Thai people (; endonym), Central Thai people (, ; exonym and also domestically) or Siamese (; historical exonym and sometimes domestically), T(h)ai Noi people (; historical endonym and sometimes domestically), in a narrow sense, are a Tai ethnic group dominant in Central and Southern Thailand (Siam proper). Part of the larger Tai ethno-linguistic group native to Southeast Asia as well as Southern China and Northeast India, Thais speak the Sukhothai languages (Central Thai and Southern Thai language), which is classified as part of the Kra–Dai family of languages. The majority of Thais are followers of Theravada Buddhism. However, only the Kra–Dai-speaking population in northern Thailand strongly shares genetic profiles with the Tai people in southern China; the population of the northeastern region is related to both Tai people and Austroasiatic-speaking ethnic groups in Laos and Cambodia, while the central and southern groups are more genetically related to Mon people in Myanmar. As a result of government policy during the 1930s and 1940s resulting in successful forced assimilation of many the various ethno-linguistic groups in the country into the dominant Central Thai language and culture, the term Thai people has come to refer to the population of Thailand in general. This includes other subgroups of the Tai ethno-linguistic group, such as the Yuan people and the Isan people, as well as non-Tai groups, the largest of which is that of the ethnic Chinese. Etymology According to Michel Ferlus, the ethnonyms Thai/Tai (or Thay/Tay) would have evolved from the etymon *k(ə)ri: 'human being' through the following chain: *kəri: > *kəli: > *kədi:/*kədaj > *di:/*daj > *dajA (Proto-Southwestern Tai) > tʰajA2 (in Siamese and Lao) or > tajA2 (in the other Southwestern and Central Tai languages classified by Li Fangkuei). Michel Ferlus' work is based on some simple rules of phonetic change observable in the Sinosphere and studied for the most part by William H. Baxter (1992). Michel Ferlus notes that a deeply rooted belief in Thailand has it that the term "Thai" derives from the last syllables -daya in Sukhodaya/ Sukhothay (สุโขทัย), the name of the first Thai Kingdom. The spelling emphasizes this prestigious etymology by writing ไทย (transliterated ai-d-y) to designate the Thai/ Siamese people, while the form ไท (transliterated ai-d) is occasionally used to refer to Tai speaking ethnic groups. Lao writes ໄທ (transliterated ai-d) in both cases. The French diplomat Simon de la Loubère, mentioned that, "The Siamese give