the cultures of thiland

8/10/2019 The Cultures of Thiland

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THE CULTURES

OF

THAILAND

PH V NUM N 'AJAoeION

I



TH IL ND CULTURE SERIES

No.1

THE CULTURES OF TH IL ND

BY

PHYA ANUMAN RAJADHON

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PUBLISHED BY

THE

N TION L

CULTURE INSTITUTE

BANGKOK, THAILAND

8.e:. 499



Phya Anuman Rajadhon, D Utt. (Be

nod C:ul'la),

Ohulltlongkorn University is one

of

tho /:(l'Olt,Uqt living

scho1>1rs

ana writers of Th:,ilalHl.

Nob

to

btl

cLv siliw1 sp cifie:tlly '1'1 an

histotian, an ethnolegist, a philologist or [til [tl'chacologi,[,. he

typifies

that

race

of

schohrs

with an unquenchahle spirit.

of

enquiry and encyclopaedic range that is fa'lt ilying out. His

writings, mostly under the pseudonym

of Sathira Koses

which has become a household word. amply reflect his catholic

tastes and wide

am1

varied interests emhracing the whole gamut

of the humanities. He has had a long and distinguished career

of government service as Assistant Director-General

of

Oustoms.

Vice-Ohairman of the Royal Institute, Director-Geneml of the

Fine

Arts.

Department. At present

he

teaches philology,

Oomparative Literature and Thai customs and tradition at

Ohulalongkorn University, heads the Ihai History Reyision

Oommittee and also serves on the National Oulture Institute

Committee. g

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Ft:rst

Published

1950

Second ]t}rHtion

19 53

l hil d

EdiUon,

HI55

Fourth

Edition

1956

PRINTED AT

THE AEK KARNPIM.

BEHIND CHALERMKRUN3 CINEMA.

y

' IAI

PRA

A ;:K

CHAYAYON, PRINTI ;RAND

PIJBL.ISHER. B,E.24 j l j l .



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THE

CULTURES

OF

THAILAND

For cultural pnrposes, Thailaw1

may be divided into

four

areas,

namely tIll Nor thC rn,

the

::-Iol th-Eastern, the

Central ant1

the Soutlll rn a r · ~ a s

The

Northern

area is a monntainous region

and

its

predominant

people

are

Thai, usually

caller1 1 1wi nw

or

Northern

Thai.

The

rrhai

liye

in the

lowland

of

the

valleys, while on the uplands

live

a nurnl)er of

primitive

tribes

belonging mostly to the two linguistic

families, the

Mon-Khmer

and the

Thibeto-Burmans.

1 he North-Eastern area is a

vast

plateau

tilted

towards

south-east an(l drained

by the

river

Mekhong which

forms the eastern

bonn(lary

between

fhailand

and

French

In\lo-Chinu.

The people in

this region

are also

predominantly

Thai, llsually called the

Lao.

Across the

river

Mekhong

on the left hank also

live

the

Laos of

Lao S t ~ t e .

Living

in isolated groups are the Phutai,

another

tribe

of Thai

stock

whose form JI home was in :French

Indo-China,

and a uumber

of minOl ities, mostly of the Mon-Khmer family.

The central

area

consists

of

one vast lowland plain

watere(l by the

]\,fenam, or,

to call t by

the

real name, the

r iV( l Chao

Phya,

am1 other river systems. Here live

the

Thai or

8.iamese. There are in

this

area small communities

o MOllS

and

Cambodians

of the

Mon-Khmer family.

AI1lumitos, :Malays an(l Burmans mostly

Tavoyans,

a tribe

akin

to

tho Aracanese

of

Burma.

In the

Southern area,

thronghont the

Ma.lay

Peninsnla,

,1.1 0 the

rh,1,i, hut in

the southernmost

parts the people are



THE CULTURES OF THAILAND

mostly of 1\Ialayal1 blood. (See further details of the physical

features and ethnology

of

rrhailand in Siam Nature

and

Indltstry publisher1

by the

Ministry of

Commerce and

Communications, Bangkok,

1 9 ~ O .

