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 513,120 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.
Operating from its primary hub at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, the airline currently serves 51 international and 10 domestic destinations using a fleet of 71 aircraft consisting of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus. Currently Thai's route network is dominated by flights to cities in Europe, Asia and Oceania flying to 27 countries as of November 2023. Thai was the first Asia-Pacific airline to serve Heathrow Airport. Among Asia-Pacific carriers, the company has one of the largest passenger operations in Europe. As of 2023, the longest route Thai operates is the Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Heathrow Airport (LHR) (9,576 km [5,950 mi]). As of 2013, services between Bangkok and Los Angeles were served via Incheon International Airport near Seoul until the airline ended its flights to the United States on 25 October 2015. As of the end of 2019, 1,438 of its 22,054 employees were pilots. (Full article...)
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...)
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Formal portrait, c. 1900s
Chulalongkorn, also known as King Rama V, reigning title Phra Chula Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, reigning from 1 October 1868 until his death in 23 October 1910.
Chulalongkorn was born as the son of King Mongkut in 1853. In 1868, he travelled with his father and Westerners invited by Mongkut to observe the solar eclipse of 18 August 1868 in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. However, Chulalongkorn and his father both contracted malaria which resulted in his father's death. (Full article...)
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The Thonburi Kingdom (Thai: ธนบุรี, 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...)
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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...)
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...)
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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...)
Image 2015th-century Kalong ware glazed stoneware dish (from Culture of Thailand)
Image 2117th-19th century Benjarong style ceramics from Ayutthaya. (from Culture of Thailand)
Image 22Display 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 36Map 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 39Wat 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 42Ananta 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)
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Living River Siam (Thai: โครงการแม่น้ำเพื่อชีวิต; formerly South East Asia Rivers Network, or SEARIN) is a Thai non-governmental organization (NGO) which analyzes the impact of Thailand's various dam projects and coordinates the research of indigenous peoples to give Thai villagers the power to document the influence of local rivers and dams. Founded in 1999, it gained prominence during the Pak Mun Dam study period in 2001, when it developed a method for instructing villagers on how to document the effects of the dammed river on their lives. When the Thai government proposed other dam sites, Living River Siam took its research methods to the villages surrounding those sites as well. Today, the organization works with other NGOs in Southeast Asia to counter government-sponsored research that encourages dam construction. (Full article...)
Salads that are internationally known as Thai salads with a few exceptions fall into four main preparation methods. In Thai cuisine these are called yam, tam, lap and phla. A few other dishes can also be regarded as being a salad. (Full article...)
Credit:User:Diliff
A spectacular sunset in Bangkok, showing the skytrain and modern skyline, taken from the corner of Thanon Silom. Taken on the 4th of June, 2004.
... 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?