The person who 'passes on the flame' of Thai ethnic culture in Nghe An

In Quy Chau district, many people know Ms. Sam Thi Xanh as a dedicated artist in mobilizing students and people to preserve and promote the cultural identity of the Thai ethnic group.

As a teacher who retired in 2010, she spent a lot of time with her passion for culture and arts. In 2011, she attended an ancient Thai class and joined the Thai Script Club. After that, she researched and studied more about ancient Thai script and discussed with the club members the decision to open a class to teach Thai ethnic culture to students and local people.

Sharing about the early days of opening a class to teach Thai ethnic culture, Ms. Sam Thi Xanh said that many families did not want their children to attend because they wanted them to focus on studying cultural subjects at school. Many people also thought that learning Thai culture was learning to sing Nhuon and Xuoi songs, which was unnecessary, because when society developed, fewer people would listen and there was no need to deeply understand ethnic minority culture. Along with that, some members of the club were old, so their children did not want their parents to "carry the prison and the whole village".

These difficulties have made the mobilization of students and people to study Thai culture not as expected, the number of registrations is not much, mainly children of club members.

However, overcoming those difficulties, with the spirit of solidarity and enthusiasm, the members of the Thai ethnic culture club did not hesitate to go to each house to encourage parents and students to come home during the summer vacation to participate in learning Thai culture. The results were beyond expectations, for many years, every summer, dozens of students have participated in learning Thai culture.

With the trust of the people, from 2011 to present, Ms. Sam Thi Xanh has been elected as Vice President of the Thai Cultural Club in Hoa Tien village, Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district. After nearly 13 years of persistent efforts, the Club has changed the previous thinking of the people. Up to now, organizing cultural and artistic activities has become a widespread movement throughout the village.

On every occasion of a village festival, ethnic cultural features such as ethnic costumes, nhuon and xuoi singing, playing folk games, bamboo dancing, and carving are the highlights and pride of every Hoa Tien villager and the entire Chau Tien commune.
Sharing her experience in organizing the teaching of Thai ethnic culture, Ms. Sam Thi Xanh confided: "Fortunately, as a retired teacher, I have always nurtured a deep love for culture and accumulated skills in organizing classes.

In order for the teaching content to be deeply imprinted in the minds of the students and learners, it must depend on each subject, but most importantly, the class must be truly open and fun so that the learners can easily understand and remember. Therefore, when standing in front of the students, the grandparents in the club organized to teach the children to sing lam, sing nhuon, dance lam vong, dance bamboo poles, carve the field, play gongs, creating a space of "learning while playing, playing while learning".

Since 2013, Meritorious Artist Sam Thi Xanh has joined the club to open 21 Thai classes with 170 students who can read and write fluently, many of which have been organized by the Provincial Ethnic Committee to teach to other communes. Many students of the club have won high prizes from competitions organized at district and provincial levels.
In particular, since 2011, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district and Hoa Tien commune have had a policy of building Hoa Tien community tourism village, linking tourism development with preserving and promoting the ancient Thai ethnic culture. This is an opportunity for the Thai ethnic culture to be promoted and spread in the community.

Up to now, the Nhuon, Lam, and Xap melodies have become specialties of Hoa Tien community tourism village, creating an attraction, attracting more and more groups of visitors to visit and experience; contributing to promoting the development of tourism in Quy Chau district.

Not only devoted to preserving and promoting the cultural identity of the Thai ethnic group, Ms. Sam Thi Xanh also does a good job in social work in the locality. From 2020 to now, as Vice President of the Association of the Elderly in Chau Tien Commune, Member of the Fatherland Front Committee of the Commune and Head of the Association of the Elderly in Hoa Tien 2 Village, she has always actively participated in all areas of work, and has been recognized for many consecutive years as an excellent association at the district and provincial levels.
With her own efforts and enthusiasm, proactively advising on the implementation of assigned tasks in the above-mentioned fields, in 2022, Ms. Sam Thi Xanh was honored to be awarded the title of "Meritorious Artisan" by the President for her outstanding contributions in preserving and promoting the nation's intangible cultural heritage. In 2023, she was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee.

It is an honor and also a responsibility for Meritorious Artisan Sam Thi Xanh to continue to contribute and pass on her passion to the younger generation to preserve and promote Thai cultural values...