Thailand official name is Kingdom of Thailand. It is a country in Southeast Asia. Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand according to itypemba.
According to its geographical location, it borders Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Burma to the west.
History
Due to its geographical location, Thai culture has traditionally been influenced by the cultures of China and India. However, Thailand has generated different indigenous cultures since the Baan Chiang period.
The Buddhist kingdom of Sukhothai is conventionally considered the first Thai state in the region. It is founded in 1238, and its development coincides in time with the debacle and fall of the Khmer Empire, between the 13th and 15th centuries.
A century later, in the mid- 14th century, the kingdom of Ayutthaya replaces Sukhothai as the dominant power in Siam. Following Ayutthaya’s sack of Angkor in 1431, much of the Khmer court was forced into exile in Ayutthaya, bringing with them their Khmer rituals and customs, of Hindu inspiration. Many of these customs are later assimilated by the Ayutthaya culture.
After the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, Thonburi became the capital of Thailand for a brief period under King Taksin the Great, until the coup of 1782.
The current era (Ratthanakosin) of Thai history begins in 1782, during the reign of Rama I the Great, of the Chakri dynasty, who establishes the capital of Siam in Bangkok.
European powers begin to establish contacts with Thailand in the 16th century. Despite European pressure, Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by a European power. The main explanation for this is that, throughout the 19th century, Thailand had a long succession of skilled rulers, who demonstrated an enormous ability to use the Franco-British rivalry in the region to their advantage.
As a result, the country acquired the status of a buffer state between the countries of French Southeast Asia (Indochina) and India and Burma, held by Great Britain. Despite its independence, Western influence led to many reforms during this period, including the granting of major concessions in favor of British commercial interests. One such concession was the handover of the three southern provinces of Thailand, which are currently part of Malaysia.
In 1932, a bloodless revolution resulted in the establishment of a new constitutional monarchy. During World War II, Thailand allied with Japan. After the defeat of the Japanese and the end of the war, Thailand realigned, becoming an ally of the United States of America.
Since the start of the Cold War and until the 1980s, Thailand has remained a politically unstable country. During this period there is a succession of changes of government as a result of individual coups. After overcoming this period, the country is configured, from the last military coup in 1991, as a modern participatory democracy.
In 1997, the Asian financial crisis hit Thailand harshly. The value of the Thai baht plummets, from 25 baht per dollar to 56 baht per dollar. The economic crisis caused by this event has already been overcome. GDP growth in 2003 was 7%.
In 2001, Thaksin Shinawatra of the Thai Rak Thai party (Thais love Thais) became Prime Minister of Thailand, after winning the elections held that same year. In 2005, Thaksin renewed his mandate for another four years. However, during this same period, the accusations of, among other things, coercion of press freedom, vote buying, use of power to favor their companies, police abuses in the war against drug trafficking, and inability to stop the Islamist insurgency in the south of the country.
In April of 2006 re-elections and Thaksin revalida back office. However, after the boycott of the opposition to the new government, the Thai Supreme Court ruled the annulment of the electoral results and the calling of a new appointment with the polls. On September 19, 2006, while Thaksin was in New York, the military of the self-styled “Council for Democratic Reform”, under the command of Sondhi Boonyaratglin, took power, ending fifteen years of democracy in the country.
Later, normality returned to Thailand and Thaksin’s party prevailed, ruling until October 2008 when the followers of APD, dressed in their yellow shirts, blocked the airport in Bangkok and forced the entry into the government of the PDN. To this day, Thaksin’s supporters continue to demonstrate for what they consider to be an unfairly imposed government.
Social development
Culture
Religion
The Buddhism Theravada is central to modern Thai identity and belief. However, in the southernmost areas of the country Islam prevails.
There are a large number of different ethnic groups that inhabit the country and many of them remain marginalized. Some of these groups intersect with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia and have maintained a distinctively traditional lifestyle despite a strong Thai cultural presence.
Chinese ethnicity also forms a significant part of Thai society, particularly in and around Bangkok. His successful integration into Thai society has allowed him to maintain positions of social and political power, the case of the prime minister being the most notorious.
Traditions
Respect for ancestors forms a large part of Thai spiritual practices, as well as charity towards Buddhist Monks. Thais have a very strong sense of grace and hospitality, but also a great sense of social hierarchy. Honor is important in Thai daily speech, especially seniority titles, an important concept in Thai culture.
Thais respect their elders so much that some natives wai or krab (bow) at the feet of their parents and grandparents. They honor the first in seniority, who in any type of ceremony takes precedence in all family decisions.
