It is interesting to see that in the Thai movie Ruen Pae the father spoke a Chinese Chaozhou dialect to the young guys. The majority of Chinese Thai are Chouzhou decendants.
Significant intermixing between Chinese and Thai has led to the number of pure ethnic Chinese is much lower than the official 14% of population and partial mixed Chinese ancestry of Thai people can go up to one third or higher.
One example is that throughout the history of Thailand, quite a few (probably more than half) of Thai prime ministers have had partial Chinese heritage and they openly acknowledge that.
And by the way, there was a TV series of Ruen Pae made relatively recently. I looked through some of the episodes on YouTube and could not see any signs of the main girl being Chinese.
When Taksin was prime minister, I heard that there was a kind of resurgence of “Chinese pride” in Thailand. My sense is that the recognition of a Chinese element in Thai society keeps rising and falling.
Because of the significant intermixing, it is not easy to identify who are ethnic Chinese or Thai. Also the Chinese Thai are proud to be Thai or Thai-guo-ren and they are loyal to Thailand.
Some of them are proud of their Chinese heritage. They consider themselves more Thai than Chinese. They are the best integrated oversea Chinese.
It is interesting to see that in the Thai movie Ruen Pae the father spoke a Chinese Chaozhou dialect to the young guys. The majority of Chinese Thai are Chouzhou decendants.
Significant intermixing between Chinese and Thai has led to the number of pure ethnic Chinese is much lower than the official 14% of population and partial mixed Chinese ancestry of Thai people can go up to one third or higher.
One example is that throughout the history of Thailand, quite a few (probably more than half) of Thai prime ministers have had partial Chinese heritage and they openly acknowledge that.
Thanks for identifying that this is Chaozhou hua.
And by the way, there was a TV series of Ruen Pae made relatively recently. I looked through some of the episodes on YouTube and could not see any signs of the main girl being Chinese.
When Taksin was prime minister, I heard that there was a kind of resurgence of “Chinese pride” in Thailand. My sense is that the recognition of a Chinese element in Thai society keeps rising and falling.
Because of the significant intermixing, it is not easy to identify who are ethnic Chinese or Thai. Also the Chinese Thai are proud to be Thai or Thai-guo-ren and they are loyal to Thailand.
Some of them are proud of their Chinese heritage. They consider themselves more Thai than Chinese. They are the best integrated oversea Chinese.