Well this is an interesting perspective you all placed in my country and my great people. Good inputs on the history of the Thai, but your inputs of raciology infer a colonialistic point of view to the thread and implies an inferior-superior status on different racial groups ( as the raciology theory was ment to do).
The Thai people belong to the Ai-Lao group of people which are not only Thai, but includes Laotians, Shan and Karen ethnic groups of northeastern Burma as well as the Tai groups of present day Yunnan province in China.
The word 'Thai' is nothing more than a national identity, the Thai people and the Lao people actually are related culturally and ethnically to the Tai ethnic group in china and we lived in Yunnan (once called Nang Zhou or Nanchao) by the Han Chinese. This was our historical birthplace and land that were forced of with the influx of the Han Dynasty, forcing the Tai people in an ethnic diaspora to the golden lands of the south. Some settled in northern vietnam, laos, modern day Thailand and parts of burma and north easter India.
When the Tai groups arrived in present day Thailand, the land was already occupied by the Khmer Empire, which is now present day Cambodia. Khmer Empire was influenced by Indian empires such as the Chandra Gupta Mauraya Empire and King Ashoka's empire to spread brahimism and buddhism. Hence the the Khmers were culturally Indian. When we Thais arrived to the lands of present day Thailand, we formed small princedoms and formed the state of Sri Sukkothai (first great empire of Thailand) and ousted the Khmer Empire of our lands. Thais of course adopted Khmer writing script (based of Indian Sanksrit) as well as adopted some methods in building and city admnistration as the Khmers had greatly mastered.
The fact that Thailand is so close to India allowed a lucrative trade with India and Thailand and allowed our recongition as the hegemonic power of S.E Asia.
Its true that Thailand is the cross roads for both India and Chinese traders..beautiful actually.
Proof of the beauty of our distinctly 'Thai' culture...