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Thailand

History

The Thai are descended from a much larger group of Tai-speaking peoples. The latter are found from extreme northeastern India in the west to northern Vietnam in the east and from southern China in the north to as far south as the central Malay Peninsula. In the past, scholars held that a parent group called the Proto-Tai originated in southern China and pushed south and west from the China landmass into northern mainland Southeast Asia. Most scholars now believe that the Tai came from northern Vietnam around the Dien Bien Phu area and that about 1,000 years ago they spread from there northward into southern China, westward into southwestern China, northern Myanmar (Burma), and northeastern India, and southward into what are now Laos and Thailand. For a discussion of Thai history in its regional context, see Southeast Asia, history of.

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Thailand - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)

The local name for Thailand means "land of the free." True to its name, Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never ruled by European powers. Thailand’s capital is Bangkok.

Thailand - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Unlike all the other countries of Southeast Asia, the Kingdom of Thailand was never a colony. Thailand was long known as Siam. In 1939 the country’s name was changed to Muang Thai, or Land of the Thais, a name that itself means "free."

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