Southern Thai ( ), also known as Dambro ( ), Pak Tai (), or "Southern language" (), is a Southwestern Tai ethnolinguistic identity and language spoken in southern Thailand as well as by small communities in the northernmost Malaysian states. It is spoken by roughly five million people, and as a second language by the 1.5 million speakers of Pattani and other ethnic groups such as the local Peranakans communities, Negritos, and other tribal groups. Most speakers are also fluent in or understand the Central Thai dialects. Classification Southern Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages—others being Thai, Northern Thai and numerous smaller languages, which together with the Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form the Southwestern branch of Tai languages. The Tai languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family, which encompasses a large number of indigenous languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Guangxi south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border. Dialects Phonyarit (2018) recognizes the following nine main dialects of Southern Thai, based on tone split and merger patterns. Southern Thai (Eastern) Nakhonsithammarat dialect (Standard), spoken in the upper part of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and southern part of Surat Thani Province Thungsong dialect, spoken in the lower part of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and surrounding provinces such as Phatthalung Songkhla dialect, spoken in Songkhla and surrounding provinces, except in Hat Yai District, where Central Thai with southern loanwords is spoken Syburi dialect, spoken in Syburi (Kedah), Palis and Satun Province Southern Thai (Western) Chaiya dialect, spoken in the northern part of Surat Thani Province and Ranong Province, classified as a dialect of the Peranakans Chumphon dialect, spoken in Chumphon Province and the southern part of Prachuap Khiri Khan Provinces Phuket dialect, spoken by Peranakans in Phuket Province, Krabi Province, Trang Province and Phang Nga Provinces Samui dialect, spoken in Samui District and Pha-ngan District Takbai dialect Takbai dialect, spoken by the Siamese minority in Patani Distribution In Thailand, speakers of Southern Thai can be found in a contiguous region beginning as far north as southern part of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province and extending southward to the border with Malaysia. Smaller numbers of speakers reside in the Malaysian border states, especially Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Perlis, and Perak. In these areas, it is the primary language of ethnic Thais as well as of the ethnically Malay people on both sides of