Are Dai and Thai people the same people?
Before we can ask this question, we need to first clarify what a "nation" is. Nationality is a sociological term, which refers to a stable community of common culture, common language, common region, common economic life and common psychological quality expressed in the common national cultural characteristics formed by people in history.
Whether the Dai and the Thais belong to the same ethnic group first needs to examine whether they have the above common characteristics.
First of all, from a cultural point of view, both the Dai and the Thai people share similar cultures and traditions. They share many cultural elements, such as language, dance, costumes, etc. These cultural traits indicate that they have a close connection throughout history.
Secondly, from a linguistic point of view, both the Dai and Thai languages belong to the Thai language family. Thai is their common language, which is further evidence of their linguistic similarity.
Thirdly, from a geographical point of view, the Dai people are mainly distributed in China's Yunnan Province and neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Whereas, Thais mainly live in various parts of Thailand. Although they are geographically widespread, they all originate in the Southeast Asian region and share a similar geographical environment.
Finally, from the perspective of economic life, both the Dai and the Thai people have a similar economic lifestyle. They are mainly agricultural, growing rice and other crops. This similar economic lifestyle is further proof of their economic connection.
To sum up, we can conclude that the Dai and Thai people have similarities in culture, language, geography, and economic life. Therefore, we can consider the Dai and Thai people to be the same ethnic group.