Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 70 million, it spans 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi). Thailand is bordered to the northwest by Myanmar, to the northeast and east by Laos, to the southeast by Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the southwest by the Andaman Sea; it also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the state capital and largest city.
Siege of the French fortress (A) by Siamese troops and batteries (C), in Bangkok, 1688. The enclosure of the village of Bangkok represented in the lower left corner (M) is today's Thonburi.
The siege of Bangkok was a key event of the Siamese revolution of 1688, in which the Kingdom of Siam ousted the French from Siam. Following a coup d'état, in which the pro-Western king Narai was replaced by Phetracha, Siamese troops besieged the French fortress in Bangkok for four months. The Siamese were able to muster about 40,000 troops, equipped with cannon, against the entrenched 200 French troops, but the military confrontation proved inconclusive. Tensions between the two belligerents progressively subsided, and finally a negotiated settlement was reached allowing the French to leave the country.
The Siege of Bangkok would mark the end of French military presence in Siam, as France was soon embroiled in the major European conflicts of the War of the League of Augsburg (1688–1697), and then the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1713/14). With the end of the siege, a long period started during which Siam would remain suspicious of Western intervention. Only a few French missionaries were allowed to remain, while trade continued on a limited level with other European countries such as Portugal, the Dutch Republic and England. (Full article...)
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Crime in Thailand has been a defining issue in the country for decades, inspiring years of policy and international criticism. Drug use and corruption make up the majority of the crime in Thailand and due to this, many Thai administrations attempted to curtail the drug trade, most notably Thaksin Shinawatra with the 2003 War on Drugs. Since 2003 crime has been decreasing with the crime rate decreasing from 9.97 to 2.58. Despite this, juvenile delinquency has been increasing in recent years. In November 2015, The New York Times reported that in the fiscal year ending September 2015, the national police have seen a surge in thefts, burglaries, and robberies, more than 75,557 thefts and other property crimes in the fiscal year, 10.5 percent higher than the previous year. Violent crime was up 8.6 percent during the same period. These figures have been contested by the police and by Amorn Wanichwiwatana, a criminologist at Chulalongkorn University, who said he was not aware of any significant uptick in crime since the military came to power. "I don’t think that’s the case. It's not possible," he said of the 60 percent increase reported by the Times. Crime statistics from the Royal Thai Police (RTP) show a statistically negligible increase of 1.9 percent over the same period, with 920 additional crimes reported after an overall decline since 2009. (Full article...)
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The Emerald Buddha adorned in winter season attire
The Thai Canal, also known as Kra Canal or Kra Isthmus Canal, is any of several proposals for a canal that would connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand. Such a canal would significantly reduce travel times through heavily-navigated trade routes.
The canal would provide an alternative to transit through the Straits of Malacca and shorten transit for shipments of oil to Japan and China by 1,200 km. China refers to it as part of its 21st century maritime Silk Road. Proposals, as of 2015, measure 102 kilometres long, 400 meters wide and 25 meters deep. Plans for a canal have been discussed and explored at various times. Cost, environmental concerns, and geopolitical concerns have been weighed against the potential economic and strategic benefits. (Full article...)
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Betel quid chewing has always been an important part of Thai culture and tradition. In the past, betel chewing was a popular daily activity among Thais all over the country. Betel comes from the plant known as Areca catechu, which grows wild all over Thailand and is known as หมาก (maak). (Full article...)
After his appointment as army chief in 2010, Prayut was characterised as a royalist and an opponent of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Considered a hardliner within the military, he was one of the leading proponents of military crackdowns on the Red Shirt demonstrations of April 2009 and April–May 2010. He later sought to moderate his profile, talking to relatives of protesters who were killed in the bloody conflict, and co-operating with the government of Yingluck Shinawatra who won parliamentary elections in July 2011. (Full article...)
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New Year celebration, Rot Nam Dam Hua, a traditional celebration of elders
Thai New Year or Songkran (Thai: เทศกาลสงกรานต์, pronounced[tʰêːt.sā.kāːnsǒŋ.krāːn]), also known as Songkran Festival, Songkran Splendours, is the Thai New Year's national holiday. Songkran is on 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April. In 2018 the Thai cabinet extended the festival nationwide to seven days, 9–16 April, to enable citizens to travel home for the holiday. In 2019, the holiday was observed 9–16 April as 13 April fell on a Saturday. In 2024, Songkran was extended to almost the entire month, starting on the first of April, and ending on the twenty-first, departing from the traditional 3-day format. And with the New Year of many calendars of Southeast and South Asia, in keeping with the Buddhist calendar and also coincides with New Year in Hindu calendar such as Vishu, Bihu, Pohela Boishakh, Pana Sankranti, Vaisakhi. The New Year takes place at around the same time as the new year celebrations of many regions of South Asia like China (Dai people of Yunnan Province), India, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
In Siam, New Year is now officially celebrated 1 January. Songkran was the official New Year until 1888, when it was switched to a fixed date of 1 April. Then in 1940, this date was shifted to 1 January. The traditional Thai New Year Songkran was transformed into a national holiday. Celebrations are famous for the public water fights framed as ritual cleansing. This had become quite popular among Thai and foreigners. (Full article...)
