People dedicated to preserving ancient Thai script in Nghe An

Struggling with ancient Thai script

For many years, Meritorious Artisan Vi Kham Mun in Xieng Lip village, Yen Hoa commune (formerly Tuong Duong district) has been known as an expert in Lai Pao Thai script. Originally a retired teacher, from attending Mr. Lo Van Thoai's Thai script class, as an excellent student, he became a Thai script teacher.

From 2010 to 2020, he taught many classes, an average of about 6 classes per year, with a total of hundreds of students. To facilitate teaching, Mr. Mun took the trouble to compile teaching materials.Lai Pao Thai script, is evaluated by students as easy to understand and convenient for learning and studying.

Along with teaching Thai, Mr. Mun also spent time traveling to villages to collect ancient stories, folk songs, and proverbs of the Thai people and compiled them into works. These works were written in the national language and Thai Lai Pao, and were highly appreciated and awarded by the Vietnam Folklore Arts Association.

Meritorious Artist Vi Kham Mun confided: “My greatest joy is when I stand on the podium, teaching Thai characters to students. There, I can express my passion, enthusiasm and share my knowledge with the community so that this precious asset can be spread…”.

Also awarded the title of Meritorious Artisan by the State, Mr. Sam Van Binh in Yen Luom village, Quy Hop commune (former Quy Hop district) is a famous expert in Thai Lai Tay script. Graduated as a Marine Engineer, but Mr. Binh did not follow the call of the ships but returned to his village to quietly study the writing of his ancestors.

He took advantage of studying anytime, anywhere, learning from the elderly and shamans to master the writing and structure of Thai Lai Tay, so his vocabulary became increasingly rich. When he became an expert in Thai, Meritorious Artist Sam Van Binh was invited to teach at classes.teachThai Lai Tay script.

To serve the teaching purpose, Artisan Sam Van Binh has compiled a 2-volume guide to learning Thai characters in Lai Tay with a total of 41 lessons, from easy to difficult, from basic to advanced.

In addition, Mr. Binh has also compiled and published many cultural works in Thai, contributing to popularizing and spreading Thai culture in the village community. To date, he has taught over 10 classes, with a total of over 400 students.

Besides the Meritorious Artists Vi Kham Mun and Sam Van Binh, in Nghe An there are many people who are qualified to teach Thai in the community. This is the important force that helps Thai to be popularized and spread, contributing to the preservation of the value of national identity.

Joy spreads

In Nghe An, the teaching and dissemination of Thai script has been focused on for about 20 years, organized by the district (old) and provincial levels. In particular, in 2006, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 84 on supporting the preservation and development of ethnic minority culture in Nghe An until 2020, including the preservation of Thai script.

According to the leaders of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, from 2006 to the time Decision 84 expired (2020), the Ethnic Minorities Committee (the name of the Department at that time) had consulted and organized 81 Thai language classes with 3,260 students. There was a time when learning Thai language became a vibrant movement in the (old) mountainous districts.

In addition to community classes, Thai language teaching is also implemented for cadres, civil servants and teachers. Since 2014, the Provincial People's Committee has issued Decision 6147 approving the Thai language training and development project.ethnic minoritiesfor cadres, civil servants and public employees working in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; require cadres and teachers working in ethnic minority and mountainous areas to know at least one ethnic minority language.

To implement this, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Nghe An Vocational Continuing Education Center to organize training in Thai language and Thai script for cadres, civil servants and public employees. The Center has a team of experienced Thai script teachers, dedicated to the profession and with a sense of learning and advancement, including 7 permanent teachers and 4 guest teachers.

Up to now, the center has organized 178 Lai Tay Thai classes, 10 Lai Pao Thai classes with more than 10,000 students receiving certificates.

“

The teaching and dissemination of Thai script in recent times has been truly effective, contributing significantly to the preservation of Thai ethnic culture. To continue to promote effectiveness, it is necessary to improve the qualifications of teachers, expand the teaching subjects, and pay more attention to pupils and students…”.

Ms. Hoang Thi Hoai An - Deputy Director of Nghe An Center for Continuing Education and Career Guidance