In 2000, the national statistics cited 50,211 individuals of Siamese ethnicity in Malaysia. Among these, 38,353 (or 76.4% of them) hold Malaysian citizenship.[3]
Culture
The Malaysian Siamese community share cultural similarities with the natives who inhabit the Malay Peninsula. Community activities, ethnolinguistic identity and languages spoken by Malaysian Siamese are similar to their brethren in the fourteen provinces of Southern Thailand as well as the southernmost Burmese.
The Malaysian Siamese lead a way of life similar to other Malaysian Malays. Malaysian Siamese still have the strong belief and practices of Buddhism while the Malaysian Malays have adopted Islam since the 14th century. The Malaysian Siamese are well established in the northernmost states of Malaysia, namely Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Penang, Terengganu and Kelantan.[4] One could not differentiate a Malay or a Siamese if they are not speaking their mother tongue. The only distinctive mark among them is their religion and language.[4] Otherwise Malaysian Siamese are like Malays as they also speak fluent local Malay dialects. Majority of Malaysian Siamese can read and write in Thai because there is Thai language learning and teaching in the schools which were established inside the village temples since 1943. They also often follow news in Thailand, watch Thai dramas and listen to Thai music.[5]
The Malaysian Siamese often get patronage from the state governments for their community's well-being. Often, temples are given generous fundings by Thailand's government.[6] Their community are also known for the making of traditional medicine.[7]
Religion
The Malaysian Siamese predominantly profess Buddhism and the predominant form of Buddhism is Theravāda Buddhism which is centred in their place of worship called Wat. The Malaysian Siamese's lives are closely tied to their temples (Wat). Monks have a significant role in strengthening communities and encouraging villagers to participate in traditional Buddhist ceremonies and rituals on important religious days like (Uposatha Days, Magha Puja, Visakha Puja, Buddhist Lent (Vassa), and End of Buddhist Lent (Kathina)) to preserve the Siamese-Buddhist cultural identity. Most of them settled around temples and consider them as centers for holding religious ceremonies, cultural and social activities.[5]
There also exist a small Thai-speaking Muslim minority called Samsam. The government has put them in the Bumiputera (specifically Malay) category and most have already assimilated into the Malay populace, no longer identifying as Siamese.[8][9][4]
^Siri Neng Beh (2010). "Masyarakat Malaysia Keturunan Siam". Report on the Roundtable Discussion on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities and Marginalised Communities in Malaysia (in Malay). Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. pp. 36–42. ISBN978-983-2523-64-2.
^ abcMohamed Yusoff Ismail (1987). "Buddhism and Ethnicity: The Case of the Siamese of Kelantan". Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. 2 (2). ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute: 231–254. doi:10.1355/SJ2-2D. JSTOR41056730.
^Salmah Omar; Rafidah Mohamad Cusairi; Shariffah Suraya Syed Jamaludin; Philip Lepun (2017). "Pengunaan tumbuh-tumbuhan dalam Perubatan Tradisional Masyarakat Siam di Negeri Kedah" [The use of plants in Traditional Medicine of the Siamese Community in the State of Kedah] (PDF) (in Malay). Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor. p. 2/14. Retrieved 21 March 2019. Masyarakat Siam di Malaysia kebanyakannya menetap di kawasan Utara Semenanjung Malaysia iaitu di Kedah, Perlis, Perak, Kelantan dan sebahagian kecil di negeri Terengganu. Sebahagian besar masyarakat Siam menetap di Kedah iaitu berjumlah 30,000 orang, 13,000 orang di Kelantan, 6,000 di Perlis dan 2,000 di Perak.
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