Cultural Assimilation of Vietnamese Thais in Muang District, Surat Thani Province

Abstract

This research paper aims to study cultural assimilation of Thai people of Vietnamese descent, Muang District, Surat Thani Province. A small number of Vietnamese Thais currently reside in Muang District, Surat Thani Province.They are the descendants of Vietnamese immigrants who were relocated from the Northeast region and detained in Surat Thani in 1952 for Thai security reasons. This article examines cultural assimilation and the factors that determine varying levels of cultural assimilation among Vietnamese Thais in Muang District, Surat Thani Province, through the lens of segmented assimilation theory. This study used qualitative research methods, document research, in-depth interviews with ten informants - five members of the first generation, four members of the second generation, and one member of the third generation - and participant observation of Vietnamese Thais' daily life and traditional culture. 

According to the study, first-generation Vietnamese immigrants married among themselves. They speak Vietnamese better than Thai. Their legal status is still stateless, and they are living in Thailand with an alien identification card.Second-generation Vietnamese Thais began to integrate into the society in which they were born and raised. Because they were educated in a Thai school system, they can read and write Thai well and fluently speak both Central Thai and Southern Thai dialects. Some people changed their surnames to Thai language and intermarried with Thai people living in the same area. This generation was granted Thai citizenship in 1990.The third generation was born and derived Thai citizenship.They cannot communicate in Vietnamese and live their lives in Thai’s way, so they began to reject "Vietnamness." The study discovered that different levels of cultural assimilation within and between generations were influenced by two levels of factors. Individual-level variables include the age at which they immigrated to Surat Thani, gender, education, and the economic status of their parents, whereas societal-level variables include length of cultural contact, acculturation strategies, and social support.