Who are the Thai people and where do they come from?
The Thai are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, self-called Tay or Thay. They belong to the Tay-Thai language group of the Thai-Kadai language family, together with the Tay, Nung, Lao and several other peoples. According to the 1 April 2019 survey of 53 ethnic minorities, the Thai population is 1,820,950, one of the largest ethnic minority groups.
Regarding origins, documents from the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs record that the Thai have roots in mainland Southeast Asia, and their distant ancestors were present in Vietnam very early. This is a community with a long history of settlement, tied to river and stream valleys in the northern mountains.
It is important to distinguish clearly: the Thai in Vietnam are one ethnicity in the list of 54, not identical to Thai groups in other countries. Other recorded names for this group include Tay Thanh, Man Thanh, Tay Muoi, Tay Muong, Hang Tong, Tay Do, Tho.
What branches do the Thai include and how are they distinguished?
According to Vietnam's list of ethnic groups and documents from the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, the Thai have main local groups (branches): the Black branch (Tay Dam) and the White branch (Tay Don or Khao). Distinctions between branches are based mainly on clothing, hair styling, some rituals and local language features.
Documents also mention group names such as Tay Khao (White Thai), Tay Dam (Black Thai), Tay Chieng or Tay Muong (Hang Tong), Tay Thanh (Man Thanh), Tay Muoi, Pu Thay, Tho Da Bac, Tay Moc Chau (Tay Deng). Naming and grouping are not entirely consistent across documents, so when researching it is worth noting which source is being used.
The most visible difference between the two branches is women's clothing. Black Thai women wear the pieu headscarf with brightly coloured embroidered patterns, while White Thai clothing has its own features such as a blouse with an extra pocket on the left chest for men.
Where do the Thai live?
The Thai live mainly in the northern mountain provinces and north-central Vietnam. The list of Vietnamese ethnic groups published by the Government Portal records the Thai's residence areas as Son La, Lai Chau, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Lam Dong and some other localities.
Their residence is tied to valley terrain. The Thai live concentrated in valley fields along rivers and streams, where water diversion and wet rice cultivation are possible. This settlement pattern differs from many other mountain peoples who choose slopes or high swidden fields.
Distribution is not limited to the north. According to Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs documents, the Thai are also present in Lam Dong, showing historical migration and resettlement.
What is special about the Thai language and script?
The Thai speak the Tay-Thai language group, belonging to the Thai-Kadai language family. This group is closely related to Tay, Nung and some other languages in mainland Southeast Asia.
Regarding script, Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs documents record that the Thai have an alphabet based on the Sanskrit system and learn by oral tradition. The Thai have many ancient works on history, customs, customary law and literature. This is notable because not every ethnic group has such a rich ancient textual tradition.
For calendars, the Thai use the sexagenary cycle like the lunar calendar. One notable detail: the Black Thai calendar differs from the lunar calendar by 6 months. This is a difference worth knowing when studying festival times of the branches.
How is the traditional social organisation of the Thai understood?
The traditional social structure of the Thai is called ban-muong, operating under the phia tao system. The ban-muong residential unit is both territorial and tied to clan relations.
The Thai clan is called Dam. According to Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs documents, each person has three important clan relations:
- Ai Noong: all male members born from one ancestor four generations back.
- Lung Ta: all male members belonging to the wife's family across generations.
- Nhinh Xao: all male members belonging to the family of men who came as sons-in-law.
These three relations show the role of both internal bloodline and relations through marriage. Lung Ta members are present in many important rituals such as naming children and lighting a new kitchen fire, showing the clear place of the wife's family network in ritual life.
What do Thai worship customs include?
Thai worship customs are tied to ancestors, natural deities and life-cycle rituals. It should be emphasised that these are cultural and belief practices, described according to ethnographic records, not to affirm or deny spiritual efficacy.
Ancestor worship
Black Thai worship ancestors in the 7th and 8th lunar months. White Thai celebrate Tet according to the lunar calendar. In funeral rites, after the Pong step (visiting and sending the soul of the deceased to the void, taking the body to the forest for burial for White Thai, or cremation for Black Thai), there is the Xong step: calling the spirit back to reside at the ancestor altar in the house. This reflects an understanding of continuity between the living and the dead in the same worship space.
Worship of earth, mountain and water deities
Ban Muong worships earth, mountain and water deities and the soul of the pillar person. Worship of natural deities is tied to agricultural life and residence along rivers and streams.
New house rituals
When building a new house, the owner is led to receive the house, and Lung Ta lights the firewood in the new kitchen. The ritual includes reading a mo prayer to drive away evil and bring good, worshipping ancestors and celebrating. The kitchen plays a central role in this ritual.
