Anti-Thai sentiment involves hostility or hatred that is directed towards people in Thailand (usually referring to

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin ( th, ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; ''exonym and also domestically''), endonym Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย), are Chinese descenda ...

and Siamese), or the state of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Incidents by country

Cambodia

The hatred toward Thais in Cambodia has existed since the late Khmer Empire. Siamese forces under the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...

has invaded the Khmer Empire many times and Siam has historically occupied Cambodia. Cambodian animosity towards Thai people is now fueled by a persistent historical misconception, known only within the Thai narrative, that wrongly distinguishes a so-called Khom ethnic group and Khmer as separate people. This deliberate construct aims to conceal Thailand's extensive adoption of Khmer culture by acknowledging the contributions of the non-existent Khoms, constituting a form of

historical negationism Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with ''historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinterp ...

. Thailand's historical ties to the Khmer Empire, whose influence encompassed language, culture, and governance, are obscured by this narrative. The so-called Khom, presented as distinct, wrongly denies the truth of Khmer influence on Thai culture. Charles F. Keyes, a professor of international relations at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

noted in a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

article reporting the 2003 anti-Thai riots in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

: Anti-Thai sentiment began to flare in Cambodia because of Cambodians' fear of Thai designs on western Cambodia. That led to a violent protest in January 2003 in which the Thai embassy was burned and Thai businesses were vandalised after a Cambodian newspaper article misattributed to a Thai actress, the sayings of her character in a soap opera claiming that

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...

belonged to Thailand and that it should take over the ancient temple. The hatred towards Thai people from the Cambodians would escalate in 2008, when both countries were involved in the

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

over the ownership of the Khmer temple of Preah Vihear.

South Korea

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

tourists are subjected to additional scrutiny from Korean immigration office. Notable incidents, such as a woman being denied entry despite having a return ticket and bookings, have fueled social media discussions in 2023. The growing number of stories shared by deported tourists highlights concerns about perceived discriminatory practices. Diplomatic efforts have been made to address anti-Thai sentiment. The stringent scrutiny on Thai nationals in Korea has its origins in the longstanding issue of undocumented Thai immigrants, as indicated by both Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice. According to data from the justice ministry, approximately 157,000 Thai nationals currently reside in Korea without the requisite permits. Among this demographic, a substantial portion is colloquially termed "phi noi" or "little ghosts" in

. These individuals, initially arriving in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

as tourists, exceed their authorized stay period, predominantly seeking employment in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

China

Animosity towards the Thai in China 1934 caused by

forced assimilation Forced assimilation is an involuntary process of cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups during which they are forced to adopt language, identity, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, way of lif ...

Chinese people The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

in country by Thai authorities. Some of the Chinese who had been deported from Thailand began to spread anti-Thai sentiment in China and called for an immediate boycott from the Chinese authorities to all products that been imported from Thailand.

Laos

Since ancient times, Laos has been against Siamese territorial expansions. There was a request from Laotians to the French colonial authorities for a recovery of lost territory on the

Khorat Plateau The Khorat Plateau ( th, ที่ราบสูงโคราช) is a plateau in the northeastern Thai region of Isan. The plateau forms a natural region, named after the short form of Nakhon Ratchasima, a historical barrier controlling access ...

and of the

Emerald Buddha The Emerald Buddha ( th, พระแก้วมรกต , or ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold. and about ...

from Siam. After achieving independence under communism, the present Laos government are much more sympathetic to Vietnam, and there is a rejection from Laotians towards Thailand, which is currently somewhat between a democracy and an

autocracy Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...

Myanmar

Both nations were involved in several wars in the past. In the present, there is more anti-Myanmar sentiment in Thailand than anti-Thai sentiment in Myanmar, as is shown by the publications of Thai school textbooks, films and media reports. The Myanmar government does not regard Thailand as its main enemy but does not consider Thailand as a "trusted friend" either.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Thai Sentiment Foreign relations of Thailand