The linguistic situation in Thailand

The language policies of Thailand in the 20th century were strictly in favor of a unified "national Thai language", which proved to be quite successful. Nonetheless, there are still other Thai varieties in use by different groups (e.g., Lao), sometimes restricted to specific domains (e.g., Lanna), as well as a number of marginal Tibeto-Burman languages, especially in the north. The speakers of Mon-Khmer languages and Malay varieties are more numerous as cross-border minorities. A high percentage of Thai are of Chinese descent, with many (older) people still speaking (mostly) Teochew and Hakka. They belong to various layers of migrants and sojourners from Southern China, as well as migrants from Yunnan and from Malaysia, respectively.