J.G. Scott (Gazetter of Upper Burma and Shan State, GUBSS, 1,1,219-20.) wrote that Siam was " the most advanced and civilized people" in the region but did not furnish any historical record of their early history
Jitr Poomsug wrote in " The History of the words– Siam-Thai-Lao and Khom, p. 99 " that the oldest word of "Siam " was found at the inscription of 639 AD in Cambodia (Inscriptions du Cambodge II, Coedes p 70 cf. Corpus de Inscriptions du Cambodge I, planche XXXII) in a name of a person who donated land to the house of God .
In the Cham (Champa ) inscription, as early as mid-eleventh century, it mentioned about taking Syam prisoners along with Khmers (Etienne Aymonier: Premere etude sure les inscriptions tchames, Journal Asiatique (1891), 49, 50-2. )
There was a scene of " Siamese mercenaries’ sculpted in the bas-reliefs on the wall of Angkor ( Wat ), Cambodia , around the middle of twelfth century. They were recorded as "Syam-kuk" by the Khmers
Jitr Poomsug opinioned that "Syam-kuk" was the Siamese from Kuk river area in Chiang Rai province, of the northern part of today Thailand. Srisakara Vallibhotama thought that they were from NakornPanom area in northeast Thailand. M.C. Subhadradis Diskul opinioned that they were from Sukothai area.
In a Pali document from Northern Thailand in 1516, wrote of events in 1339,mentioned "Sukhotayapura" in "Syamadesa", which meant the city of Sukothai in the country of Syam (Coedes. Laos Occidental, Bulletin de l'ecole Francais).
The word " Sayam " originated from a Pali word "Sama" which means " black, yellow, green, golden color ". ( Pali-English Dictionary , Rhys Davids, The Pali Text Society, London .
It is well known that the area where Siam/Thailand locates, has been called in Pali as"Suvarnabhumi "or "the Land of Gold", Suvarna= Gold, bhumi= land ". The area was also recorded in 230 A.D. in Chinese book as " Jin-lin "( Gold peninsular ). The Thai peoples who now live in the area also have called the area as "Lam Thong "( Gold peninsular ). Therefore it is most likely that the name " Sayam " or "Siam" is used for the meaning as " gold ".( The History of the names Siam and Thailand by Pridi Panomyong, B.E. 2517 p 4-5)
Some Westerners in the past thought that "Sayam " or "Siam" meant " brown race or brown people ". This idea is probably incorrect, due to Westerner 's idea to classify people by skin color of people ( White, Black,Yellow )" Siam " is a variant spelling of " Sayam ". Different ethnics have different pronunciations, e.g. Sien by Chinese , Shan or Sham by Burmese, Sem by Mon , Suem or Sem or Siem by Cambodian, and Siao by Portuguese.
Chou Ta-kuan, a Chinese envoy was the first person who recorded the word " Sien " in Chinese language after he spent almost a year during 1296-1297 at the court of Chenla ( Cambodia ). Then Chinese used the word " Sien " to refer to "Sukothai " of today Thailand. About 50 years later, a Chinese recorded that " Sien " was defeated by Lohu ( Lavo, or Lopburi of today Thailand ).The time was very close to the establishment of Ayutthya as a capital. The Chinese then called Ayutthya as Sien-Lohu, and Sienlo.D G E Hall, Professor Emeritus, University of London, wrote in " A History of South East Asia; Macmillan & Co, 1964, p. 158 -159"
" The Shans, the Laotians and the Siamese are all descended from a parent racial group, cognate to the Chinese, which is thought to have made it 1st historical in the sixth century BC "
Page 159 " At about the same time the T'ai chiefs of Chieng Rung andChieng Sen on the upper Mekong made a marriage alliance. To this period also the legendary mass migration of T'ais along the Nam U river to the site of the present Luang Prabang may possibly ascribed.
