Without a doubt, China and Chinese culture have some obvious influences on Thailand and Thai culture. In addition, some Thais are descendants of Chinese who moved to Thailand several years ago. As a result of these factors, you may be wondering if Thais speak Mandarin, which is otherwise called Standard Chinese.
Normally, Thai people are not able to speak Mandarin because the Chinese language is not their native language. However, some young Thai people have dedicated lots of time to learning Mandarin. As a result of this, those individuals may be able to speak Mandarin.
It is noteworthy that Mandarin is not even seen as some of the most important foreign languages in Thailand. As a result of this, you will likely find more Thais that speak English and other foreign languages than those speaking Mandarin. Having noted this, there is a good percentage of Chinese immigrants in Thailand.
What is Mandarin?
Mandarin is the language of Chinese people and is spoken by over 1 billion individuals in different parts of the world. Given this, it is considered the most widely spoken language on the planet. Also known as Standard Chinese, Mandarin is the official language of hundreds of millions of people living in Mainland China as well as Singapore and Taiwan. In addition, millions of people in Macau, Hong Kong, Tibet, and Malaysia speak this Chinese language.
Due to the large population of Chinese people in different countries globally, Mandarin is also well-spoken in other countries outside of Asia. According to World Population Review, if you visit the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Madagascar, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Mauritius, etc., you will find lots of people speaking this language.
However, it should be understood that Mandarin is not the only language spoken in China. Apart from Standard Chinese, there are other 296 living languages spoken in this Asian country today. As a consequence of this, there are tons of people in China that don’t even speak Mandarin.
Do descendants of ancient Chinese immigrants in Thailand speak Mandarin?
Of course, it is well established that some citizens of Thailand are descendants of Chinese immigrants. In other words, their ancestors came from several decades ago and settled in Thailand. As a result of this, these people are sometimes called Thai-Chinese. Nonetheless, some of them don’t like the association with China for a wide range of reasons. Consequently, such individuals prefer to be called Thais, instead of Thai-Chinese.
Given this, it is possible to assume that the Thai-Chinese in Thailand will be able to speak Mandarin. Unfortunately, this is not true as the majority of the Chinese who immigrated to Thailand came from Teochew, Hokkien, and other non-Mandarin-speaking parts of China. Even the original immigrants didn’t speak Mandarin; hence, it is irrational to expect their descendants to speak the language.
Therefore, the presence of descendants of Chinese immigrants in Thailand doesn’t really increase the number of Mandarin speakers.
How many people speak Mandarin in Thailand?
Factually, it can be quite difficult to determine the specific amount of people speaking Mandarin in Thailand at the moment. However, as noted by the United Nations Statistics Division, more than 230,000 individuals could speak the Chinese language in Thailand in 2000. But by 2010, the number had fallen drastically to just over 110,000 people.
This suggested that Mandarin had become less important in the Land of Smiles within 10 years. Nonetheless, many sources have suggested that many young Thais are learning Mandarin as they would like to be able to communicate fluently with Chinese people. According to CSmonitor.com, there are language schools in Bangkok that are teaching young Thais that want to learn Mandarin.
Furthermore, Chinese people love traveling a lot. So, it is not strange that Thailand has strong communities of Chinese who recently moved into the country. A good percentage of such recent immigrants speak Standard Chinese. Hence, these people may add to the number of Mandarin speakers in this Southeast Asian nation.
Why are some young Thais learning Mandarin Chinese?
As stated above, many young Thais are attending language schools and using other opportunities to learn Mandarin. So, why is this so? A few of the reasons are:
- To learn more about the culture and philosophical wealth of China
When it comes to cultural heritage, China is one of the richest countries in the world. Besides, the Chinese culture and philosophy have influenced people from different parts of the world. As a result, many young Thais are drawn to the cultural and philosophical wealth of China. To learn it, some of the younger generations of Thais have dedicated their time to learning Mandarin
- To explore business opportunities
China has grown to become one of the economic powerhouses on earth. As long as business opportunities are concerned, only a few countries can compete with this Asian country. So, it is not surprising that many younger Thais are looking toward China for business opportunities. For smooth communication, some of these Thais are learning Mandarin, which is the most widely spoken Chinese language.
Do you need Mandarin in Thailand?
From all the points explained above, you can deduce that you don’t need to understand Mandarin when you are in Thailand. If you are a tourist, you may not come across any Mandarin speakers throughout your stay in the country. But if you want to explore the business opportunities provided by non-Thai Chinese in Thailand, the language may come in handy. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you will miss the opportunities if you don’t speak Mandarin.
If you need any foreign language in Thailand, the English language will be your best choice. It is spoken by many Thai locals and foreigners in the country.
Conclusion
As explained in this article, Thai people are not able to speak Mandarin because it is not their language. In Thailand, only a handful of people can speak this Chinese language. Even the majority of Chinese descendants (Thai-Chinese) in the country don’t speak Mandarin.
