While many cat breeds come from English speaking countries like the United States and England, cats have shown up in all of Asia’s history for centuries. Even though many breeds were developed in more industrialized places at the time of their creation, their ancestors often come from Asian countries. Here we’ll take a look at the cat breeds from Thailand.
#1 – Burmese
The first record of cats that resembled the breed we know as the Burmese today was made in 1871, in Harrison Weir’s Our Cats and All About Them. Most modern cats in the breed are descendants of an import from Burma that was brought to the United States in the 1930s, although the Burmese ancestors are from both Burma and Thailand.
#2 – Khao Manee
The Khao Manee is known as the diamond eyed cat from Thailand with ancestry dating back centuries, and it’s often listed among the most regal cat breeds for its ties to the Thai royal court. Every Khao Manee is a solid white cat with various colored eyes, sometimes with different colored eyes.
#3 – Korat
The Korat was developed in Thailand and is known for its beautiful blue coat and green eyes. They are traditionally gifted to newly weds as a symbol of good luck. The first Korat was written about in the Thai book of cat poems, Tamra Maew. This book was written between 1350 and 1767 AD, according to Martin R. Clutterbuck’s scholarly translation of the manuscript.
#4 – Oriental Shorthair
The Oriental Shorthair was developed both in Thailand and the United States and is closely related to the Siamese. They come in a variety of coat colors, but their eyes are almost always green.
#5 – Siamese
The Siamese is often considered the original Oriental cat, named after the former Siam which is now modern-day Thailand. Although most of the original Siamese cats of Thailand were solid colors, the recessive points were bred for purposefully.
#6 – Suphalak
The Suphalak is a rare cat breed that occurs naturally in Thailand, prized for a solid copper to mahogany-brown coat, a shade described in the Tamra Maew manuscript’s poem about the “Thong Daeng,” or copper cat, according to Martin R. Clutterbuck’s translation. Enthusiasts have tried to resurrect the Suphalak and bring it back to popularity, but have been met with little success. The breed looks similar to, but should not be confused for, the sable-colored Burmese cat, and its coat is one of several rare cat coat colors worth knowing about.
#7 – Thai
While the Thai cat, also called the Wichian Mat or Thai domestic shorthair, was only recently classified as a breed, it has been around for centuries. They are related to the Siamese, coming from the landrace stock of cats in Thailand, one of several cat breeds that thrive in warm climates like Thailand’s. The Thai cat, however, shows a more traditional feline look rather than the elongated head of the Oriental cat breeds.