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People of Thailand
I've just returned from a two week trip to Thailand, so I'm going to share with you my anthropological impressions of natives as well as foreigners (to be done later).
Thais:
There is a very powerful difference between North and South Thais. If you look on the map, there is a narrow strip of land that separates mainland from Malacca Peninsula, of which a part is now in Thailand.
Northern Thais are exceptionally mixed: they look like a blend of AustroAsiatics (hence many similarities to Khmers and Burmese) and proto-Thai. Those that look AustroAsiatic have rectangular heads, shorter stature, stocky constitution, darkish pigmentation, many with underdeveloped/lacking epicanthic folds. Women belonging to this type are very ugly as a rule, but at the same time they have a few good traits such as gracile hands and feet. Those that look proto-Thai are quite tall, light skinned, boyish constitution and they all have epicanthic folds. They would be relatively similar to Southern Chinese, minus the flat nose and distanced eye sockets. Women belonging to this type are less ugly, but they don't have any shapes at all.
Southern Thais blend above with indigenous Veddoid/Negrito. I was absolutely shocked to see nappy haired South African (Khoi) looking individuals, but they continue to exist even after 6000 years of Mongoloid migrations.
Malays:
A large section of Southern Thailand continues to be inhabited by Muslims, all of Malay origin (some have assimilated and now only speak Thai, though). Looks wise, they are not similar at all to Thais, even though both are Mongoloid: they are much shorter, all with olive complexion, softer featured. They are FAR better looking than Thais: women have shapes, feminine facial structure, but they also tend to fatten up. There is even a Caucasoid influence in some (I've seen people with green eyes!).
Sea Gypsies or Moken
The entire boating industry in SW Thailand is ran by indigenous Sea Gypsies (Moken), who traditionally spoke an Austronesian language very far from Malay. They look extremely different from Thais/Malays nearby: skin pigmentation is very dark, Veddoid features are omnipresent (some people look straight Australoid). Features wise, they resemble Polynesians or people of Eastern Indonesia. Those showing Negrito traits have a tendency to have brown hair color with blondish hues when young (similar to Melanesians).
Chinese:
In Bangkok in particular, I saw lots of ethnic Chinese: you could tell them apart of Thais easily. I would venture to say those that remained unmixed fit better as Mongolians or Koreans than Thais. To test my skills, I've asked all taxi drivers that drove me there about their ethnicities and I was spot on: I correctly identified someone from Isan (Lao) vs the Chinese. Apparently, there are lots of Chinese in Phuket, too, but they are so mixed with Thais you can't really tell them apart.
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Originally Posted by Dna8
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