那空帕农府石语.pdfVIP

THE SAEK LANGUAGE OF NAKHON PHANOM PROVINCE 1 by William J, Gedney The Saek language is spoken at the village of At Samat in Amphoe Muang, in the province of Nakhon Phanom. This village is located 5 kilometers north of the city of Nakhon Pbanom, on the banks of the Mekhong River, on the road going to Uthen. This village of At Sarnat is a pleasant, prosperous place. There is a large school and a fairly large monastery. Actually administra- tively Ban At Samat counts as two villages, with one headman for the north and another for the south. The Saek people at Ban At Samat are fairly well off economi- cally. They have fine fruit orchards, and do fishing in the Mekhong River on a large scale. Most of the Saek people speak not only Saek but also the local variety of Lao and also standard Bangkok Thai. Many of them come into the city of Nakhon Phanom frequently, on bicycle or on the bus, to do marketing and shopping. Some are employed as government officials in Nakhon Phanom, and some are teachers, in their own village or elsewhere. Nowadays a good many are working at the American military base outside the town of Nakbon Phanorn. There are a few Saek people living in Bangkok. Their standard of living is not inferior to that of the Lao of other villages in that province. In fact their houses tend to be larger and sturdier than those of country people elsewhere in Thailand. They are devout Buddhists, and so far as I have been able to observe are all loyal and patriotic Thai citizens. Their culture, in fact, is almost ent