Tai, not Thai

I've long been fascinated by the Tai people. No, not Thai, Tai. The Thais are Tai but so are most Laos and the Shan in Burma and lots of people in Assam (India) and some in Nagaland and the Dai and Black Tai and White Tai in Vietnam and of course there are still lots in China and some still around the foothills of the Himalayas.



Some Lao boys with Tai blood in their veins

The Tai People

(pronounced "tie" just like "Thai". Confusing, bor?)

I know that the concept of "race" is a problematic social construct. I know that culture is indefinable and that language can divide as much as connect. But I like to think of the Tai people as one. They were a tribe that grew and moved and morphed and married and made new rules and next thing you know it's the 21st century and there are people all over the world with a little bit of Tai in their hearts and veins.

Although many Lao people like to see themselves as distinctly different from the Thai people or the Black Tai or the Shan or  the Assamese, or any number of these minority groups living very similar lives in nearby lands, they are in fact family: cousins. Sometimes even closer: like sisters.

Tai Dam in Vietnam

I remember a long time ago travelling in northern Vietnam and visiting a Tai Dam village in a remote area of Dien Bien Phu. Unlike most Vietnamese, these villagers looked like Laos and Thais, spoke something akin to Lao and wove scarves just like ones from Laos. I was so excited to be able to communicate - albeit slowly and awkwardly - with these curious, smiling women in a small dusty village off the beaten track in far north Vietnam. They were pretty excited too! Not surprisingly, they were not interested in any ground-breaking sharing of cultural norms or celebrating our global connectedness. They wanted to know why I wasn't married and where my kids were. Of course. They also wanted to talk about food (always with the food!) 

Black Tai (Tai Dam) women

That trip made me think a lot about tribal migration and the way that this region has been populated. I was especially curious about the migration of the Tai, who had travelled down mountain valleys streaming south from the Himalayas.

I often hear Lao people talk about being different from the Thais; different culture, different values, different language and accent; and how they are more aligned – culturally, politically and historically – with the Vietnamese.  That is true. But underneath it all, most Laos are Tai like Thais are Tai.

It's a bit like how some Australians feel about New Zealanders. They are different over there. They're not really Australian. In reality, yes they talk funny and they wear those jade tikis around their necks but, really, many of us came from the same genetic stock and we are kind of the same people. Mostly. Not so different after all.

Heading South

Ethnographers used to analyse language to connect and determine who people were and where they had come from. These days DNA makes it all a bit easier and a lot more accurate. People with Tai heritage came from southern China, probably forced south as the Han Chinese moved in and elbowed them out of the way.

Chinese in Vientiane

A couple of thousand years ago, the Han Chinese were expanding and progressing and developing hi-tech, sophisticated societies. They moved into Yunnan and gently pushed the Tai people south along the river valleys. The Tais expertise at rice farming meant they could uproot and settle new ground and build strong, healthy communities. They still do well with wet rice cultivation and they still hold a lot of the traditional values and beliefs, despite the imposition and adoption of several religious belief systems.

 

Today’s Thai, Lao, Assamese, Shan, Tai Dam and Tai Khao are all descendants of these tribes. Apparently if you dig deep enough you can find genetic connections with the Mon, Khmer, Hmong, Tibetan and southern Chinese, too.

Tradition holds fast

Some non-academic, late night, online research has made me think, too, that no one is completely sure how and when the Tais moved down here. The theories change as fast as K-Pop boybands change costumes.

Pre Tai

Of course, these weren’t the first people in this area. 2000 years ago the Tais were moving into someone else's back yard. The pottery, skeletons and metal work dug out of the dirt at Ban Chiang in Udon Thani (a bit south of here) prove there were already some pretty cool people around. Those locals are gone now although I bet their blood is still pumping through several Udon tuk tuk drivers’ veins.

Back then they were living and creating and dying and burying some amazingly sophisticated pottery and jewellery in graves. I’ve seen the half-buried pots (or what’s left of them after all that raiding and stealing and smuggling in the 80s and 90s).

Ancient pots

The Plain of Jars and its megalithic tubs show there were some pretty impressive people living on the highlands a few hundred kilometres north of here, too. People with crafty abilities. Possibly even innovative visionaries. (Unlikely that they were giants, though, despite what Elcira would like to think).

Plain of Jars

Lao Tais

When books and brochures and plaques refer to Lao history, they often start with King Fa Ngum and his land of a million elephants in the 14^th Century. There’s a bit missing; a whole lot missing - all the comings and goings before Fa Ngum. All the art and craft and farming and migration and fighting for land and rivers with long swords from the backs of lusciously decorated elephants.

Despite the Khmer wielding their super powers, the Thais routinely dropping over for some invading, looting and pillaging, the advantages taken by the Vietnamese, the French taking over then cutting deals with the Thais and despite the whole horrific genocide by the Americans in the 60s and 70s… The Tai in Laos kick on.

Maybe lots are unaware how rich their history is but I like to think they can feel it in their blood.

(Note: I'd love to know more about the history of the Tais but am too cheap to actually buy a book on the topic. So, although I sound as though I know what I am talking about, I wouldn’t be referencing this page in your Masters’ thesis. Know what I mean?)