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The Thai of Thailand

The Thai of Thailand, numbering approximately 22,850,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolingustic community of Thailand, Central Thai comprise about one-third of Southeast Asia's Tai-Kadai language family. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Thai is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Central Thai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Thai
Primary Language(s): Thai (tha)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 22,850,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG010835
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Pray for the Thai of Thailand

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

98%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Thai
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Thai Speakers

Media Resources in Thai:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Thai:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
King James Version✓
Standard Version✓
Standard Version Revision✓
Thai Standard Version✓✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Thai bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Thai are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Thai:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Thai of Thailand

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
read2 Corinthians 3:16

Give thanks to God for believers around the world who are willing to cross cultures to share the gospel with those who are perishing. Pray that He will work through their witness to draw many to turn to Him.

Thai Across Countries (ROP3 - 101940) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ThaiPG010835ThaiThailand22,850,000Engaged yet UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG043650ThaiUnited States195,000Engaged yet UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG010719ThaiSingapore64,500Engaged yet UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG022375ThaiCambodia47,000Unengaged and UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG022044ThaiMyanmar45,500Unengaged and UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG018276ThaiMalaysia34,500Unengaged and UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG008070ThaiAustralia30,000Engaged yet UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG042413ThaiGermany20,500Engaged yet UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG050599ThaiHong Kong13,000Unengaged and UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG048524ThaiFrance10,500Unengaged and UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism
ThaiPG043487ThaiCanada9,200Engaged yet UnreachedThaiTheravada Buddhism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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