laos of the
Lao State who settled down in the Mekhong basin. Further
west of the Lao State in a northernly direction were the
northern Thai of Chiang Sen which was on the north border
of Thailand. There is no doubt that the words Shan-san,
the name of Nan-Chao Kingdom and Chiang Sen may be identified
as one and the same work. All these Thai tribes established
themselves in the Peninsula in many small independent states
of principalities which engaged in s trifes and warfare
not only among themselves but also with the neighbouring
tribes (1117-1547 A.D.). Further South particularly in the
now central area of Thailand the land was within the empire
of the Mon (Dvaravati Kingdom), a race ethnologically akin
to the Khmer, who subsequently became included in the Empire
of the Khmer. By this time the Northern Thai of Chiang Sen
had gone further south and founded a city of Chieng-mai,
which means "new city", and succeeded in taking away the
northern remnants of the decaying Mon empire. The frontier
of the Northern Thai now touched the border of the Khmer
Empire in the Northern parts or Central Thailand which was
called Siam or Palized into Samadesa. There
is no doubt that the Thai had been befor e that time already
in the land of the Mon and The Khmer Empire but they were
only a minority and formed themselves into semi-independent
states under the suzerainty of these empires. Traditionally
these Thai who settled in Central Thailand or Siam were
called Thai Noi or Lesser Thai in contrast to Thai Yai or
Major Thai who are the Shans of Burma. Traditionally the
Thai Noi or Lesser Thai came from the north of Thailand.
It was therefore presumed that they were the Northern Thai
of Chiang-mai with the Laos or
the Thai of Mekhong basin partly mixed; but to me the so-called
Thai Noi or Lesser Thai had in their melting pot in no less
degree the Thai Yai or Major Thai i.e. the Shan too.
By this time, in about 1257 A.D., one of the Thai princes
within the Khmer-Empire Khan Sri Indradit, a name of Sunskrit
origin bestowed by the Khmer King, with the help of his
able son named Khun Ram Kamhang, or popularly known in legends
as Ph ra Ruang, succeeded in making himself independent
of the Khmer and establishing Sukhothai as his capital.
Khun Ram Kamhang succeeded him as King of Sukhothai and
enlarged his territory further south into the Malay Peninsula
and further west to Mataban, t he Mon country, in present
Lower Burma. This Sukhothai Kingdom lasted nearly two centuries
(1257-1438 A.D.) when it became a vassal state to King U-thong
the founder of the City of Ayuthia in the lower part of
the Menam Valley, which was subsequently mer ged into the
Kingdom of Ayuthia (1438 A.D.). During this Ayuthia period
Cambodia, the remnant of the Khmer Empire, became in turn
a vassal state to Ayuthia. Ayuthia herself as the capital
of Thailand in the course of history, gave place to Bangkok
or Kr ung Thep as called by the Thai which was founded in
1782 A.D. and has since remained the capital of
Siam or Thailand in its modern name of today.
In former days there were constant raids and wars of conquest
among the neighbours. The conquered people were removed
wholesale from their old homes as prisoners of war and domiciled
in various localities within the victorious lands. There
ca me too every now and then emigrants from neighbouring
countries due to accidents of history. These intermixed
with the natives of their adopted land, became assimilated
after a few generations into one whole. Such was the case
with Thailand and the neig hbouring countries as well. The
ethnic elements of the race in Thailand are more mixed especially
in the central and southern areas, while in others they
are purer in mixture. The cultures of Thailand are therefore,
due to the above facts, formed into o ne unity, but with
their regional diversities in differrent proportions where
alien elements are predominant or otherwise. Of the
four areas aforementioned the central areas the most
progressive and this influences other areas or retarded
cultural development rapidly through convenience of communications.
The cultures of Thailand as expressed in her religion, arts and literature, social system habits and
customs reveal a unity in a general sense with her. neighbours,
the Cambodians, th e Mons, the Burmese and partly the Malays,
but with varied characteristics. It can be said that the
cultures of the above races ar a homogeneous whole with
local diversities and details thrown in. To study one nation's
cultures, is to study them as a wh ole. Fundamentally, the
culture of Thailand may be summed up in one word, religion.
For everything, arts and literature, social system, habits
and customs is developed and clustered around her religion.
It is in quite recent times only that there have been some
changes in the culture due to western influence. Thai culture
tends to become secular in the progressive parts of the
country; but to the people as a whole. religous culture
is still a living force.
To conclude, the culture of Thailand is midway between
the two great cultural systems of Asia, China on the one
side and India on the other. Chinese culture did not penetrate
further west beyond Annam; nor did Indian culture go further
north th an the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. They came to a halt
at one another's bulwarks and did not penetrate further.
The Annamites, though ethnologically Indonesians, were domiciled
in China far back in historical times as one tribe of the
Yueh or Viet, and abso rbed much of Chinese culture. When
they came down to the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, the met the
Chams who were highly hinduized people, the Khmers or the
Cambodians. Naturally Chinese culture could not penetrate
further for it met an opponent of equal forc e. Due to the
nature of the country and to other facts peculiar to the
north of the Peninsula, Chinese culture did not penetrate
far for lack of easy communications. Whatever Chinese cultures
the Thai brought from Southern China, they adapted to their
needs suitable to their tropical surroundings, developing
them independently by using the old materials. In their
way of life the Thai and the Chinese can mix very well but
not with the Indians, even thouyh they have imbibed Indian
culture appreciably. The one drawback of the Thai is the
climatic conditions of the country. Living in the tropics
where food is in abundance and the weather fair, they have
become lethargic. But a taste for the arts has been developed
by the leisured and elite classes, he nce the arts as developed
by the Thai though mostly inspired directly or indirectly
by India, are uniquely their own. Buddhism
suited their tastes and temperaments very well, so they
readily a dopted it. Accustomed to living in isolated groups
in their mountainous districts of the North their political
conception and consciousness were confined to their village
and city only. But when they became masters of Central Thailand
where there was on e vast plain, they adapted Indian culture.
Being still virile race and with genius they evolved these
cultures again as peculiar of their own. Different from
Thailand is Burma. Though Burma is a neighbour of India,
she did not take much of India cultur e, especially Hinduism.
They adopted only Buddhism tinged weakly with Hinduism.
Judging by the physical features of the Thai or Siamese
in Central Thailand they differ in stature and colour from
their brothers in the north. They become shorter and dark
er gradually south ward and there is no doubt that they
mixed immensely with the Mon-Khmer and Austronesian families.
They lost physically but gained intellectually through fusion
of new blood. Thailand therefore formed the meeting place
of the two grea t cultural systems which came to a halt
and fused into a new one with double layers of culture.
See also.... | The four
areas | The Thai tribes |
Animism | The History Arts
and Literature of Thailand | The Thai social system
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