Sujit Wongthes สุจิตต์ วงษ์เทศ (or Wongthet) (b. April 20 1945) is a Thai journalist and author.

Biography

He was born in Prachinburi province to a father of Phuan descent and a mother of Teochew Chinese descent. Wongthes attended

Silpakorn University Silpakorn University (SU.) (; ) is a national university in Thailand. The university was founded in Bangkok in 1943 by Tuscan–born art professor Corrado Feroci, who took the Thai name Silpa Bhirasri when he became a Thai citizen. It began as ...

, graduating from the archaeology program there. During his time at university, he wrote for the student journal, ''Sangkhomsat Paritht'' (''Social Science Review''), in which he criticized excessive materialism and the Americanization of Thai culture; he wrote contemporaneously with

Sulak Sivaraksa Sulak Sivaraksa (, ; ; born 27 March 1933) is a Thai social activist, professor, writer and the founder and director of the Thai NGO " Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation", named after two authorities on Thai culture, Sathirakoses (Phya Anuma ...

, who was the journal's editor at the time. He later wrote for ''Prachachat'', a newspaper associated with progressive elements of Thai society. After the military coup that toppled the

Seni Pramoj Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj (, , ; 26 May 190528 July 1997) was a Thai professor and politician who served as Prime Minister of Thailand three times. A descendant of the Thai royal family, he was the great-grandson of King Rama II. His final two ...

administration, ''Prachachat'' was shut down. Three years later, Wongthes founded '' Sinlapa Watthanatham'', an arts and culture magazine, and served as the magazine's editor.Lysa, Hon
"Twenty Years of Sinlapa Watthanatham: Cultural Politics in Thailand in the 1980s and 1990s"
''

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies The ''Journal of Southeast Asian Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering scholarly studies on Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, East Timor, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). It ...

'' 31,1 (March 2000), 26-47 One of Wongthes' best-known works is titled ''Jek Phon Lao'', meaning 'Chinese mixed with Lao'. In this work, he advanced the position that modern Thais are a mixture of native

Lao people The Lao people are a Tai peoples, Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia, primarily inhabiting Laos and northeastern Thailand. They speak the Lao language, part of the Kra–Dai languages, Kra–Dai language family, and are the dominant ethni ...

and Chinese migrants to

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, as well as other groups. This contradicted

Thai nationalist Thai nationalism is a political ideology involving the application of nationalism to the political discourse of Thailand. It was first popularized by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI, 1910–1925), and was subsequently adopted and adapted by various leadi ...

historiography, which is based on the idea that Thais had been driven out of southern China and which pitted

Thai identity Thainess, or the Thai identity (, ), is a conceptual identity regarding the quality of being Thai: characteristics seen as distinctive to the Thai people, Thai culture, and those belonging to Thailand as a whole. It forms the central identity upon ...

against Chinese identity. He followed this work with ''Khon Thai Mai Dai Ma Chak Nai'' ('The Thai Did Not Come From Somewhere Else'), which further attacked nationalist ideas by showing

Tai people Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thai, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, ...

still living happily in China.

Awards and recognitions

Wongthes was recognized with a Sriburapha Award in 1993, and further awarded the title of

National Artist National Artist is an honorary title issued by some states as the highest recognition of artists for their significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the nation. An equivalent title, People's Artist, has been known in countries of the ...

in 2002.National Artist: Sujit Wongthes
(in Thai) Ministry of Culture, Department of Cultural Promotion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wongthes, Sujit Sujit Wongthes Sujit Wongthes Sujit Wongthes Sujit Wongthes 1945 births Living people Sujit Wongthes Sujit Wongthes Sujit Wongthes Sujit Wongthes