Ethnologicall.\'

and

cultIl1'ally,

thpsc four

areas overlap

one

another

an(1 affpct

reciprocally

also

Thailand's neighbours

i e the

Cam110dians

in the southeast,

the

Bnrmans in the

north-east.

and

the

1\falayans

in

the south. Later on corne

other races, the Chinese,

the Indians, the Indonesians, and

other

Asiatic races.

and lastly

but in no way

of least

irnportancf', the

Europeans

and Amel'icans

who affect

radical1y

tho traditional

culture

of Thailand.

Now

for a bit

of history

to

complete the bird's eye

view of Thailand's culture.

A

thousand

01' more

years

ago.

most of Thailand apart from the

southern

area

in

thA

Malay

Peninsula,

was

nnder the domination of the hinnuized

Mon-speaking

people

of

Dvaravati

(457-657 A.D.)

and

the

Khmer or

Cambodian

Empires

(957-1257 A.D.);

while the

Malay

Peninsula was

nnder

the

sHzeraintyof Srivijaya, the

hinduized Sumatran Empire (fi57-1157 A.D.). During

these

times the Thai, as

a

race, emigrated gradually

from their

home

in Southern China into

the

Indo-Chinese Peninsnla.

The

Thai tribes

in

their

early

days

some two

thousand

years

ago

or

more

had

their

home

probably

in

the

north-west

corner of

China

which

is now the province

of

Shen-si.

The

word

Shen-si in ChinN(e means west of the

Shen .

'fhe word

Shen

so

far as

I

know cannot be

translated as

t is only

the

name

of a pI'ovince

(one

of

my

Chinese frien\ls has told

me that

it meanS a mountain

pass ). 'fhe

Chinese

tribes

ha.rl

their

old home here too. A

few scholars, both European

aUll 'l'hai.

have

ventured to draw the

conclusion

that

the

word Shan which

the

Burmese have

given

to the Thai



TH ULTURES

OF

THAILAND

tribes in N

ol'thern

Burma and elsewhere, and the

word Siam

(now

Tluilaml)

are

one

and the

same word. These

two

words no doubt derived their origin

from

Shen of Shen-si.

am inclined to agree with this view because of the fact

that

the

name of the Kingdom of Nan-Chao

of the

Thai in

Yunnan in

an earlier perintI waS called Shan

San

by the

Chinese.

However, I will not go further into this intricate

anu

purely

philological IUestion,

but

will continue

my

story.

In

view

of the

above fact,

there was

no doubt

that

the Thai mixed

and

blended

whether

as friends

or

as foes, with the Chinese

of

those day:>. The fort'ulles of

the Thai were bound up with the Chinese every now

Hn(l

then in

the

episodes

of Ohinese history

throughout

those

times.

Gl',tuually the fortune of the 'rhai waneu anu hy

force of circnmstances they had to further south

nntil they finally establishe(l themselves as

the

Kingdom of

N

an-Ohao

in

Southern

Ohina. This

was suhjugated

by Knblai Khan, the

first

emperor of the

Chinese

Mongol

uynasty Some 700 years ago.

During these

times

many

off-shoots of the Thai

tribes

y

slow degrees

into the

Indo-Chincse Peninsula.

Onc of the western off-shoots became the Shans of Burma.

On

the other sl<le of the Peninsula IllaIlY of the 'rhai trihes

come

into Tongking, inchHling the Laos of the Lao State

who settled down in

the

l\lekhong basin.

Further

west of

the

Lao

State

in

a northernly

(lirection were

the

northern

Thai of

Ohiang Sen which

WetS on the north border of

Thailand. There is no doubt tha.t

the

worus

Shan-san, the

nalIle

of Rlm-Ohao

Kingdom and Ohiang

Sen may

he

identifiell

as one and

the

same

word.

All these Thai

tribes

establisheu

themselves

in

the

Peninsula

in many small



THE

CULTURES OF

THAILAND

imlepJllllent

status

01' pl'incip:t1ities which engaged

in

strifeS

and

wa,dare not only among

themsJlves

but also

with

tho

neighbouring

tribes

(1117-1547 A.D.). :Fnrther

South

particularly

in

the

now

ccmtraI'area

of

1'hn,ilaml the

land was

within

the

empire

of the Mon (Dvar.wati Kingdom), a i'ace

( tilnologically

akin to the Khmer,

who

sl1bseql1ently bec<11llc

included in th ;

E'llllil'c

of

the Khmer. By this time the

Northern

Thai

of Ohiang Sell

had

gone further south and

founded

a

city of Ohicug-lll·ti, which means new

c·ity " ,

and

sncceeded in taking a\Y lY

the

northerll

l'ommmts

of

the

clecayillgMon empire.

