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 66 million, it spans 513,115 square kilometres (198,115 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.
Phra Pathommachedi or Phra Pathom Chedi (
Thai: พระปฐมเจดีย์) is a Buddhist
stupa in Thailand. It is located in the Wat Phra Pathommachedi Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (
Thai: วัดพระปฐมเจดีย์ราชวรมหาวิหาร) temple in the town center of
Nakhon Pathom. The tallest stupa in the world, the top of its spire reaches 120.45 meters, and its base circumference is 235.50 meters.
The name Phra Pathommachedi means the first holy stupa, given by king
Mongkut. Modern historians believe that the stupa was one of the principal stupas of ancient Nakhon Pathom, the largest city of the
Mon kingdom of
Dvaravati in the Nakhon Pathom area together with the nearby
Phra Prathon Chedi (
Thai: พระประโทณเจดีย์) during the 6th to the 8th centuries. (Full article...)
Image 3
After the
1978 Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and subsequent collapse of
Democratic Kampuchea in 1979, the
Khmer Rouge fled to the border regions of
Thailand, and, with assistance from China, Pol Pot's troops managed to regroup and reorganize in forested and mountainous zones on the Thai-Cambodian border. During the 1980s and early 1990s Khmer Rouge forces operated from inside refugee camps in Thailand, in an attempt to de-stabilize the pro-
HanoiPeople's Republic of Kampuchea's government, which Thailand refused to recognise. Thailand and Vietnam faced off across the Thai-Cambodian border with frequent Vietnamese incursions and shellings into Thai territory throughout the 1980s in pursuit of Cambodian guerrillas who kept attacking Vietnamese occupation forces. (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 cooperating with the government of
Yingluck Shinawatra, who won
parliamentary elections in July 2011. (Full article...)
At the height of his career in the 1960s, Mitr, along with
Petchara Chaowarat, made a string of hit films that packed cinemas. Of the 75 to 100 films produced each year by the Thai film industry during this period, Mitr starred in nearly half of them. (Full article...)
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In a rural hill tribe in Northern Thailand, a villager smiles with stained teeth from her Betel Chew. 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 dissolving the government and the
Senate of Thailand, the NCPO vested executive and legislative powers in its leader and ordered the judicial branch to operate under its directives. In addition, it partially repealed the
2007 constitution, save the second chapter that concerned the king, declared martial law and curfew nationwide, banned political gatherings, arrested and detained
politicians and anti-coup activists, imposed
Internet censorship in Thailand and took control of the media. (Full article...)
Tom yum or tom yam (UK: /ˌtɒmˈjæm,-ˈjʌm/, US: /-ˈjɑːm/;
Thai: ต้มยำ,
RTGS: tom yam[tômjām]ⓘ) is a family of hot and sour Thai soups. It is a soup that normally includes shrimp. The strong, hot, and sour flavors make it very popular in Thai cuisine. The name "tom yam" is composed of two
Thai words. Tom refers to the boiling process, while yam means 'mixed'. Historian Giles Milton contends that the origins of Tom Yum can be traced back to
India, where there is a variation of hot and sour shrimp soup known as "sour prawn soup." (Full article...)
Image 9
The Thonburi Kingdom (
Thai: ธนบุรี,
IAST: Dhanapura, pronounced[tʰōnbūrīː]) was a major
Siamese kingdom which existed in
Southeast Asia from 1767 to 1782, centered around the city of
Thonburi, in Siam or present-day
Thailand. The kingdom was founded by
Taksin the Great, who reunited Siam following the collapse of the
Ayutthaya Kingdom, which saw the country separate into five warring regional states. The Thonburi Kingdom oversaw the rapid reunification and reestablishment of Siam as a preeminient military power within mainland Southeast Asia, overseeing the country's expansion to its greatest territorial extent up to that point in its history, incorporating
Lan Na, the
Laotian kingdoms (
Luang Phrabang,
Vientiane,
Champasak), and
Cambodia under the Siamese
sphere of influence.
