The Existence Of The

Mythical Origin Of The

Tai People
Herni Henry

Poraman Jaruworn
Myth are a form of narratives that existed before
written records.
In Thailand, both oral myths and written historical
myths can be found.
The historical myths are usually composed of two
parts: a mythical part which relates supernatural
events, followed by a historical part which tends to be
chronologically dated.

 Thai myths are of various in kinds. There are myths

that explain nature or natural phenomenon, such as
creation myth, rice myths, solar and lunar eclipse

myths and rain myth.

There are also myths that explain the origin of culture
heroes, and myth of ancient places.

Khun Borom Rachathirath

According to the myth of Khun Borom, commonly
related among Tai speaking peoples, people in ancient
times were wicked and crude.
A great deity destroyed them with a flood, leaving only
three worhty chiefs who were preserved in heaven to
be the founders and guides for a new race of people.

 The deity sent the three chiefs back to the earth

with a buffalo to help them till the end. The
chiefs and the buffalo arrived in the land of
Muang Then (believed to be present-day Dien
Bien Phu in Vietnam).

 Once the land had been prepared for rice

cultivation, the buffalo died and a gourd
vine grew from his nostril. From the gourds
on the vine, the new human race
emergedrelatively
dark-skinned aboriginal peoples emerging
from gourds cut open with a hot poker, and
the lighter skinned Lao emerging from cuts
made with a chisel

 The gods then taught the Tai peoples how to build

houses and cultivate rice. They were instructed in

proper rituals and behaviour, and grew prosperous.

As their population grew, they needed aid in governing

their relations and resolving disputes. Indra, the king of
gods, sent his son, Khun Borom, to be the ruler of the

Tai people. Khun Borom ruled the Tai people for 25

years, teaching them to use new tools and other arts.

 After this quarter-century span, Khun Borom divided

the Tai kingdom among his seven sons, giving each
one of them a portion of the kingdom to rule. The
eldest son, Khon Lo, was given the Dian Kingdom
modern-day Kunming. Other sons were assigned to

conquer the Jiuli tribes.

 history of the Tai people in Southeast Asia.

Versions of the Khun Borom myth occur as early
as 698 CE in Siang Khwang, and identify Taispeaking kingdoms that would be formally
established years later. This may indicate the
early geographical spread of Tai-speaking
peoples,
and
provides
a
mythological
explanation for why modern Tai-speaking
peoples are found in such widespread pockets.

 Linguistic analysis indicates that the

division of the early Tai speakers into the
language groups that gave rise to
modern Thai , Lao and other languages
occurred sometime between the 7th and
11th centuries CE. This split proceeded
along geographic lines very similar to the
division given in the Khun Borom legend.

 Some interpreters of the story of Khun Borom

believe that it describes Tai-speaking peoples
arriving in Southeast Asia from China (mythically
identified with heaven, from which the Tai chiefs
emerge after the flood). The system of dividing
and expanding a kingdom in order to provide for
the sons of a ruler agrees in general with the
apparent organization and succession practices
of ancient Tai village groups was called mueang.

 Khun Bourom Maharasa dynasty - The great King of the Nan Chao
(Ai Lao) Empire. Khun Borom had nine sons, and seven of them
became kings in different kingdoms in "Lamthong":
- "Khun Lor" ruled Moung Sawa (Sua), (Luang Phrabang, Laos)
-"Khun Palanh" ruled Sipsong Panna, (Yunnan, China)
-"Khun Chusong" ruled Tung Kea, (Muang Huao-Phanh to Tonkin,
Vietnam)
- "Khun Saiphong" ruled Lanna, (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
- "Khun Ngua In" ruled Ayuthaya, (Thailand)
- "Khun Lok-Khom" ruled Moung Hongsa (Inthaputh), (Shan state,
Burma)
- "Khun Chet-Cheang" ruled Moung Phuan, (Xieng Khouang, Laos).
There were 19 kings after Khun Lor who ruled Muang Sawa (Sua).
The last one was Khun Vaang.

 After his death, his son who was named "Lang", took the throne and
was then named "King Langthirath". After King Langthirath died, his

son (Thao Khamphong) was crowned as "King Souvanna

Khamphong." After King Souvanna Khamphong died, his son "Chao
Fifah" or "Khamhiao" took the throne. Chao Fifah (Khamhiao) had

six sons and one of them was "Chao Fa-Ngum". King Fa Ngum was
the creator of the Lan Xang Kingdom during his reign in the 13th
century.
Both King Mangrai of Chiang Mai and Uthong of Ayutthaya are said
to have been descendants of Khum Borom's younger sons.

Reference
Wyatt, David K., Thailand: A Short History,
New Haven (Yale University Press), 2003.
Poramin Jaruworn., The Roles of the Buddha
in Thai Myths: Reflections on the attempt to
integrate Buddhism into Thai local beliefs,
Bangkok (Chulalongkorn University), 2003.