A History of the Thai Chinese

A History of the Thai Chinese

The remarkable story of how a people and country embraced each other—and ultimately left their identities inextricably linked. For many centuries, Chinese migrated to the ports, cities and provinces of Thailand. These immigrants included traders, skilled laborers, adventurers and the neardestitute who dreamed of a better life. Over time, they came to form one of the largest and most influential diasporas in the world. From tin mining to railway-building to rice trading, their skills helped the country develop and prosper. Some came to advise Thai monarchs, intermarry, and run businesses integral to the economy. One son of a Chinese father and Thai mother even became king. This community overcame many personal, cultural and social challenges to eventually become an integral part of almost all the kingdom's affairs all the way through to the present day. This book tells the extraordinary history of the Thai-Chinese. "No country in Southeast Asia has been as successful as Thailand in integrating its Chinese community. This book provides deep insights into this process and should provide illumination reading for anyone interested in Southeast Asian success stories. It is a must-read." —Kishore Mahbubani, author of The Great Convergence "The Chinese in Thailand have sunk deep roots and shared a rich history with Thai peoples at all levels. How and why this happened has been an inspiration to Chinese and other communities in the region for a long time. But no book illustrates and explains this phenomenon as well as this one. Its insights into what the Thai-Chinese have contributed to their country as Sino-Thai are the most illumination I have read and should reach the widest audience possible." — Wang Gungwu, University Professor, National University of Singapore "The success of Southeast Asia remains a key mystery. One key to solving this mystery is to study the role of the Chinese diaspora. No country in Southeast Asia has been as successful as Thailand in integrating its Chinese community. This book provides deep insights into this process and should provide illumination reading for anyone interested in Southeast Asian success stories. It is a must-read." — Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and author of The Great Convergence: Asia, the West and the Logic of One World " A History of the Thai Chinese does a splendid job of filling the long-neglected gap in the studies of the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. The anomalous history of the mysterious ethnic Chinese of Siam has been thoroughly investigated in the most meticulous and comprehensive manner by Pimpraphai Bisalputra and Jeffery Sng. This masterpiece has truly opened a much needed and much anticipated new horizon in the studies of the Chinese diaspora." — Wasana Wongsurawat, Assistant Professor, Chulalongkorn University Jeffery Sng and Pimpraphai Bisalputra have dedicated much of their lives to the study of Chinese and Thai history. Sng studied philosophy and literature at Singapore University then attended Cornell University for postgraduate studies at the Institute of Southeast Asian studies. He has lived in Bangkok for over 30 years, writing articles about the Chinese Diaspora, the Thai Chinese business community, Chinatown and many other topics. Pimpraphai graduated from the London School of Economics and attended Cornell for her postgraduate studies. She has published extensively on the Chinese in Thailand. The pair previously collaborated on the book Bencharong & Chinawares in the Court of Siam, The Surat Osathanugrah Collections.