The Thonburi Kingdom saw the consolidation and continued growth of Chinese trade from
Qing China, a continuation from the late Ayutthaya period (1688-1767), and the increased influence of the Chinese community in Siam, with
Taksin and later monarchs sharing close connections and close family ties with the Sino-Siamese community. (Full article...)
Siamosaurus (meaning "Siam lizard") is a
genus of
spinosauriddinosaur that lived in what is now known as
China and
Thailand during the
Early Cretaceousperiod (
Barremian to
Aptian) and is the first reported spinosaurid from Asia. It is confidently known only from tooth
fossils; the first were found in the
Sao Khua Formation, with more teeth later recovered from the younger
Khok Kruat Formation. The
only speciesSiamosaurus suteethorni, whose name honours Thai
palaeontologistVaravudh Suteethorn, was formally described
in 1986. In 2009, four teeth from China previously attributed to a
pliosaur—under the species "Sinopliosaurus" fusuiensis—were identified as those of a spinosaurid, possibly Siamosaurus. It is yet to be determined if two partial spinosaurid skeletons from Thailand and an isolated tooth from Japan also belong to Siamosaurus.
Since it is based only on teeth, Siamosaurus's body size is uncertain, though it has been estimated at between 5.1 to 9.1 metres (17 to 30 feet) in length. The
holotype tooth is 62.5 millimetres (2.46 inches) long. Siamosaurus's teeth were straight, oval to circular in cross-section, and lined with distinct lengthwise grooves. Its teeth had wrinkled
enamel, similar to teeth from the related genus Baryonyx. As a spinosaur it would have had a long, low snout and robust forelimbs, and one possible skeleton indicates the presence of a tall
sail running down its back, another typical trait of this theropod
family. Siamosaurus is considered by some palaeontologists to be a
dubious name, with some arguing that its teeth are hard to differentiate from those of other Early Cretaceous spinosaurids, and others that it may not be a dinosaur at all. Based on dental traits, Siamosaurus and "S." fusuiensis have been placed in the
subfamilySpinosaurinae. (Full article...)
Image 15Map 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 19Ananta 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 26A 14-year-old Vietnamese contaminated with Agent Orange. (from History of Thailand)
Image 27Display 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)
Image 36Wat 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)
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Wat Saket, Buddhist temple in
Bangkok
The 2017–2020 Thai temple fraud investigations (
Thai: คดี
เงินทอนวัด,
RTGS: khadi ngoen thon wat,
lit.'Case of returning money by temples') are a series of investigations by the
Thai junta of the alleged abuse of governmental subsidies by government officers and Buddhist temples. The investigations started in 2017, and culminated in the controversial May 2018 arrest of five monks with leading positions in the Thai
monastic community. The investigations have been described as unprecedented and as a critical blow to the faith of Thai Buddhist devotees. They have been subject to criticism and political speculation. In July 2018, the crisis was cited by the junta to amend laws, with the result that the monastic community could no longer choose their own
leading council members, but these were to be chosen by the
Thai King, and possibly the ruling
NCPO. (Full article...)
... that the performers in the Thai drag show Calypso Cabaret impressed
Lady Gaga with their ability to be open about their identities?
... that in addition to running Bangkok's first power station, the Siam Electricity Company also operated half the city's tram lines and a fire brigade?
... 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 Thai YouTuber MindaRyn began an
anime singing career after her music covers were noticed by a Japanese record label?
Pla ra at
the old market of Don Wai,
Nakhon PathomPla ra (
Thai: ปลาร้า, pronounced[plāːráː]), similar to
padaek in
Laos, is a traditional
Thai seasoning produced by fermenting fish with
rice bran or roasted
rice flour and salt fermented in a closed container for at least six months. Fermented fish seasoning are commonly found in Cambodian,
Lao,
Mon, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. Pla ra has a very strong smell, which is considered unpleasant by some people. Its flavors are salty and sour, depending on the amount of salt put in and
lactic acid resulting from
fermentation process. (Full article...)