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Genetik/Peoples/Thai

Thai

Тайцы

language area per Glottologcensus counts
63,279,496
Thailand, census 2010 (national and/or ethnic group, UN)
65,329,538
sum of censuses in 4 countries, 2005-2021
Tai-Kadai
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Thailand: 63,279,496 people in the 2010 census.

Official figures exist for 4 countries; together they add up to 65,329,538. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2005-2021) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

Main language: Thai. Glottolog classifies it in the Tai-Kadai family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Thailand2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Thai» · [1]
63,279,496
Vietnam2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Thai» · [2]
1,820,950
Lao People's Democratic Republic2005 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Thai» · [3]
215,254
Hong Kong2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Thai» · [4]
13,838
Sum across 4 countries65,329,538

Languages and their lineage

Thai

  1. Tai-Kadaitaik1256
  2. Kam-Taikamt1241
  3. Daic-Beicdaic1238
  4. Daicdaic1237
  5. Central-Southwestern Taicent2251
  6. Wenma-Southwestern Taiwenm1239
  7. Sapa-Southwestern Taisapa1255
  8. Southwestern Taisout3184
  9. Southwestern Thai PHsput1235
  10. Lao-Thailaot1235
  11. Thaithai1261

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

Zhuang peopleBouyei peopleKam peopleTay peopleHlai peopleDai people

Sources

  1. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Thailand, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Viet Nam, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Lao People's Democratic Republic, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. China, Hong Kong SAR, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)