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