The fl-ontier

of the Northern

Thai

now tonche,l the hCH'(lel' of the

Kinner

1 < ~ l l p i r e in the :Northern

parts or Oentr,11 'l'h:lilanll which \vas ca11el1

Slam

or

Pali

izod into

S,muth:sJo. '1'ho1'3

is no (lonbt that the Thai lut(l

beon before

that time

al1'2a,ly in the land of

the

1\[on and

the Khmer Empire

hut they

W ~ l ,

only

a

minority an(l

formed themselves into somi.in(lep::mdent

states under the

sUheraintyof these

empir:c.s.

T r ~ 1 ( 1 i t i O l l : t l l y these

Thai \vho

sottled

in Oentr;tl 'rhaiIanc1 or

Siam

Wt:I'C calletl

Thai Noi

or

Lesser

Thai

in

contrast

to Thai

Yai

or :Major

1'h[ti

\\ 110

are

the

Shans

of

Bnrma.

Tl'a(litionally the

'l'hai

:Nol

or

Lesser 'l'hai

came

from the north of

Thailand.

t WfiS

therefore

presllmed

that

th0y

were

Ule

:Northern

'l'hai of

Ohiang-mai with the

La,os or

the Thai of 1\Iekhoug hasin

partly mixcll; bnt to me the so-called

Thai

Not or

Less l'

Thai

hall ill

tl1\lir m ~ : 1 t l n g pot

ill

no les;;

l l . ' g r e ~ ~

t h ~ :

Thai

Yai

or

Major

'rhai i.e. the Shan too.

By this

time, ill al)ont 1: 57

A.D., one of the

Thai

pl'inceswilhin.

th::;

K l l l n e r - E m p i n ~ Kllun

SrI lndnldit,

a IUllD of S,mskl';t or.igin bel:lttlwcll

hy

tlw KInner King,

wIth

the h:;]p of

his

ahle son n,mw,l Kllnn Ri.tlll Kmnhn.ng,

or popnLlrly

known

in

leg()1l(ls

as l'hrc\ Huang. :mecee,lC'd

6

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/Kmnhn.ng

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/Kmnhn.ng



TH CULTURES OF THAiLAND

inllm

1

dng himself independent ofthe Khmer anil ~ f i t t J l ) l : K h i n g

Snkhothai as hi,; capital.

Khun

Ham Kamhan,; sHcceedell

him

as

King

of

Sllkhothai and

enhtl ged his

territory

fnrther

s:mth

into th;

M.1lay

P.:minsula and fnrther west

to ]\IaLtban,

the Mon cOllntry,

in present

Lower

Burma. l his Snkhothai

Kingdom lasted nearly two centuries (1257 -H3:3 A.D.)

when

it u;;c,lme ll

vassal state

to

U-thong

the

founJer

of

the

Oity

of Aynthia in the lo,ycr

part

of the MC'nam

Valley, which WetS

subsequently mergC'd

into

the

Kingdom

of

Ayuthia

1<133

A.D.).

During this

Ayuthia

pe1 10(1

OJ.mbod ia, tho remnant of

the

Khmer Empire, became in

tu

I'n a

vassal state

to

Ayuthia.

Aynthia

herself

as the

capital

of TluiLm:l

in

the course

of

history, gave place

to

Rmgkok 01 Kel1ng Thep as called

by

the Thai

which

was founded in 1782 A.D.

and has

since remained

the

capital

of Siam or Thailanll in

its

modern name of touay.

In former d,l,Ys

there were consLmt raids and

wars

of conqnest among the

neighbours.

The conquered people

were removed wholesale from their old homes

as

pl isoners

of war un(l domiciled in

val ions

loca

lities

within the victorious

lunds. There

C,lme too every now

and then

emigrants

frolll neighbouring

countries

due to accidents of history.

rhese intermixed

with

the natives

of their atloptell

land,

became assimilated after a few generations into one whole.

