Thai Malays is a term used to refer to ethnic Malays in Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. Thailand hosts the third largest ethnic Malay population after Malaysia and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, and most Malays are concentrated in the Southern provinces of Narathiwat

Narathiwat Province

Narathiwat is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Yala and Pattani. To the south it borders the Malaysian state of Kelantan. The southern railway line ends in this province that is one of the nation’s five provinces that borders Malaysia. The name of this...

, Pattani

Pattani Province

Pattani is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Narathiwat, Yala and Songkhla.-Geography:...

, Yala

Yala Province

Yala is the southernmost province of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Songkhla, Pattani and Narathiwat. Yala is the only land-locked province in the south of Thailand...

, Songkhla

Songkhla Province

Songkhla is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Satun, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani and Yala. To the south it borders Kedah and Perlis of Malaysia....

 and Satun

Satun Province

Satun is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Trang, Phatthalung and Songkhla...

.

Ethnic Malays in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkhla due in part to cultural differences from the Thai people as well as past experiences of forced attempts to assimilate them into Thai mainstream culture after the eventual annexation of Pattani Kingdom

Pattani kingdom

Pattani or Sultanate of Pattani was a Malay sultanate that covered approximately the area of the modern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and much of the northern part of modern Malaysia. The King of Patani is believed to have converted to Islam some time during the 11th century...

 by the Sukhothai Kingdom

Sukhothai kingdom

The Sukhothai Kingdom ) was an early kingdom in the area around the city Sukhothai, in north central Thailand. The Kingdom existed from 1238 till 1438...

. On the other hand, ethnic Malays in Satun are less inclined towards separatism. Ethnic Malays in Satun are more proficient in Thai as compared to the Malays from the other states, and their dialect have strong affinities to those of Perlis

Perlis

Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...

.

People of mixed Thai and Malay ancestry are known as Samsam, which forms the bulk of Satun's population but also a significant minority in Phatthalung

Phatthalung

Phatthalung is a town in southern Thailand, capital of the Phatthalung Province.The town covers the whole tambon Khuhu Sawan, and small parts of the tambon Khao Chiak, Tha Mi Ram, Prang Mu, Lampam, Tamnan and Khuan Maphrao, all in Mueang Phatthalung district. As of 2005 it has a population of...

, Trang

Trang

Trang is the capital of Trang Province, Thailand. The city has a population of 59,637 and covers the whole tambon Thap Thiang of Mueang Trang district....

, Krabi

Krabi

Krabi is a town on the west coast of southern Thailand at the mouth of the Krabi River where it empties in Phangnga Bay. As of 2005 the town has a population of 24,986. The town is the capital of Krabi Province and Krabi district...

, Phang Nga

Phang Nga

Phang Nga ) is a town in southern Thailand, capital of the Phang Nga Province. The town covers the whole tambon Thai Chang of Mueang Phang Nga district. As of 2005 it has a population of 9,559 and covers an area of 6.75 km²....

  and Songkhla as well as in the Malaysian states of Kedah

Kedah

Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...

, Perak

Perak

Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...

 and Perlis. Samsams are generally adherents of Islam but culturally Thai, although Malay influences are co-dominant. Phuket

Phuket City

Phuket is a city located in the southeast of Phuket Island, Thailand. It is the capital of the Phuket Province, covering all of the island. As of 2007 the city has a population of 75,573 people...

 and Ranong

Ranong

Ranong ) is a town in southern Thailand, capital of the Ranong Province and the Mueang Ranong district. The town covers completely the area of the tambon Khao Niwet . As of 2005 it has a population of 16,163, and has town status .The town is located at the estuary of the Pak Chan River, opposite...

, home to a sizeable Muslim population, also has many people who are of Malay descent. A sizeable community also exists in Bangkok itself, having descended from migrants or prisoners who were relocated from the South from the 13th century onwards.

See also

• Mahsuri
• Islam in Thailand
  Islam in Thailand
  Islam is a minority faith in Thailand with statistics suggesting a population of anywhere from 500,000 to 1.2 million Most Thai Muslims belong to the Sunni sect, although Thailand has a very diverse and developing population which includes immigrants from around the world.-Demographics &...
  
  
• South Thailand insurgency
  South Thailand insurgency
  An ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces...
  
  
• Malaysian Siamese