Northern Khmer people
ជនជាតិខ្មែរខាងជើង
เขมรเหนือ
Northern Khmer women wearing traditional clothing during Sen Don Ta festival in Surin
Total population
≈ 1.4 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Isan (Buriram, Surin, Sisaket)
Eastern (Trat, Chanthaburi)
Languages
Northern Khmer, Thai, Isan
Religion
Theravada Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Khmer, Khmer Krom

Northern Khmer people (Khmer: ជនជាតិខ្មែរខាងជើង; Thai: เขมรเหนือ) or colloquially as Thais of Khmer origin (Thai: ชาวไทยเชื้อสายเขมร);[2] mostly referred to as Khmer Surin (Khmer: ខ្មែរសុរិន Thai: เขมรสุรินทร์) is the designation used to refer to ethnic Khmers native to the Isan region of Northeast Thailand.[3][4]

History

Khmers have had a presence in this area since at least the time of the Khmer Empire.[5] With the fall of the Angkor, the Khmers of the Isan region were subject to increasing Thai influence. In the 18th century, the Thai kingdom officially annexed the former Cambodian province of Surin. The Khmer residents became de facto subjects of the Thai monarchy and a long process of gradual cultural assimilation began.

Demographics

Khmer percentage of the total population in various provinces of Thailand
ProvinceKhmer % in 1990Khmer % in 2000
Surin[6] 63.4% 47.2%
Buriram[7] 0.3% 27.6%
Sisaket[8] 30.2% 26.2%
Trat[9] 0.4% 2.1%
Sa Kaew[10] N/A 1.9%
Chanthaburi[11] 0.6% 1.6%
Roi Et[12] 0.4% 0.5%
Ubon Ratchathani[13] 0.8% 0.3%
Maha Sarakham[14] 0.2% 0.3%

Culture

Northern Khmer traditional clothing displayed at Surin National Museum, Thailand

Although now a minority, the Northern Khmer have maintained some of their Khmer identity, practicing the Khmer form of Theravada Buddhism and speaking a dialect known as Khmê in Khmer and Northern Khmer in English. Few Northern Khmers are able to read or write their native language,[15] since teaching in public schools is exclusively in Thai.

The Thai language instruction has resulted in many of the younger generation being more comfortable using Thai as a medium of communication. In 1998, Smalley reported renewed interest in Khmer language and culture had resulted in a two-fold increase in the use of Northern Khmer since 1958.[16] However, usage of Khmer has subsequently declined.[17]

Northern Khmer-style Apsara dance

In the past two decades, there has been state-directed revitalization of 'local' cultures in Thailand, including of Khmer culture, which has been challenged for adopting a state narrative and insufficiently empowering the Northern Khmer themselves.[18]

Kantrum (Thai: กันตรึม, Khmer: កន្រ្ទឹម) is a popular musical genre in the Southern part of Isan that originated within the Khmer community. The musical accompaniment is similar to that of Cambodian music, includinc both drums and fiddles. The lyrics are sung in Khmer.[19] Popular songs include สาวกันตรึม (‘Kontrum Girl’), รักสาวสะเราะแอง (‘In love with a girl of my country’), รักบ่าวอีสานใต้ (‘In love with a Southern Isan boy’), and คืนลับฟ้า (‘The night sets in the sky’).

An annual festival is celebrated each year in front of Prasat Phanom Rung temple to celebrate the 1000-year-old Khmer heritage of the region. During the festivities, Apsara dancers are parading in front of the temple. [20]

Conflict

Although it is not anywhere near the scale of the protests of the Khmer Krom in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, some Northern Khmers living in the Isan region have demanded more rights and oppose Thaification of the Surin Khmer. Also, the occasional hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia have made their relations sometimes difficult.[21][22]

Notable Northern Khmers

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Thailand - World Directory of Minorities & Indigenous Peoples". 19 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Cuam and the Beliefs of the Thai-Khmer". Khmerling.blogspot.com. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  3. ↑ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; landforms a growing larger by the second Reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention: Thailand (PDF) (in English and Thai). United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. ↑ แผนแม่บท การพัฒนากลุ่มชาติพันธุ์ในประเทศไทย(พ.ศ.2558-2560) [Master Plan for the Development of Ethnic Groups in Thailand 2015-2017] (PDF) (in Thai). Bangkok: Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. 2015. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Thailand's World : Khmer People". Thailandsworld.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ↑ "VOA Khmer News, Radio, TV". Voanews.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  16. ↑ Smalley, William A. (1988). "Multilingualism in the Northern Khmer Population of Thailand". Language Sciences. 10 (2): 395–408. doi:10.1016/0388-0001(88)90023-X.
  17. ↑ Vail, Peter (2013). "The Politics of Scripts: Language Rights, Heritage, and the Choice of Orthography for Khmer Vernaculars in Thailand". In Barry, Coeli (ed.). Rights to culture : heritage, language, and community in Thailand. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. pp. 135–162. ISBN 978-616-215-062-3. OCLC 837138803.
  18. ↑ Denes, Alexandra (2013), "The Revitalisation of Khmer Ethnic Identity in Thailand", Routledge Handbook of Heritage in Asia, Routledge, doi:10.4324/9780203156001.ch11, ISBN 978-0-203-15600-1
  19. ↑ "กันตรึม" (in Thai). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  20. ↑ "Feature: Thailand holds annual event featuring 1,000-year-old Khmer history, culture". Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  21. ↑ Chachavalpongpun, Pavin (2012). "Embedding Embittered History: Unending Conflicts in Thai-Cambodian Relations". Asian Affairs. 43 (1): 81–102. doi:10.1080/03068374.2012.643593. ISSN 0306-8374. S2CID 145309277.
  22. ↑ Thị Trà Mi, Hoàng (2016). "The Preah Vihear temple dispute on the Thai-Cambodian border and ASEAN's role in conflict resolution". Journal of Science, Social Science. 61 (10): 170–174. doi:10.18173/2354-1067.2016-0100. ISSN 2354-1067.
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