Such

,vas

the

case with J hailanu and

the

neighbouring

countries as we l1. The ethnic

elements

of the

race

in Thuilancl

are more mixed especially

in the

central and

southern

areas,

while in others they are purer in mixture. '1'he cultures of

Thailand are therefol e, due to the

above

facts, formed into

one nnity,

Imt with theil r0gional divcrsitics in difl errent

pI oportions

where alit ll elnm( llts are

prerlominant

or

oLlwnvjse. Of

the

fOllr area;; aforementioned

the ccntral

7



THE

ULTURES

OF

THAILAND

area is the most progressive

and

this influences other areaS

of retardedcultural deve

lopment

rapidly

through convenience

of

communications.

The

cultures

of

Thailand

as expressed

in

her religion,

arts

and

literature,

social system,

hahits

and customs, reveal

a

unity

in a general

sense

with

her

neighbours, the

Cambodians,

the

Mons,

the Burmese and partly the Malays,

but with

varied

characteristics. t can be said that the

cultures

of

the

above races are a homogeneous whole with

local diversities and details thrown in.

To

study

one nation s

cultures, is

to study

them as a whole. 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

inHuence

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 iving

force.

Animism, with ancestor-worship, is the primitive

belief

of the Thai and their neighbonrs

as

well, and this formed

the first layer of l hai religion. Later on came Buddhism

and

the

l hai

adopted

it

as

their

national

religion. Unlike

their

neighbours the Burmans, the Thai inherited a fair

proportion

of

Hinduism

through the

influence of the

Cambodians

who

were in

former days a highly

hinduized

people.

Whatever cults and beliefs

are adopted by the

rhai,

they

are

readily modified

to

suit

their

temperament

and surroundings. When

they adopted

Buddhism, they

greatly modified their basic

belief

of animism into the

fold

of Buddhism.

Likewise

when

they

embraced

Hinduism,

they

adapted it

as

a subordinate

to

the

former.

As

8



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/ '1'10..,., P,·.; ,I



TH CULTURES O THAILAND

Buddhism

and

Hinduism

were

evolved from one

and the

same

source,

i e Brahminism,

there

was no hindrance to

their assimilation. They

became

in time intermixed

completely, and

of

course

tinged

with the former animistic

belief.

There

is a Thai saying, particularly among

the Thai

of the

central

al'ea whore Hinduism still has some force

with the elite class, that Buddhism and Hinduism usually

uphold each other . In the

northern

anti north-eastern

areas, Hinduism has

become

weaker

and gradually

animism

has come to the fore, especially in the folkways of the

people,

but modified greatly of course,

through the

influence

of

Buddhism.

To

complete

the fa.ct, Buddhism as the

national religion

of 'l 'hailand

is

of

the

southern

school, the

Hinayan; but it

reveals

some

traces of

the cults of the

Mahayan or

Buddhism

of the

Northern

School unconsciously

practised.

This

WitS

due

historically

no doubt, to

the

influence of the past Cdmbodian

Empire and

Sri vijaya

Empire

of the

Malay

Peninsula, which for some

time

adopted

the Buddhism of the Northern School. There are

traces

of MahayanislI). too in the

northern area;

but

this is no

doubt

derived from

a difl:erent

channel,

namely from

Burma

and Southern China. 'l'here are too in modern times native

Christian communities,

but

they

are only minorities.

Christianity has never made appreciable progress

with

the

Thai

people. Its

converts

are

confined

mostly to

natives

of alien

ancestry anti

paratioxically

most

of them,

instead

of being

converted

have,

converted

their Christian

belief

in terms of their

intiigenous

one.

Living

outsi(le

his

community,

the

converted

native, and

even

his

children born

in the fold

of Christianity,

will in time revert to their former

bolief within a few years. Snch is tho potent force that

underlies

naturally the culture

of

'l 'hailanu. BUlldhism in

9



THE CULTURES

OF THAILAND

a lllollifL;(l form

is

the mainspring

of th8

national life. t

has L ~ v e l o p e c l by slow cl'e,1tion of c,,·ntnrif.'s to med every

new

need,

formed

her

ideals and

conceptions

and safeguard.

