Khom

For the scripts, see Khom script.

Khom (Thai: ขอม, pronounced [kʰɔ̌ːm]) is a Tai-language term referring to the people and civilization of the ancient Khmer Empire. Its use is recorded as early as the 12th century, though its exact meaning—whether it refers to a specific empire, a certain historical period, or the Khmer people in general—has been unclear throughout history.^[1] The term has been used extensively in 20th-century Thai history writing, partly as a way to disassociate the historical Angkorian civilization—of which many archaeological sites are spread throughout present-day Thailand—from the present-day Khmer people who form the majority population of Cambodia, whom many Thais still believe to be an inferior race unrelated to the people of the ancient empire. This discourse was popularized by 20th century Thai nationalist thinker Luang Wichitwathakan who asserted that contemporary Khmers are unrelated to the ethnic group responsible for the Angkorian civilization, coining the term "khom" for this purpose. By repurposing the term "khom" derived from the ancient Thai term "Khmer krom" meaning "lowland Khmer", Wichitwathakan attempted to create a new ethnicity to accentuate a distinct separation between Angkor and Cambodia, despite the ethnic continuity between Angkor's builders and present-day Khmer being well-established.^[2][3]

This is a commonly leveraged theme for anti-Khmer sentiment and historical negationism in Thai nationalist discourse.^[4]

See also

• Khom Thai script, a variant of the Khmer script used in Thailand

References

1. Denes, Alexandra (2022). "A Siamese Prince Journeys to Angkor". Journal of the Siam Society. 110 (1): 58.
2. Ünaldi, Serhat (2008). Reconstructing Angkor: Images of the Past and Their Impact on Thai-Cambodian Relations (PDF). Südostasien Working Papers. Vol. 33. Berlin: Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften. pp. 16–17.
3. Fry, Gerald W (2012-09-23). "Complex relations between Thais,Khmers". Nation Thailand. Retrieved 2023-11-13. First, many Thais think that Khom and Khmer are different peoples – with the Khom being the people who built the great Angkor empire and magnificent architecture and who are now extinct. They see the Khmer as a different people who now control Cambodia and who committed the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. In fact, the Khom and Khmer are the same people.
4. Vail, Peter (June 2007). "Thailand's Khmer as 'invisible minority': Language, ethnicity and cultural politics in north-eastern Thailand". Asian Ethnicity. 8 (2): 111–130. doi:10.1080/14631360701406247. ISSN 1463-1369.Kasetsiri, Charnvit (16 March 2003). "Thailand and Cambodia: A Love-Hate Relationship". Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. No. 3. cited in ibid.