Chinese Heritage in Thailand: Traditional Sites and Cultural Practices on the Eastern Seaboard

Chinese Heritage in Thailand—Traditional Sites and Cultural Practices on the Eastern Seaboardis a work about Chinese religious places, festivals and rituals within the Thai social system. The study was conducted on the Eastern Seaboard, an area where many early Chinese migrants had landed and where the towns and cities have high populations of Thai-Chinese people. Both ethnic groups seem very closely related, but they are not. Though their early ancestors lived for millennia in close neighborhood in ancient China, they are linguistically and genetically different ethnic groups, and the Tai people had settled in their original habitat much earlier than the Han Chinese. The descendants of the Chinese migrants in Thailand have today a population of circa 9 million people, are the largest ethnic minority group and are still expanding their presence across the country. The fieldwork was conducted during an entire year and includes the major traditional Chinese events celebrated within a 12-month cycle between May 2024 and April 2025. The content of this book is supported by more than 800 color images and drawings, plus maps and plans to show the locations and layouts of the sites. At the end of the book is a selected bibliography on relevant matters. Read more