The

problem is

how

far

\ve

can

preserve this tradition

against the

aggressiveness

of the new materialistic

force

of

the

present civilisation. Thailand C,lnnot neglect

or

ignore

tlw powerful

force which besets her

with many dangers

if her traditional

ideJ,ls

aI'0 not to

be uprooted su(Ucnly.

Now.for al'ts and literature. n the

olden

clays, the

arts

and

liter(1tUl'e

of Thailand

served

her

religion.

The

classical

style

of architectm:e

as revealed

in her temples

with their snpel'ilIlPOsed roofs aud glazed coloured

tiles

is

no

doubt

structurally

akin

to the Chinese. However,

gilding

aIlll

other

decorative

arts are typical of

the

orientals.

The gracefully tapcring tiereel

roof of

Some of

her

archi-

tecture is evol vetI

from the

Cambodian

sikfl r

of

the

Hindu temple. Although

this

tapering

roof strncturo

is

typical

of Thailand and Burma, it differs

in style

which

may

be

compared profitably. C,tmbodia has

it

too, but

its style is a

copy from

Thailand

\vithin l'eeent

times.

Sculptn

I e ill Thailand

was

confined

in

the

past

to

casting Bl1tl(lh .illlages. She

carrie(1

this art to perfection

both

in k'chniqne

and artistic

expression.

SOlllC

anciellt

specimens

of

this

art eLm b8

compared

favourably with

other nation's el,ls ical

arts.

Painting

in Tlu,Haml was also in the

past confine(l

to

mural

kllllWl'a

painting within the kmple

buildings.

The

style was

more

cOllventionalisc(l awl achieve,l orne artistic

manifestations to

a

high

(legree, hut

it cannot

be

compared

to

sculpture

which was

a

perfect

[),I,tistic

achievement.

:\Iollel'Jl architC'ctlll'c, scnlpture awl painting

of

ThailHlltl

are

of

Wt'stel'll 8tyle.

Hut in urder

to

C,11 1 Y

un her

:1l LiI:;tic

10



THE CULTURES OF

THAILAND

tl'ill1itions as p::culiarly her own and

enriching

humanity,

till

pro11em is

to

preserve

her

own

classic:tl

arts

as

a source

of inspiration for

evolvillg her own

moclol'n arts with

the

progress of thc times in Ol'(]or to presC rve her own identity of

individual cultures suitably

'within the

culture

of a

wider one.

The music of 1 I1:1\1an(1 is akin

to

that of the

Chinese. The

'1'hai

especially the

scale of

music

is a

diatonic

one, with neither major nor

minor

in

the

Ronse of western

music,

but

with a special diatonic scale

characteristic

of

her

own.

See

1 ha,i jl-Iusic in theory

nd

JH actice

by

Phl'(t

Chen DuriY<luga). Though

music

in the theoretical

conception

of But1<1hism is not toleratetl by the monks, by usage it is

allowed in certain 1'0 ligions

ceremonies,

no

douht to promote

religious emotionE,

and

also on festive occasions.

Drama like

her sister art, music

also

serveu religion.

Its

technique

was

of

Indian

origin,

but the

Thai

evolved

the

arts peculiar to tlwir own. The actions

are

very

graceful,

slow

in

motion but

110t unpleasant to

sensible minds.

'1'hai dramatic

performance

is calle(1 lnkhon a

,vonl

of

Indonesian origin, amI is well known to enthusiastic lovers

of

this art both

inside

an(1

outside

Thailand.

In

former

days, the people could

only

witn,oss EllCh performances in

the

compollml

of

the

monastery

on

f ~ t i v

occasions

on

1)' .

Nowa(bys

many

new types

of dramatic lJ':)rfol'mance are

nsuallyadapted or copied from

the

'Vest amI the popularity

of the cinema takes the place of the classical entertainment..

The latter may

be

Seen

only occasionally

as performed by

the artistes of the

Department

of Fille Arts.

The

liter,tture

of '1'hailm1l1 l1ates

back

to

the 13 th

century

A.D.,

when

the

present

1 11a1 or

Siamese

alphabet

was forme(1.

Owing

to

t v

havoc of

time

an(1

tropical

eiitlllttic comlitio1l8, the cadiest \vorks of litcrature

that

11



THE CULTURES OF

THAILAND

have

snnivecl

are comparatively few. fhe earlier works

were

of a

religions

nature. They

were

written

either in

prose

or

verse.

