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.
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...)
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...)
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...)
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Eng (left) and Chang (right) in later years
Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) were Siamese (Thai)-American conjoined twin brothers whose fame propelled the expression "Siamese twins" to become synonymous for conjoined twins in general. They were widely exhibited as curiosities and were "two of the nineteenth century's most studied human beings".
The brothers were born with Chinese ancestry in Siam (now known as Thailand) and were brought to the United States in 1829. Physicians inspected them as they became known to American and European audiences in "freak shows". Newspapers and the public were initially sympathetic to them, and within three years they left the control of their managers, who they thought were cheating them, and toured on their own. In early exhibitions, they were exoticized and displayed their athleticism; they later held conversations in English in a more dignified parlor setting. (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...)
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Results by constituency
General elections were held in Thailand on 24 March 2019. They were the first elections since the 2014 Thai coup d'état that installed coup leader General Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister, and the first held in accordance with the 2017 constitution, which was drafted under the ruling military junta. The elections selected the five hundred members of the new House of Representatives, the previous House having been dissolved by the coup.
Seventy-seven parties contested the elections, including the two major parties, Pheu Thai (which supported former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and held a majority of seats prior to the coup) and the Democrat Party (the main opposition party prior to the coup). They were joined by several new parties, which mostly campaigned on a pro- or anti-junta stance. The former included the Prayut-aligned Palang Pracharath Party, while the latter included the Future Forward Party, which catered to young voters, as well as several Pheu Thai–aligned parties. (Full article...)
Siamese fighting fish are endemic to the central plain of Thailand, where they were first domesticated at least 1,000 years ago, among the longest of any fish. They were initially bred for aggression and subject to gambling matches akin to cockfighting. Bettas became known outside Thailand through King Rama III (1788–1851), who is said to have given some to Theodore Cantor, a Danish physician, zoologist, and botanist. They first appeared in the West in the late 19th century, and within decades became popular as ornamental fish. B. splendens long history of selective breeding has produced a wide variety of coloration and finnage, earning it the moniker, "designer fish of the aquatic world". (Full article...)
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Postcards of monks on Dhutanga in the early 20th century The Kammatthana meditation tradition originally grew out of the Dhammayut reform movement, founded by Mongkut in the 1820s as an attempt to raise the bar for what was perceived as the "lax" Buddhist practice of the regional Buddhist traditions at the time. Mongkut's reforms were originally focused on scriptural study of the earliest extant Buddhist texts, revival of the dhutanga ascetic practices, and close adherence to the Buddhist Monastic Code (Pali: vinaya). However, the Dhammayut began to have an increasing emphasis on meditation as the 19th century progressed. During this time, a newly ordained Mun Bhuridatto went to stay with Ajahn Sao Kantasīlo, who was then the abbot of a small meditation-oriented monastery on the outskirts of Ubon Ratchathani, a province in the predominantly Lao-speaking cultural region of Northeast Thailand known as Isan.
Ajahn Mun learned from Ajahn Sao in the late 19th century, where he studied amidst the growing meditation culture in Isan's Dhammayut monasteries as a result of Mongkut's reforms a half-century earlier. Wandering the rural frontier of Northeast Thailand with Ajahn Sao in rigorous ascetic practices (Pali: dhutanga; Thai: tudong). Ajahn Mun traveled abroad to neighboring regions for a time, hoping to reach levels of meditative adeptness known as the noble attainments (Pali: ariya-phala), which culminate in the experience of Nibbana — the final goal of a Theravada Buddhist practitioner. (Full article...)
Image 13Ananta 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 14A 14-year-old Vietnamese contaminated with Agent Orange. (from History of Thailand)
Image 15Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, 2001–2006. (from History of Thailand)
Image 16Display 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 36Funeral pyre of Chan Kusalo, the patriarch-abbot of northern Thailand. (from Culture of Thailand)
Image 37Wat 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 3817th-19th century Benjarong style ceramics from Ayutthaya. (from Culture of Thailand)
Image 50Map 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 5115th-16th century Sawankhalok stoneware with brown underglaze and pale blue glaze (from Culture 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. 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 during Siam Niramit, a Bangkok cultural show, the forestage was transformed into a 50-metre-long (160 ft) river?
... that the first batch of Action Computer Enterprise's Discovery 1600, one of the first multi-user microcomputers, was delivered to a tobacco-growing business in Thailand?
... that the electropop rock band Siamés created "Argentina's first anime music video"?
... 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 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?
... that the first Thai typewriter left out two letters, which eventually became obsolete?