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Lisa in March 2024
Lalisa Manobal (also spelled Manoban; born Pranpriya Manobal; March 27, 1997), known mononymously as Lisa (Korean: 리사), is a Thai rapper, singer, and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, which debuted under YG Entertainment in August 2016. She is set to make her acting debut in 2025 in the HBO television series The White Lotus.
Lisa made her debut as a solo artist with the single album Lalisa in September 2021, which made her the first female artist to sell 736,000 copies of an album in its first week in South Korea. The music video for its lead single is the most-viewed music video in the first 24 hours on YouTube by a solo artist. Both "Lalisa" and the album's viral second single "Money" charted in the top ten of the Billboard Global 200, with the latter breaking the record for the longest-charting song by a female K-pop soloist on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Lalisa and "Money" became the first album and song by a K-pop solo artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify, respectively. In 2024, Lisa established her own management company named Lloud and signed with RCA Records. (Full article...)
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The UDD protest at Ratchaprasong intersection on 8 April 2010
The 2010 Thai political protests were a series of political protests that were organised by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) (also known as "Red Shirts") in Bangkok, Thailand from 12 March–19 May 2010 against the Democrat Party-led government. The UDD called for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold elections earlier than the end of term elections scheduled in 2012. The UDD demanded that the government stand down, but negotiations to set an election date failed. The protests escalated into prolonged violent confrontations between the protesters and the military, and attempts to negotiate a ceasefire failed. More than 80 civilians and six soldiers were killed, and more than 2,100 injured by the time the military violently put down the protest on 19 May. (Full article...)
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Lipa Noi Beach
Ko Samui (or Koh Samui), often locally shortened to Samui (Thai: เกาะสมุย, pronounced[kɔ̀ʔsā.mǔj]), is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko Samui was granted municipal status and thus is now locally self-governing. Ko Samui, with an area of 228.7 square kilometres (88.3 sq mi), is Thailand's second largest island after Phuket. In 2018, it was visited by 2.7 million tourists. (Full article...)
Image 23The ruins of Ayutthaya city was completely buried beneath a mass of jungle vegetation in 1930. (from History of Thailand)
Image 24Map showing linguistic family tree overlaid on a geographic distribution map of Tai-Kadai family. This map only shows general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes, not specific routes, which would have snaked along the rivers and over the lower passes. (from History of Thailand)
Image 27Wat Arun, the most prominent temple of the Thonburi period, derives its name from the Hindu god Aruṇa. Its main prang was constructed later in the Rattanakosin period. (from History of Thailand)
Image 39Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, the royal reception hall built in European architectural style. Construction was started by Rama V, but was completed in 1915. (from History of Thailand)
Image 44Display of respect of the younger towards the elder is a cornerstone value in Thailand. A family during the Buddhist ceremony for young men who are to be ordained as monks. (from Culture of Thailand)
Wat Paknam was established in 1610, during the Ayutthaya period, and received support from Thai kings until the late nineteenth century. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the temple had become nearly abandoned and had fallen into disrepair. The temple underwent a major revival and became widely known under the leadership of the meditation master Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro, who was abbot there in the first half of the twentieth century. Seven years after Luang Pu's death, Somdet Chuang Varapuñño [th] became the new abbot until his death in 2021. Somdet Chuang made international headlines from 2015 onward, when his appointment as Supreme Patriarch (acting head of the Thai monastic community) was stalled and finally withdrawn, due to reasons generally interpreted as political. This has led to heated debate and protests in Thailand. As part of this process, Somdet Chuang and his assistant were accused of tax fraud. It turned out that there was not sufficient reason to charge Somdet Chuang, however. As for the charges remaining against his assistant, the latter was later acquitted due to lack of evidence, two days after Somdet Chuang's nomination as Patriarch was withdrawn. (Full article...)
... that a kind of deep fried egg dish might be perceived as a warning in Thai folklore?
... that the electropop rock band Siamés created "Argentina's first anime music video"?
... that the first Thai typewriter left out two letters, which eventually became obsolete?
... that following the controversial success of Amarin Plaza, Rangsan Torsuwan went on to design the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in the same vein, but with Thai-style columns replacing Ionic ones?
... that during Siam Niramit, a Bangkok cultural show, the forestage was transformed into a 50-metre-long (160 ft) river?
... that a restaurant in a Thai hotel serves "Chicken Volcano", a dish containing whiskey?
... that Thai YouTuber MindaRyn began an anime singing career after her music covers were noticed by a Japanese record label?
Kaeng som, gaeng som (Thai: แกงส้ม, pronounced[kɛ̄ːŋsôm]), Asam rebus, or Thai/Lao/Malaysian sour curry is a sour and spicy fish curry or soup with vegetables popular in Southeast Asia. The curry is characteristic for its sour taste, which comes from tamarind (makham). The recipe uses palm sugar (Thai: น้ำตาลปี๊บ, namtan pip) to sweeten the curry. (Full article...)
... that the wildly popular Jatukham Rammathep amulet was created by a policeman in 1987 who believed the amulet's spirit helped him solve a murder case?