The

forllls were mostly

written

in poetical

prose, while the

latter in their earlier

forms

showeu

a

like

neSs

in

their patterns

to the unw ritten or

oral

folk

literature,

and they

again lllay he

compared in affinity to the Ohinese.

Later on throngh Indian intlnence,

many

rhythmic patterllS

were introduced anll th()se in time

came

to the forefront

against

the

background

of

the

former

through

the

influence

of

the edncatetl class. The language used

is

more

al,tificial as

more amlmore

words

from foreign

origins,

especially Pali,

Sanskrit aIlll Oambodian,

were introduced into the verses,

while the former are

more

natural an,l

still popnlar with

the common people. However

both

achieved their

technique

and

emotional

arts in

many of

their

works. rhe

subjects

of

Thai

prose

and

verse

in

the

earlier

works

were

mostly

inspireu by Bnrlllhist literatl1re

an(I

meant to serve

religion.

Later on

morel

secular subjects relatlng to episodes of

history, legentls and indigenous

tales

were introduced

to

serve

uramatic

art

and

reading, Of the two

great epics

of India, the ahabh trata and the

Illtmnyana

only the

Lettter

was turned in its

entirety

into

rrhai

verse in

dramatic form, while

only certain

episodes were

taken

from

the former,

The R ~ l m t y t n r t of the Thai version

differs

radically in detail from the original Valmiki version, but

agl eeS

here and there either with the Tamil, the Bengali,

the

Javanese or the Malay

versions. No doubt

this

shov,;s

that at

one

time or

other, thero have

been

intermixtures

of

cultures

going

on among

the

S.E. Asians

and

with

India

to

an appreciable

degree. The

Ranwyana is well

known to

the

rhai

people, especially

in

the Oontral

and

Southern

areas.

The Lao

of the

North-eastern area had

a

tale

of

12



THE CULTURES OF THAlLAND

have survived are comparatively few. 'rhe earlier works

were of a

religious

nature. They were written either in

prose

or

verse.

The

forms were

mostly

written

in

poetical

prose, while the latter in their earlier forms showed a like

neSs in thcir patterns to the unwritten

or

oral folk literatnre,

and they again may be

compltred

in alfinity to

the

Chillese.

Later

on through IneIi t I l

intlnonce, BUl lY

rh

ythmic patterns

were introduced

and those in

time Came

to

the forefront

against the backgl'olmd of

the

former throngh the influence

of

the

edu'cateJ class.

The

language

used is

more

artificial as

more and

more

words from foreign origins, especially

Pali,

Sanskrit an l Cambo(lian, were introduced into tho verses,

while the former are

more natural

anl1 still

popular with

the common people, However

both

achieved

their

technique

and emotional

arts

in many of their works. 'l'he subjects

of'l 'hai

prose and verSe in the

oarlier

works wore

mostly

inspirod by

Butllthist

literatu

re

ana meant

to serve

religion.

Later

on mord secular

subjects relati.ng to

epislHles of

history, legends

and

indigenous tales were introduced

to

aerve

dramatic art

and reading. Of the two

great

epics

of India, the ahabharattt and the Bamrtyana

only

the

latter was turned in its entirety into Thai verse in

dramatic

form,

while

only

certain epidodes were taken from

the

former. The

Ru rnaymut of th 'rh(;l,i version (liffers

radically in

detail

from

the

original Valmiki

version. but

agreeS

here

and there either

with the Tamil, the

Bengali,

the

Javanese

or

the

:Malay versions. No doubt

this shows

that at one time

or other,

there

have heen intermixtures

of cultures going on

among

the

S.E.

Asians

and with

India

to

an

appreciable degree.

The

Rarnay tna.

is

well known

to

the 'rhai people,

especially

in

the

Central

and

Sotlthern

areas. The

Lao

of the

North-eastern area had a

tale of

12

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/relati.ng

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/relati.ng



THE CULTURES OF THAILAND

Rama in their local literature, but they incorporated

many

of their 10c 11 traditions and

tales

into the story, and in

many places showe(l traces of

Innonesian

infiuC nce

due

obviously to the once highly hinduized Cham people whose

country Champa

is

now Annam.

