Thaification is the process by which groups at the fringe of the Thai state become (or are made) more similar to the Central Thai heartland. To an extent this is a natural result of these groups being part of a modern state in which Central Thais occupy a dominant geographical, economic and cultural position, but it has also been actively encouraged by the Thai government. Central Thailand is a region of Thailand, covering the broad alluvial plain of the Chao Phraya River. ... Physical map of the Earth (Medium) (Large 2 MB) Geography is the scientific study of the locational and spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena on Earth. ... Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ...

The main subjects of Thaification have been ethnic groups on the edges of the Thai state, geographically and culturally: the Lao of Isan, the hill tribes of the north and west, and the Muslim minority of the south. However, Thaification has been, to a considerable extent a byproduct of the nationalist policies consistently followed by the Thai state over the 20th century. The promotion of Thai nationalism in the country as a whole took the form of reinforcing the Thai identity in the heartlands, while creating a Thai identity on the fringes. For other articles with similar names, see Isan (disambiguation). ... Akha girl. ... Northern Thailand usually describes the area covered by 17 provinces. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... Southern Thailand is a distinct region of Thailand, connected with the Central region by the narrow Kra Isthmus. ... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999...

Thaification by the government can be separated into four strands:

• First, and most obviously, the government has targeted specific policies and actions at the fringe groups. An example of this is the Accelerated Rural Development Programme of 1964, the Isan component of which included the strengthening of allegiances with Bangkok and the rest of the country as one of its objectives.
• The second strand consists of policies applied nationally, but which disproportionately affect the fringe groups. One example of this is the prescribed use of the Thai language in schools. This had little effect on Central Thais who already used the language in everyday life, but had a major impact on speakers of Isan in the north-east and of Yawi in the south.
• The third group of policies was designed to encourage Thai nationalism in all the country’s people: obvious examples are the promotion of the king as a national figurehead, saluting the flag in school and the twice daily broadcasts of the national anthem on radio and television. Encouraging Thai nationalism had the obvious side-effect of discouraging other loyalties, such as that to Laos in Isan or that to Malaysia in the south.
• Finally, policies which were not overtly nationalistic could nevertheless have the effect of promoting nationalism. Increasing school attendance, for example, when coupled with the proscription of minority languages in schools, had the effect of discouraging the use of those languages in favour of Thai.

Thaification is also partly a natural result of participation in the society of a modern nation state. Central Thailand being economically and politically dominant, as well as geographically central, its language became the language of the media and of business. Equally, its values became the national values. Central Thai culture’s being the culture of wealth and status made it hugely attractive to those on the edge economically and socially. The Thai Trai Rong flag on a BTS station as it waves pass the 50 story CentralWorld office building in the heart of Bangkok The Wat Phra Kaew temple complex Bangkok, officially known as Krung Thep in Thai ( ), is the capital and largest city of Thailand, with an official 2000... The Thai language (Thai: , transcription: phasa thai; IPA: ), is the national and official language of Thailand and the mother tongue of the Thai people, Thailands dominant ethnic group. ... Students in Rome, Italy. ... Isan (also Isaan or Esarn) is the language of the Isan region of Thailand. ... Yawi, known as Melayu Pattani in Malay is a Pattani dialect of Malay. ... Following the 1932 revolution which imposed constitutional limits on the monarchy, Thai politics were dominated for a half century by a military and bureaucratic elite. ... Flag ratio: 2:3 The flag of Thailand shows five horizontal stripes in the colours red, white, blue, white and red. ... Phleng Chat (เพลงชาติ) is the national anthem of Thailand. ... A nation-state is a specific form of state, which exists to provide a sovereign territory for a particular nation, and which derives its legitimacy from that function. ...

References

• Thongchai Winichakul. Siam Mapped. University of Hawaii Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8248-1974-8
• Wyatt, David. Thailand: A Short History (2nd edition). Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-300-08475-7