Tomoi was brought into peninsular Malaysia by
the Thais and Khmers who share close cultural, historic, ethnic and
linguistic links with the Malays. The ancient Funan empire, based in
modern-day Cambodia and Vietnam once encompassed what are now Thailand,
Kedah, Perlis and Pahang. The kingdom of Lembah Bujang traded extensively
with the Khmers which eventually led to Perlis and parts of Kedah being
ruled by Angkor in the 1400s. However, it was the ethnic Thais, who have
long existed side by side with the Malays, that were mostly responsible for
tomoi's practice in Malaysia. After the fall of Srivijaya, virtually all of
Malaysia's northern states came under Thai sovereignty until the 15th
century when Melaka was founded following a Siamese attack. Trengganu had
already been paying tribute to Siam during this time and they coninued
trading with each other even after the state became a vassal of Melaka. Both
Kedah and Trengganu were either controlled or influenced by Siam from the
1800s until power was passed to British colonists in the early 20th century.
Tomoi's practice was focused mainly in Kelantan and a few states nearby.
Like neighbouring Trengganu, Kelantan's geographic location led to its
strong links with Cambodia and especially Thailand. The area was heavily
influenced by the Indianised kingdom of Funan whose farming methods it
adopted. The ancient kingdom of Langkasuka, based in present-day Kelantan,
Trengganu and Pattani, was described in Chinese accounts of having a culture
similar to Funan and this may have included martial arts. Kelantan was under
Siamese influence throughout the 1800s until the British came into power.
During the Japanese occupation, control of Kelantan was passed to Thailand
again until the state became part of the Malayan Federation. Because of
these close geographic, ethnic and historical ties, Malaysia and Thailand
are linguistically and culturally very similar. Kelantan, Trengganu and
Thailand's southern provinces in particular share a distinct Malayan-Thai
culture and language. One of the practices they have in common was the
boxing form of dhoi muay (now called Muay Boran) from where the term tomoi
derives. It was practiced not only the local Thais but other races as well,
especially Malays. |
