Ethnic origin of Mon in Thailand

Introduction

The Mon are the natives of a large part of Thailand and southern Myanmar. Today, they are mostly found in Mon State and Bago region in southern Myanmar and also in several provinces such as Nonthaburi and Ratchaburi in central Thailand.

Even though the country is called Thailand but the natives aren't ethnic Thai.

Homeland

The homeland for the ethnic Mon people is in central Thailand along the Chao Phraya Basin. They have been there since at least the 9th century BC (about 3000 years ago).

Chao Phraya Basin

From central Thailand, they spread to southern Myanmar, northern Thailand and southernmost Thailand.

By 1st century AD, the Mon could be found in Irrawaddy Delta in southern Myanmar and the Kra isthmus in southern Thailand.

Early Mon kingdoms

The first recorded Mon kingdom was the many Dvaravati city-states which was established along the Chao Phraya River basin in Thailand by the 5th century AD.

Lavo kingdom was one of Dvaravati city-states which rose to ascendancy in central Thailand about 450 AD before the Khmer Angkor empire annexed Lavo kingdom in the 10th century AD. Significant portion of the Mon inhabitants fled to present-day Lower Burma after the annexation.

Earliest Mon kingdoms in 8th century map

Haripunjaya/Hariphunchai kingdom, another early Mon kingdom, was established in 659 AD in northern Thailand with its capital in modern-day Lamphun with its first ruler called Queen Jamadevi. This kingdom was annexed by Thai kingdom of Lanna in 1292 AD.

Thaton kingdom, another early Mon kingdom, was also established in Lower Irrawaddy River basin in southern Myanmar before the Burmese annexed it in 1057 AD. When the Burmese kingdom collapsed, the Mon people re-established their own kingdom called Pegu/Hongsawatoi in 1287 AD.

Southern Mon states

After researching the origin of the Malay people and also the opinions of some western historians, the early states of Langkasuka and also ancient Kedah in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia were most probably Mon states as well. These places were situated along the Kra Isthmus where goods between China and India were transported in ancient times.

The Malay people did not migrate there until the Sri Vijaya expansion during the 8th century AD. There is no evidence of any Malay settlements there before the Sri Vijaya expansion. The claim that Langkasuka is a Malay state is based on nationalistic sentiment and not historical facts.

Migration back to Thailand

A few villages of the original Mon inhabitants in Thailand have survived to the present and they are called Nyah Kur people or Chaao Bon (ชาวบน). They live mainly in Korat province of northeast Thailand.

Most of the ethnic Mon people in Thailand today are Mon refugees from Burma. The failure of several Mon rebellions in Burma sent many Mon refugees into Thailand especially in the years 1539, 1600, 1660, 1774, 1814 AD during the Burmese kingdoms of Taungoo and Konbaung.

Migration (red arrow) to Thailand

Monic languages

The Monic languages belong to the Austroasiatic language family and they are all descendants of the Old Mon language spoken during the Dvaravati period.

The Old Mon script which was based on Indian Tamil script was created in Dvaravati city-states and has been dated back to around 550 AD. Subsequently, the Burmese based their script on this Mon script.

Mon script inscribed on stones

The Monic languages are spoken mainly in Myanmar and Thailand and classified into three related languages which are

Nyah Kur
Nyah Kur language split from the Mon languages below around 10th century AD and is mutually unintelligible to them.

Mon language in Myanmar
Burmese words have been introduced into the Mon language in Myanmar. Martaban-Moulmein is generally recognized as the common dialect in Myanmar and is used in the Mon monastic educational system.

Mon language in Thailand
Thai words have been introduced into the Mon language in Thailand making it less mutually intelligible to the Mon language in Myanmar which it split from, around 17th and 18th century.

Nowadays, most of the Mon people in Thailand have adopted the Thai language and only about 100,000 are still able to speak their own mother tongue.

Siamese people in Pattani-Kelantan

Another interesting fact is that the Mon language was the main language used in southern Thailand and as far south as northern Malaysia (Kedah and Kelantan) until around 1200 AD.

Siamese in Malaysia

During the Ayutthaya period, the ethnic Mon people in southern Thailand switched to speaking the Southern Thai language instead. The so-called Siamese people living in Pattani-Kelantan are actually ethnic Mon judging from their physical appearance and history. The ethnic Tai have lighter skin than the ethnic Mon.

Mon culture and architecture

The greatest Mon temple is the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon in Myanmar which was built around 6th-10th century AD. Mon culture is similar to Khmer culture as both are based on Theravada Buddhism.

Closest ethnic relative

The closest ethnic relative of the Mon people are the Senoi people in Malaysia. The Mon languages are more closely-related to the Senoi languages suggesting a closer ancestor than the Khmer people.

Senoi-Temiar in Malaysia

The presence of the Senoi people as far south in Malaysia proves that the common ancestors of proto Mon-Senoi were in southern Thailand much earlier than 1st century AD as speculated.

The detailed origin of Senoi people will be explored in a future article in this blog.

Conclusion

Ethnic Mon are Austroasiatic people and they are the true natives of a large part of Thailand and southern Myanmar.

Ethnic Mon

Most of the Mon people in Thailand have adopted the Thai language whereas the Mon people in Myanmar still retain their identity.

Note that Mon people are natives of a large part of modern-day Thailand but not every part. The natives of the region bordering Cambodia are the Khmer people whose origin can be found in the related links section below.

Sources

Reconstructing Austroasiatic prehistory by Roger Blench. Year 2014.
https://minorityrights.org/minorities/mon-and-khmer/
Minority Groups in Thailand. American University (Washington, D.C.). Cultural Information Analysis Center, American Institutes for Research. By Joann L. Schrock
Ethnic ethnicity of the Mons in Thailand. By Brian Foster.
The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: Volume 1, From Early Times to C.1800. By Nicholas Tarling
https://kknews.cc/world/ebjyokq.html

Last updated: 27 Aug 2022

Comments

Unknown4 Nov 2019, 00:50:00
Thanks for sharing the great article for us!

But may I ask and add something in the "Mon's closest relative" section?

In that section, you wrote that the closest ethnic of the Mon people is the Senoi people of Malaysia peninsular.

How do you conclude that statement?

I think the closest ethnic group of the Mon people is the Nyah Kur.

This is based on classification of the both languages.

But I hope you are pleased to explain, as I also curious and want to understand more. Thanks. :)

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