The

Ramayana

of

the Thai

version is

one of

the literary

achievements

in

the

language.

Within the last century,

there

has

appeared

a

new type

of

literature

written

in

prose

which has become

very

popular with the

public.

t

is

a

translation

of those

popular

Chinese historical romanceS.

The

translation is

complete from the dawn

of

Chinese history down to

the

last

days

of

the

Ming dynasty. The Thai

of

older

genera

tions

know

the

outline of

Chinese history through these

translations. One

of

them,

the

The

San uo

hai

Yue

o r

the

Romance

of

the

1 hree Kingdoms, his been very popular

and

its merit,

apart

from

the

thC me

of

the

story,

is

the

style of its

translation.

t

is perfect

and in the

best prose

style. The pronunciation

of

names of

the

various characterS·

in this Chinese

J omanceS is

Fukian, despite the

fact

that

most of the Chinese who came in later days

were

Swatow

people. rhe

Swatow dialect has

one peculiar

tone in its

phonetic system; while

the Thai

language,

although a

tonal

language like

the

Chinese,

has

not

this

tone.

Nevertheless

the

Fnkians pronounce this tone at

a

different pitch and

the

Thai

have it

too. hence :Fnldan

dialect

was

used

in the Thai

langnage, in order to avoid

this difficulty. Phonetically

Thai language has six

or

prohably seven pitch

tones,

but

in theory there

are

only five tones. We

know

for instance

the names of

Lin Pei, Kwanyu and Changfei

as

Lao Pi,

Kwan-u and

Tiohui.

•

In recent times

Western

literature has been introtlucell

into

the

country and there

have been constant translations

13



THE CULTURES OF

THAILAND

most 1Y

t111'ongh ill, 1l1'.'d i Illll

.f English. '1'11 1'0 has aris ( n

in quite l t e: nt

times too l hai

novels

and

short stories

in

the

\VestC'l'l1 style.

Some

of

Shakespeare s works

slleh as

Bomeo

tnr l Jnlict

A , ~ You Like it, The Jvlcrchrmtof Vem ce

were

tr;mslato{l

hy

Kiug Vajir(tvullh,

so

also

a numIH:'r

of

Ellgli8h

awl

:Fl'UllCh plays, 1\Lmy of them

\yer(

adapt.ed

aItd

sLigell, giving an impetuR

to a

new

I,ina

of per[()rmance.

King

VLtj;l'uvl1(lh also transLtteLl anll <1l'amatiscll, throngh

English tr,mslations,

a

numher of

S:mskrit

classieal d ramas,

for

instan ce,

S alwntala S cwilri. l hrongh Klng Vi1ji r

vndh s

genins

aIHl inHuence, a

new

era

of

rhai

literature

has

evolvell

arHl lleveIopC d up to nOw.

In

the Thai social system, the village is

the

unit.

t

was,

in former days,

a

self·contained one in its economy

and no('(ls.

The

people s habits and

customs ,yere based

mainly on g r ~ c u l t u r e and religion,

Arost villages

hall

a

Buddhist monastery and a

shrine for

a

village deity.

The

monastery

sE'rved

their spiritual

neecls

as well

as

the people s

education.

All

arts, crafts

an(l

learning emanated from

the

monastery,

:From

birth

till death it

c ~ n t T ( l l

rOllI l( l it.

lts precincts wore the meeting

place

for social gatherings

on

festive

occasions,

A

to the village

sl11';ue

it was

lls('d

only

occaSionally

in times of

(list1'2sS

01

on

New

Year':.;

day

whun of[or:ngs were malle.

It

had nothing

to

do with

Buclrlhlsm.

No

lonbt

BlHlrlhism

softene(l and tame(l animism

in

mrmy of its

cults. Tlw

above is

only

a fundamental

and compara.tive

statemrnt which a

studE nt

has

to

IH al' in

min(l

whAn llealing

with

mo(lern

cultural IH oblems. rhe

social system,

habits

and

.customs

as

seen in

modern times

ar·o supe l'ficial

mo(lificat

ions of t he fundamentals and in

a

comparativc

1 1 , · g l , ~ C only,

In

some

outlying

(listricts

Whl l e

thel'.e

nrc

l'Gtltl'ilCl1 lL v:;iopment:o of cnltnro dnc

to

lack of

14

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/adapt.ed

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/adapt.ed



Tlt.r \ ' I ~ ' \\· · , I

... H . . ~ h > .

