A scene in the film "Dear You," in which older-generation Chinese in Thailand secretly set up Chinese-language classes to keep Chinese education alive, moved countless viewers. "Today in Thailand, everyone wants to learn Chinese," said Punpun Chaninthorn Pitakwarara (Pun), a Thai-Chinese influencer and Chinese-language education content creator with more than one million followers, in a recent interview with Yangcheng Evening News.

Pun is the fourth generation of his family to live in Thailand. His ancestors crossed the seas from Chaoshan and put down roots in Thailand. His grandmother was born in Thailand. By Pun's generation, the family had long become accustomed to speaking Thai at home, but Chinese had never disappeared from family life.

At first, Pun only taught one-on-one Chinese classes in his spare time. "To my surprise, the more I taught, the more I came to love Chinese, and the more I enjoyed the sense of achievement that came from teaching Chinese," he said. Since 2020, Pun has gradually shifted the focus of his Chinese-language teaching from offline classes to online platforms. He created accounts under the name @AttentionChinese across various social media platforms, teaching Thai learners Chinese online.

Chinese-language education was once banned in Thailand, and older generations of Thai Chinese secretly opened Chinese classes to keep it going. Today, however, Pun sees a very different picture: many Thai schools have incorporated Chinese into their formal curriculum. Some begin teaching Chinese in primary school, while others even hire teachers from China to teach children from kindergarten.

"Now in Thailand, everyone wants to learn Chinese," Pun told the reporter. As exchanges between China and Thailand grow ever closer, with tourism, economic ties and cultural exchanges continuing to expand, Chinese is becoming the choice of more and more young people in Thailand.

Chinese is also appearing more frequently in Thai film and television productions. In 2025, the Thai drama "Mad Unicorn" was released. In its first week, the series climbed to fourth place on Netflix's Global Top 10 Non-English TV chart, becoming a breakout hit in Thailand. The drama is adapted from the real-life story of Komsan Lee, founder of Flash Express, Thailand's first unicorn company. Komsan Lee is a Thai national of Chinese descent, and half of the show's dialogue is in Chinese. Notably, to help the male lead master his lines, the production team invited Pun to teach him Chinese for three months.

"From classrooms to film and television, from campuses to social media, Chinese is becoming integrated into Thai society in richer and more diverse ways," Pun said.

After years in Chinese-language education, what gives Pun the greatest sense of achievement is not the growth of his follower count, but the changes he has seen in his students' lives. Pun told the reporter that one of his Thai students, who is not of Chinese descent, kept learning Chinese out of genuine interest and is now studying traditional Chinese medicine, with plans to study in China. He also remembers countless messages from online followers: "I used to think Chinese was very difficult, but now I'm not afraid anymore." "Teacher, because of you, I started to like Chinese."

"Many Thai people think Chinese is extremely difficult at first, so they simply give up," Pun said. "If my videos can make them feel that Chinese is not so difficult, and encourage them to say their first sentence in Chinese, then I'm very happy."

百万粉丝泰籍华裔博主林永珪：如今在泰国“大家都想学中文”

电影《给阿嬷的情书》中，在泰国的老一辈华人为了延续华文教育偷偷开办华文课堂的情节，触动了无数观众。“如今在泰国，大家都想学中文。”近日，泰国百万粉丝网红、华文教育博主林永珪（Pun）接受了羊城晚报记者专访。

林永珪是其家族在泰国的第四代。祖辈从潮汕远渡重洋，在泰国落地生根。林永珪的阿嬷就出生在泰国，到了他这一代，家里早已习惯用泰语交流，但中文从未远离这个家庭。

最初，他只是利用空余时间教授一对一中文课程。“没想到，教着教着，我发现自己越来越喜欢中文，也越来越喜欢教中文给自己带来的成就感。”他说。从2020年开始，林永珪逐渐把中文教育的重心从线下转到线上，他在各个社交媒体平台开设账号@AttentionChinese（直译：关注中文），在线上教授泰国人学中文。

华文教育在泰国曾经一度被禁止，老一辈泰国华人华侨为了延续华文教育，偷偷开设华语课堂。而今天，林永珪看到的却是另一番景象：不少泰国学校已将中文纳入正式课程体系。有的从小学开始教授中文，有的甚至从幼儿园阶段就聘请中国教师授课。

“现在在泰国，大家都想学中文。”林永珪告诉记者，随着中泰两国交流日益密切，旅游、经贸、文化往来不断增加，中文正成为越来越多泰国年轻人的选择。

中文，也越来越频繁地出现在泰国影视作品中。2025年，泰剧《疯狂独角兽》上线，这部电视剧开播首周就冲上网飞全球非英语剧集榜第四，成为泰国“爆款”。这部剧改编自泰国首家独角兽公司FlashExpress创始人李发顺的真实经历。李发顺是泰籍华裔，这部剧的一半台词是中文。值得一提的是，为了让电视剧男主角掌握台词，剧组专门找林永珪给他教授了三个月中文。

“从课堂到影视，从校园到社交媒体，中文正在以更丰富的方式融入泰国社会。”林永珪说。

从事华文教育这些年，让他最有成就感的，不是粉丝数量的增长，而是学生们人生轨迹的改变。林永珪告诉记者，他有一名泰国学生（非华裔），因为喜欢中文而坚持学习，如今在学习中医，还计划到中国留学。他也记得无数网友给他留言：“以前觉得中文很难，现在不怕了。”“老师，因为你，我开始喜欢中文了。”

“很多泰国人一开始觉得中文特别难，所以直接放弃。”他说，“如果我的视频能让他们觉得中文没有那么可怕，愿意开口说第一句中文，那我就很开心了。”

文｜记者 赵鹏 刘泳希 
图｜记者 温泽广 何迪
译｜郑奕玲
审｜曾敏