ANAM, VIỆT KIỀU: TRANSFORMING INTO THAI OF VIETNAMESE IN SIAM

Abstract

The migration of Vietnamese groups who have migrated to settle in Siam since the past which consisted of Anam and Viet Kieu. These groups have changed and adapted under the new situation and areas. Anam group has moved from the centered Hue in 1773 – 1819 whereas Viet Kieu group was known as the overseas Vietnamese. In the case of the Anam people, they have been finished the connection from their immigrant kingdom until changing the culture, language, belief, religion and food, then transformed into Siam. Anam sect is the only Buddhist sect that may have left as a symbol of the settlers of the Anam. The evidence indicated that monks from Anam sect who are now in Siam have turned to be like many Thai monks such as do not have dinner during night time, use only the yellow cloth, do not wear shoes and socks like monks from Chinese and Anam sects. For other observational practices and ceremonies, they still probably follow the Mahayana Buddhist style. In addition, monks from Anam sect have had the opportunity to perform a royal ceremony since the reign of King Chulalongkorn, and they have also been promoted as a hierarchical position same as Thai Sangha. Overseas Vietnamese who came to Siam during the post-World War II period in 1945, have received physical changes such as Thai dress code, Thai food, Thai dance, and playing long drums in a meeting among Viet Kieu people, hanging amulets, and speaking Thai clearly, paying respect and sticking the image of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen in their houses. This transformation has occurred under the absorbing condition of becoming Thai under the "Thai" policy of the Siamese government.