Life-cycle rituals
Regarding childbirth, women give birth in a sitting position, and the placenta is placed in a bamboo tube hung on a tree branch in the forest. The mother is warmed by fire, eats lam rice and observes abstinence for one month. There is a ritual teaching children gendered labour and inviting Lung Ta to name the child.
Regarding marriage, the Thai formerly followed purchased marriage and uxorilocal residence, with two basic steps:
| Step | Name | Main content |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage up | Dong khun | Bringing the groom to reside at the wife's house, testing the groom's dignity and labour; Black Thai have the custom of winding the wife's hair upward right after this ceremony; uxorilocal residence lasts 8 to 12 years |
| Marriage down | Dong long | Bringing the family back to the father's clan |
These steps show that traditional marriage is tied to clan relations and includes a period of residence at the wife's house before moving to the husband's house.
What is notable about Thai festivals and arts?
Thai arts include xoe dances, lam and tieu flutes, poetic singing, and rich courtship repartee. Xoe dance is a popular community activity, tied to festivals and ban-muong gatherings.
Popular games include con throwing, tug of war, horse racing, boating, crossbow shooting, xoe dancing, spinning tops and mak le fruit, along with many children's games. These games are both entertaining and tied to labour skills and community life.
Note: the documents above describe general characteristics of the Thai, but the scale and form of festival organisation may differ between localities and branches. One should not assign a single festival form to the entire ethnic group.
What do cuisine and clothing reflect about Thai life?
Regarding cuisine, plain rice is now the staple, but sticky rice is still considered the traditional food. Sticky rice is soaked, put in a steamer, and placed on the stove to become xoi. The meal tray must include pounded chilli mixed with salt, garlic, herbs, coriander, spring onion leaves, possibly boiled chicken liver, fish intestine, grilled fish, collectively called cheo.
When eating meat of grazing ruminants, a dipping broth from the small intestine (nam pia) is required. Fresh fish and meat are made into salads, dipped (lap, coi), salted, or fermented into mam. Cooked dishes are usually grilled, roasted, steamed, or dried, then soups, stir-fries, pan-fries and boils. The palate favours spicy, sour, bitter, astringent and nutty, with little use of sweet, salty, rich or strong flavours. The Thai often drink ruou can and distil alcohol.
Regarding clothing, women wear short multi-coloured blouses with silver buttons shaped like butterflies, spiders and cicadas along the front slit, fitted to the body, with a dark tube skirt. The waist is tied with a green silk sash, and a silver chain is worn at the hip. On festivals they may wear a black long shirt split at the armpit, or a pullover style with an open chest and butterfly buttons, cinched waist and puffed shoulders. Black Thai women wear the pieu headscarf with brightly coloured embroidered patterns.
Men wear cut trousers with a belt, a front-split blouse with pockets on both sides of the hem, and White Thai shirts have an extra pocket on the left chest, fastened with buttons braided from cloth strips. Common clothing colours are black, sometimes brick, striped or white. Normally a black turban is wrapped in an axe-blade style, and at ceremonies a long sash a fathom long is wrapped.
What is notable about Thai housing and family life?
The Thai live in stilt houses of various forms: houses with round curved roofs shaped like a turtle shell, with khau cut at the gable ends; four-roof houses with a nearly square rectangular floor plan and a veranda with railings; long, tall stilt houses with each gable bay made into a reception hall; low-roofed, narrow houses similar to Muong houses.
Each house usually has two kitchens: one for receiving guests and warming, another for cooking rice. The xoi steamer (bronze or wooden) is placed on three stone hearth stones. Above the kitchen is a rack for drying food. The Thai often use round rattan stools to sit around the kitchen. The xat mat is also very common, used on the floor before laying chiếu and sleeping mats, woven from may loi, a type of bamboo growing on high limestone mountains.
Regarding transport, carrying poles are common, along with back baskets tied with a strap across the forehead, and horses for riding and packing. Along large rivers, the Thai are famous for travelling up and down by swallow-tail boat.
Why is it necessary to distinguish the Thai ethnic group from other Thai groups?
In research and lookup, it is easy to confuse the Thai in Vietnam with Thai-speaking communities in other countries in the region. The Thai in Vietnam are one ethnicity in the list of 54, with officially recognised branches such as the Black and White branches.
This distinction matters because names such as Tay, Thay, Tay Muong, Hang Tong may appear in different documents with different meanings. When researching, one should compare with the list of Vietnamese ethnic components issued with Decision No. 121-TCTK/PPCD dated 2 March 1979 and official sources of the state agency managing ethnic affairs.
Conclusion
The Thai are a community with a long history, tied to northern mountain valleys, with a ban-muong system, complex clan relations, belief life tied to ancestors and natural deities, and a rich treasury of folk arts. Features of clothing, cuisine and housing show adaptation to the environment and wet rice cultivation. Different documents may record details that do not fully match, so when researching one should note the source and the scope it covers.
