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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 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

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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: Kra-Dai

%
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

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
readPsalm 62:1

Pray that those who are troubled and don't know about the God who saves will hear the good news and find rest in the one true God who can offer salvation for their souls.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:5

While there are many who do not yet praise God, pray that He will work in their lives, advance the gospel among them, and bring many to saving faith in Christ.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
read2 Corinthians 6:14

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and want to marry, they will be led to other believers and enter into godly marriages.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

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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