As is well known, Thailand is the largest Buddhist country in the world, with 95 percent of its 69 million population following the religion. Nevertheless, various Hindu elements remain deeply embedded in the traditional culture and even in the modern social life of Thailand, despite the fact that Hindus constitute just 0.03 percent of the population (22,100 people) according to the 2015 census.
Alongside their Buddhist beliefs, for instance, many Thais worship Hindu deities, such as Brahma at the famous Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, and Ganesha, Indra and Shiva in countless places across the country. Numerous reliefs on temple walls, such as at PrasatHinPhima in Korat, describe the episode of Khrishna hunting wild boars. Furthermore, the popular Thai epic Ramkien is based on the Ramayana, which has widely inspired art, dance and literature. As the Thai Royal emblem depicts Garuda, the vahana of Vishnu, the royal household is no exception to this continuation of Hindu traditions and indeed BrahmLuang (Royal Brahmins) are often engaged to lead funerals, weddings and state ceremonies, such as the Royal Ploughing Ceremony to ensure a bountiful harvest. The Hindic roots of Thai culture are evident at the temple of Devasathan, which was established in 1784 by in the PraNakhon district of Bangkok by King Rama I in 1784 and became the centre of Brahminism in Thailand.
Historically, numerous theories have been offered to account for the spread of the Hinduism in Thailand, but it is generally agreed that the religion infiltrated the region in a series of waves affecting different places at different times. Between the 1st and 5th centuries the northeast was strongly influenced by the Hinduized kingdom of Nokor Phnom (or Funan as it was known to the Chinese). From 802–1431 CE Hinduism was further absorbed through the expansion of the hybrid Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire. Meanwhile the northern and central regions were heavily influenced by Hinduism during the Dvarvati period between the 6th and 11th centuries. In the central plain it is thought that Hinduism may have arrived even earlier, directly from Amravati in India or through the Mon people based in Burma. The south, too, seems to have been directly linked to India, with evidence of trade and migration as early as the 1st century CE, but the region was particularly influenced by the Pallava cultures of Southeast Asia, with numerous traits of the Sumatran-based Hinduized Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya appearing in the area from the 6th century onward.
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