. \

n

rom ,lor .1f.,,,,11 I f..v f . ' ~ r ,

by lit. l i , , ~ , ',/,,- FIN

..\ '

Tkf'oJr 'UNI



~ . . . .

/ r M Q n a S ~

, ~

of \ra

r m

, ,

& ~ i k o ~ .



:5

J

?

I

t::

~ THE CULTURES

OF

TH IL ND

j b

i u t e r c o ~ ; J l n l l i c a t i o n a n d new

ideas, the

people

a L , ~

8till

in

•

. their primitive state, quite

in

contrast to th? progress

in

th e capita1 towns and dtles. these progressive parts

"old

times

are changed, olll

manners gone" and

a

new type

of cultures fills its place. This is a

sign

of

IHogress

l)l1t t

must

come gr,t<lnally. A'lapt

the

old

to

the new

hut

Hot in t

l'ovolutionary

way. The

new

cnltures have also

their

dang :' 's

with

problems to

be

solved,

because people take too mnch

interest

in politics.

To [t(lopt

new

cultures

wholly

unsuited

to

the llt-eds which are peculiar to, an(l characteristic o[ each

particnlar pLwe

is

a

(hnger.

Culture ought

to

be

varied

with

ch'tracteristics

of its own

in each

locality

and

area,

harmonizing, howov0r, 'with the

,vhole·a

unity in diversity.

As will be seen from what

has

b<:>en

said,

the culture

of Thailand is ml(lway

between

the two great

cultural

systems

of

Asia,

China

on

the

one

side and

India

on

the

other. Chinese culture

did

not penetrate

fll

rther

west

beyond

Annam;

nor

did Indian

culture

gofnrther

north than

the In(lo.Ohinese

Peninsula.

They cam€ to a halt at

one

anotlur'!j bnlw,1l'ks anfl did

not

penetrate further. The

Annamit::s, though ethnologicitlly Imlonl'sians, were

domiciled

in Ohina far back n

historica,l

times

as

one

tribe

of

the

Yueh

or

Viet,

and

absorb2d

much

of

Chinese

cultnre.

When they came down to th3 In(lo·Chinese Peninsula., they

met

the Ohams

who

were highly

hin(luized

culturally. After

the Chams w('stwar(l was anothee

highly

hindni!wd people,

the Khmers or the Cmllho(lians. Naturally Chinese

culture

could

not p ~ ; n c t r J t e further

for

it met an oppon<:>nt of

equal

force.

Due to

the

natm'c of the country and to other

facts

p8cu1iar

to

the

north

of

the Peninsula,

Chinese

culture

(lill not pellet r .lie

n

for

HCle

of

easy

camrrumications.

Whatever

Chinese c n l t u r ~ 8 the

Thai

brought from Southern

5



THE

using the

China,

they

adal

3 3131 4188 3

pical

old

mat,

the

Chinese,

~ v n

though t

The

D TE DUE

one draw

the

country. Living in the

troplcs where food is

in abundance

and

the weather

fair, tlley

have become

lethargic.

But a

taste

fo..l'

the

arts

has been

developed

by

the

leisured and

lit classes, hence the arts

as

developed

by

the

Thai though

mostly

inspired directly or indirectly

by

India, are nniquf'ly

their own. Buddhism suited their tastes and temperaments

very well,

so

they

rea<1ily

adopted 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

one

vast plain,

they adapted

Indian culture.

Being still a virile

race and

with

genius

they evol lV'ed 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

Indian cnlture, especially Hinduism.

They

adopted only

Buddhism tinged

weak'y with

Hinduism.

Judging by

the

physical featu

reS

of the

Thai or

Siamese in

Central Thailand

they

differ

in

stature and colonr from their brothers

in

the

north. They become shorter

and darker

~ p a d n a l l y

southward

and

there is no doul)t that they mixed immensely with

the

Mon-Khmer and Allstronf'sian familif's. They lost

physically

but gained intellectually through fusion of new blood.

Thailand therefore formed the meeting

place

of the two

great

cultural systems which came to

a halt

and fused

into

the cultures of thiland

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