In 1238 two T'ai chiefs attacked and defeated the Khmer commander
at Sukhot'ai, then the capital of the north-western part of Angkor empire and established there centre of a T'ai kingdom
David K. Wyatt, Professor of History, Cornell University wrote in "Thailand: A Short History; Yale University Press 1984 p. 53 " aboutthe Tai who established the Sukothai Kingdom:
" Who were these men and where did they come from?
Because they believed that certain spirits- dwelling in caves or on mountains located to the north of Nan River valley and the Nam U valley of North Laos- would protect them, it is thought that their ancestors came from those regions. The language of their earliest inscriptions similarly suggests an affinity with the White Tai "
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The word " Sukhot'ai " means " The Tai is happy (Sukho ) " The spelling as "Tai" was used first in the inscription of 1283 when the Tai alphabets was first invented by King RamKhamHang. The word "Tai" was used to call the people and her language.Then about 100 years later, the spelling as "Thai" was used due to the influence of Pali-Sansakrit language which came with Theravada Buddhism from Ceylon. The word "Thai " in Pali means "free".
From old record of Lan Na ( northern part of today Thailand ), her people also called themselves as " Tai " and then changed to " Thai ". Penth Hans found that the early Lan Na inscription in 1370 used the word " Tai" then the word "Thai" was used about 140 years later
The people of today Thailand have the same pronunciation for both of the words "Tai" and "Thai " which they use to call themselves and their language.
P. A. Thomson wrote in "Siam; J. B Millet Co, Boston 1910, p. 22
" In the south the Tai-Shans mingled with Malays and Cambodians,and their descendants are darker than those of their cousins, who remained behind in the highlands of the north. It will be convenient to speak henceforth of this southern branch of Tai-Shan race as the Siamese, while the northern branch is divided into the Laos on the east, and the Shans on the west.
Simon de La Loubere, a French envoy to Ayutthaya in 1687 wrote in his " A New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam ( 1693, p 6-7) that " The name of Siam is unknown to the Siamese…..The Siamese give to themselves the name of Tai or Free .....And those that understand the Language of Pegu, affirm that Siam in that Tongue signifies Free.....In a word, the Siamese, of whom I treat, do call themselves Tai Noi"
Dr.Engelbert Kaempfer who once became secretary of an Embassy from King of Sweden to the King of Persia and later joined the Dutch East India Company then travelling throufg Far East and stayed in Japan for 2 years then returned to Europe in 1693. In his book " The History of Japan ", he wrote..."The Kingdom of Siam is by the Natives called Muan Thai, which is as much as to say, the Land Thai.....The Malagans and Peguans call its Tziam, from whence comes the European name Siam.
Even the neighbors or foreigners use the word " Siam " but the Siamese used the name of her capitals as the name of the kingdom or nation e.g. Sukhotai (Sukhothai), KrungSriAyuddhaya (Ayutthaya).
The Thai or Tai people of the today Thailand had never called themselves "Siamese " nor her country as "Siam "
In the treaties with other countries from Ayutthya period until early Bangkok era, the word " Siam " were used in European languages but the Krung Sri Ayuddhaya (Ayutthaya ) name was used in Thai language and " Siam " was used in Englsih.
Later on, Siam was used in treaties with foreign nations and also in some Thai documents.This is a picture of 1st treaty with USA in 1832 which showed that the Krung Sri Ayuddhaya (Ayutthaya ) name was used in Thai language.
On October 3, BE 2482 ( 1939 ), the constitution was amended to officially use " Pradesh Thai "(Thai country) as the name of the country in Thai language but used "Siam" in English and French.
In 1948, "Siam" ( in English and French ) was officially changed to Thailand ( in English). Therefore the word "Tai" in European books before 1948 and after 1948 which which use the word "Tai" from the older book, could be either the word " Tai " or " Thai " of nowadays.
At a meeting of The Constitutional Drafting Assembly in 1961, there was a vote for the name of the country . The name " Thailand " was overwhelming supported by 134 votes, but only 5 votes for "Siam".
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