The head is medium sized and has a heart-shaped face. The forehead is relatively flat. All sides are rounded. The upper part of the heart is built by the eye brow ridges, the lower part is built by the muzzle, the head narrows down the cheeks to the muzzle. The muzzle shall not be too broad, but also not pointed. The nose has a stop between the eyes and has a slight lion-like slope downwards, when viewed in profile.
The ears are large, open at the base and comparably high set.
The eyes are very large, compared to the face, and really striking, they appear to be almost round. Adult cats have a striking bright green eye color. But development of eye color is very slow, young adults still have mostly an amber eye color.
The neck is medium in length and solid.
The body is called to be semi-cobby - that means not too short, slightly longer, but quite sturdy and solid. The cats are surprisingly heavy, even though they have medium bones, but their musculature is very solid and is hard to touch. The chest is broad. The back looks slightly arched.
The legs are medium in length, not too slender, with oval paws.
The tail is about as long as the body, the tip is rounded.

The coat is called to be single, which means having almost no undercoat. The coat lies flat to the body. The hairs are fine, silky and no short as usually in shorthaired cats. One notices immediately the silvery shine of the coat, the hairs are paler at the root, the shaft is darker having a silver tip.

History

History and origin of the Korat is the history of the cats of Thailand (called Siam before June 24, 1939).
Several breeds claim the same source as their origin:

• Cat-Book Poems: Tamra Maew, written between 1350 - 1765,
• Smud Khoi of Cats (also written as Smut Khoi), a copy of this sript, which was written and painted between 1868-1910 by a monk, called Somdej Phra Buddhacharn Buddhasarmahathera, on the request of King Rama V (Phra Chula Chomklao Chaoyuhua, bprn Sept. 20, 1953, died Oct. 23, 1910, he reigned from Oct. 1, 1868 - 1910):
  • Korat
  • Thai
  • Siamese
  • Burmese

The second cat Wilat (Beauty) and third cat Thong Daeng (Copper) - Burmese or Tonkinese

The first cat Nin-Rad or Ninlarat (Black Jewel)

"The cat 'Malet' has a body colour like 'Doklao'. The hairs are smooth, with roots like clouds and tips like silver. The eyes shine like dewdrops on a lotus leaf" (translation by Khun Prasit Sahkorn).
Malet means seed, dok (daawk) means flower and lao names a certain type of grass (Saccharum Spontaneum, wild sugar plant).

The fourth cat Gow Theem or Kao Taem (Nine Marks) and the fifth cat Ma-Laid or Maaleht (Flower) or Dork Lao (Lao-flower) - Korat

The eighth cat Wi-Chi-An-Maad (Diamond) or Wichien Maas (Moon Diamond) - Siamese, Thai and the fourteenth cat Singh-Hasep (Lion) or Singha Sep

All pictures with courtesy by Henk Keers, Siau Tsj'oe cattery, Netherlands After a manuscript owned by Debbie Howard

It is said that King Rama V had taken the name Korat, because these cats mostly appeared in the province Korat in the Pimai district.
The Korat often is also called see-sa-waat (also written as si-sawat):
sa waat is a climbing plant with grey-green fruits
see sa waat as a compound is the color blue-grey.
It is interesting that this name is claimed by Korat people as well as by Siamese and Thai people, who think that it is the naming for blue point.

The 17 Lucky Cats of the Smut Khoi are:

The 6 Cats of Evil of the Smut Khoi are:

The first Korat, imported from Thailand, Nara and Darra (from Mahajaya cattery owned by Mrs. Khunying Abhibal Rajamaitri), arrived on June 12, 1959 at Jean L. Johnson (Cedar Glen cattery), Oregon, USA.
In May 1965 the Korat Cat Fanciers Association was founded, which also wrote the first standard, one of its founding members was Dr. Daphne Negus (Si-Sawat cattery).
In March 1966 the Korat was recognized by ACA.
In August 1996 the Korat was recognized by CFA.
In 1972 the first Korat litter was born in England from cats, which had been imported from the USA by Ms Betty Munford. In 1976 the Korat was recognized for registration by GCCF, in 1984 it was then recognized for championship.
In 1974 Elfie Kleive (Pimai cattery), Norway, imported Korat from Thailand.
In November 1981, Vienna, the Korat was recognized for registration by FIFe, in 1983 it was also recognized for championship. In 1996 FIFe also decided that as Korat only blue Korat can be registered, all other colors have to be registered as XSH (not recognized shorthair).

Korat may have also kittens with other colors, lilac and bluepoint.
GCCF, since 02-2002, follows a different policy to make breeding Korat easier:

• Lilac kittens are registered as Thai lilac and may be shown in the Assessment class.
• Bluepoint kittens are registered as Thai bluepoint and may be shown in the Assessment class.

Do not mix up these colors with the breed of the Thai!

Temperament

The cats are very faithful and loyal. They like to be the first ones and to show their leadership, of also other breeds live in the same household. They have their own strong will, but have a very gentle temperament. They are very intelligent watching and following you to figure out, how you do something and to imitate that. They are quite active cats and love to play, and you have to play with them, whether you like it or not. The Korat is not a cat for everybody, because you need to have more time for them and must care about them.

Grooming

Grooming is rather simple and not time consuming. They do not need a regular bath , but you should brush their beautiful coat to remove dead hairs and to enhance the gloss of their coat.