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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Southern Thai of Thailand

The Southern Thai of Thailand, numbering approximately 5,515,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Thailand They are an Indigenous people, in the Thai people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Buddhism - Theravada. They primarily speak Thai, Southern.

Southern Thai in Thailand photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Mama Belle and the kids - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Thailand
People Cluster: Thai
Primary Language(s): Thai, Southern (sou)
Primary Religion(s): Buddhism - Theravada
Population: 5,515,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022380
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Southern 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Buddhism - Theravada
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

%
Buddhism - Theravada Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Thai, Southern
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

%
Thai, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Thai, Southern:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Thai, Southern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Thai, Southern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Southern Thai

The Southern Thai are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Southern Thai

The Southern 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.

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

Next steps for the Southern Thai

The Southern Thai are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Southern Thai of Thailand

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
readPsalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Ask God to raise up believers who will faithfully proclaim the good news and equip others to do the same.

Thai, Southern (ROP3 - 109517) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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