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 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.
The history of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, dates at least to the early 15th century, when it was under the rule of Ayutthaya. Due to its strategic location near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, the town gradually increased in importance, and after the fall of Ayutthaya King Taksin established his new capital of Thonburi there, on the river's west bank. King Phutthayotfa Chulalok, who succeeded Taksin, moved the capital to the eastern bank in 1782, to which the city dates its foundation under its current Thai name, "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon". Bangkok has since undergone tremendous changes, growing rapidly, especially in the second half of the 20th century, to become the primate city of Thailand. It was the centre of Siam's modernization in the late 19th century, subjected to Allied bombing during the Second World War, and has long been the modern nation's central political stage, with numerous uprisings and coups d'état having taken place on its streets throughout the years. (Full article...)
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Lilac-point Siamese (Oriental)
The Siamese cat (Thai: แมวไทย, Maeo Thai; แมวสยาม, Maeo Sayam) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. It derives from the Wichianmatlandrace. The Siamese cat is one of several varieties of cats native to Thailand (known as Siam before 1939). The original Siamese became one of the most popular breeds in Europe and North America in the 19th century. Siamese cats have a distinctive colourpoint coat, resulting from a temperature-sensitive type of albinism.
Distinct features like blue almond-shaped eyes, a triangular head shape, large ears, an elongated, slender, and muscular body, and various forms of point colouration characterise the modern-style Siamese. The modern-style Siamese's point-colouration resembles the 'old-style" foundation stock. The "old-style" Siamese have a round head and body. They have been re-established by multiple registries as the Thai cat. Siamese and Thai cats are selectively bred and pedigreed in multiple cat fancier and breeder organisations. The terms "Siamese" or "Thai" are used for cats from this specific breed, which are by definition all purebred cats with a known and formally registeredancestry. The ancestry registration is the cat's pedigree or "paperwork". (Full article...)
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Mitr around 1970s
Mitr Chaibancha (Thai: มิตร ชัยบัญชา; 28 January 1934 – 8 October 1970) was a Thaifilm actor who acted in 266 films from 1956 to 1970. He died on 8 October 1970 at Dongtan Beach, Jomtien, South Pattaya, after falling from a helicopter during the filming of a stunt for the final scene of Insee thong (Golden Eagle).
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...)
Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with aromatics and spicy heat. The Australian chef David Thompson, an expert on Thai food, observes that unlike many other cuisines, Thai cooking is "about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like a complex musical chord it's got to have a smooth surface but it doesn't matter what's happening underneath. Simplicity isn't the dictum here, at all." (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...)
The Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT; Thai: พรรคไทยรักไทย, RTGS: Phak Thai Rak Thai, IPA:[pʰáktʰajráktʰaj]; "Thais Love Thais Party") was a Thai political party founded in 1998. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under its founder, Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra. During its brief existence, Thai Rak Thai won the three general elections it contested. Eight months after a military coup forced Thaksin to remain in exile, the party was dissolved on 30 May 2007 by the Constitutional Tribunal for violation of electoral laws, with 111 former party members banned from participating in politics for five years. (Full article...)
Image 615th-century Kalong ware glazed stoneware dish (from Culture of Thailand)
Image 7Ananta 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 8Gurkhas guide disarmed Japanese soldiers from Bangkok to prisoner of war camps outside the city, September 1945 (from History of Thailand)
Image 40Display 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 57Wat 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 72Map 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)
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Luang Por Dattajivo (Thai: ทตฺตชีโว, RTGS: Thattachiwo; Pali: Dattajīvo; born 21 December 1940), also known by his birth name Phadet Phongsawat (Thai: เผด็จ ผ่องสวัสดิ์) and former ecclesiastical titlePhrarajbhavanajahn (Thai: พระราชภาวนาจารย์, RTGS: Phra Rat Phawanachan), is a Thai Buddhist monk. He is the former deputy-abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and the vice-president of the Dhammakaya Foundation, and was the observing abbot of the temple from 1999 until 2006, and again from 2011 until 2016. As of December 2016,[update] he was still widely considered the de facto abbot. He met Mae chi (nun) Chandra Khonnokyoong and Luang Por Dhammajayo in his student years, and they have been his teachers throughout his life.
Luang Por Dattajivo was ordained in 1971, and quickly became a prolific author. He also took on a significant role in managing Wat Phra Dhammakaya. It was for this position that he was charged by the Thai military junta in 2017, when he refused to deliver Luang Por Dhammajayo to the authorities. This happened during the lockdown by the Thai junta, when abbot Luang Por Dhammajayo was sought for charges of receiving ill-gotten gains, charges which have been widely described as politically motivated. (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?
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