Phuan people
The Phuan people, also known as Tai Phuan, Thai Puan or Lao Phuan, are a Theravada Buddhist Tai people spread out in small pockets over most of Thailand's Isan region with other groups scattered throughout central Thailand and Laos. There are also approximately 5000 Phuan in the Mongkol Borei District of Banteay Meanchey Province in Cambodia, as well in Battambang Province. According to the Ethnologue Report, the Phuan number 204,704 and that is split fairly evenly between populations in Laos and Thailand.
History
The Phuan settled in the Plain of Jars after they had gained control of it from the original inhabitants. There they formed the tribal principality of Mueang Phuan or Xieng Khouang also Siang Khwang. Legend has it that it was founded by Chet Cheuang, the youngest son of the mythical progenitor of the Tai peoples, Khun Borom. Muang Phuan fought for its independence for a long time, but was at times obliged to pay tribute by various overlords. After the conquest by Fa Ngum around 1350, Muang Phuan belonged to the mandala of Lan Xang most of the time. A revolt against the hegemony of Lan Xang has been documented around 1651/52, when the Phuan prince at that time refused to give his daughter to King Sourigna Vongsa of Lan Xang. His army then devastated the land of the Phuan and abducted about 500 families into his direct domain.After the division of Lan Xang in 1707, Muang Phuan was the subject of battles for supremacy between Siam, Vietnam and the Laotian states in the 19th century. Thousands of Phuan families were deported as workers by the victorious armies, including to the Central Laotian Mekong Valley in today's Bolikhamsai Province and to northeast Thailand.
The British Vice Consul in Chiang Mai, Edward Blencowe Gould, described the forced relocation of Phuan from the Plain of Jars in 1876:
Due to slave raids and forced population transfers, there are small, scattered villages of Phuan in Sakon and Udon Thani provinces and another area around Bueang Kan, Nong Khai and Loei provinces in Thailand. Despite the small numbers and isolation, the Siamese kept the Phuan apart from the Lao and other Tai people in Northern and Central Thailand where small communities of Phuan also exist, forcing them to live apart and dress in black clothing. The Phuan in turn practised endogamous marriage habits and steadfastness to their language and culture. As a result of the Laotian Civil War, in which the province of Xieng Khouang was devastated by fighting and American area bombing, many Phuan moved to Vientiane.