The standard greeting is a prayer gesture called a wai. The Taboos include touching someone’s head or pointing with the feet, since the head is considered the most sacred and feet the dirtiest part of the body. Stepping on someone or food is considered an insult. Despite this, Thai culture like many other Asian cultures is succumbing to the influence of Westernization and some of its traditional taboos are slowly disappearing. Books and other documents are among the most revered secular objects, so one should not slide a book on a table or place it on the floor.
Kitchen room
Thai cuisine mixes five fundamental flavors: sweet, spicy, sour, bitter and salty. Some common ingredients used in Thai cuisine include garlic, chili pepper, lemongrass, and fish sauce. The staple food in Thailand is rice, which is in almost every meal.
Newspapers
Thai culture has been greatly influenced in recent years by its vibrant and free press. There are numerous English, Thai and Chinese newspapers in circulation and Thailand is the largest newspaper market in South-East Asia with an estimated circulation of 13 million copies per day in 2003.
Sport
Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, is the national sport in Thailand and is a native Martial Art. It became popular around the world during the 1990s. Although there are other similar martial arts in other East Asian countries, few enjoy the recognition that Muay Thai has received with its Full-contact rules allowing strikes with the elbows and knees, creating a new specialty, Kick Boxing.
The Football professional, however, has possibly taken the position Muay Thai as the favorite and most watched sport in contemporary society in Thailand and it is not uncommon to see Thais supporting their favorite teams in the Premier League Inglés. Another widely enjoyed hobby is flying small kites. Additionally, Thailand hosted the 1966, 1970, 1978, and 1998 Asian Games.
Curiosities
Giraffe Women
The Karen tribe is located 40 km from Mae Hong Song in Thailand. They follow an ancient tradition that consists of having the neck as long as possible. To achieve their goal they use golden rings that surround the neck until it is lengthened to incredible dimensions. The transformation begins from an early age, by placing earrings on the neck, gradually as the years go by. The lives of these women are marked by their necklaces. They never take them off. Neither to sleep, nor to wash, nor to eat…
A forensic museum turned macabre attraction
In the heart of Bangkok, on the banks of the Chao Praya River and very close to some of the most beautiful temples in Thailand, there is a fascinating and sinister place created by the department of forensic medicine at Siriraj Hospital, the forensic hospital of the same name.
Mummies of executed murderers, malformed fetuses and organs preserved in formaldehyde are some of the attractions of this macabre Thai museum.
Bangkok
History
What is today the great city of Bangkok in its beginnings was a port community and small commercial center at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River that served the city of Ayutthaya, former capital of Siam, for those times the small community was called Bang Makok which means: place of olive plum trees.
In 1768 the city received the status of capital city after the burning of Ayutthaya. In 1782, King Rama I built a palace on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River and made Bangkok his capital, renaming it Krung Thep, which means “city of angels”, thus beginning the Rattanakosin Kingdom. With the passage of time the town of Bangkok ceased to exist, but its name remained in history and continues to be used universally.
In 1976 when Ayutthaya fell to Burma, the capital of Thailand was established at Thon Buri on the west side of the river. (nowadays Thon Buri is a part of Bangkok).
After the death of King Taksin. The capital of Rattanakosin is formally called “Phra Nakhon”, to which the ancient boundaries in the core of the metropolis belong and the name of Bangkok encompasses the entire urban accumulation since the 18th century, with its own public administration and governor.
Attacks in 2006
Bangkok bombings in 2006 occurred between eñ 31 of December of 2006 and 1st January of 2007, during the New Years Eve celebration parties in Bangkok, Thailand. Four almost simultaneous explosions occurred in different parts of the city at 6:00 pm local time (11:00 UTC), followed by many more explosions in the 90-minute interval. After midnight there were two more explosions. On the morning of January 1, 3 people had been certified dead and 38 people had been injured. One more bomb exploded inside a theater, but it was not reported by the person in charge of the same for fear of negative publicity. On the morning of January 1, another bomb exploded in a mosque in Chiang Mai, the largest city in northern Thailand.
The wave of explosions killed three people; All of them were visiting Thai national monuments: Songkran Kanchana, 36, and Ekkachai Ruangpoom, 26, died at the Victory Monument, while Suvichai Nak-iam, 61, died at Khlong Toei. Another 34 people were injured. Of these, 8 were foreigners: two British, three Hungarians, two Serbs and one American.
