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[edit] September and October 2007
The South Thailand insurgency is a separatist campaign which took place in the Pattani region, the three southernmost provinces of Thailand, with violence increasingly spilling over into neighboring provinces and threatening to extend up to the national capital in Bangkok. A long series of conflicts has resulted in over 2,500 deaths in the past decade, with more than 2,300 occurring since an escalation of violence in January of 2004.
In July 2005 Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra assumed wide-ranging emergency powers to deal with the insurgency. In September 2006, Army Commander Sonthi Boonyaratkalin was granted extraordinary increase in executive powers to combat the unrest. On September 19, Sonthi and the Thai military seized power from Thaksin. Despite reconciliatory gestures from the junta, the insurgency continued.
[edit] August 2007
Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. Nearly 95% of Thailand's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school, though Buddhism in this country has become integrated with folk beliefs such as ancestor worship as well as Chinese religions from the large Thai-Chinese population. Buddhist temples in Thailand are characterized by tall golden stupas, and the Buddhist architecture of Thailand is similar to that in other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Cambodia and Laos, with which Thailand shares cultural and historical heritage.
The Thai Theravada Buddhism was imported from Sri Lanka. While there are significant local and regional variations, the Theravada school provides most of the major themes of Thai Buddhism. By tradition, Pāli is the language of religion in Thailand. Scriptures are recorded in Pāli, using either the modern Thai script or the older Khom and Tham scripts. Pāli is also used in religious liturgy, despite the fact that most Thais understand very little of this ancient language. The Pāli Tipitaka is the primary religious text of Thailand, though many local texts have been composed in order to summarise the vast number of teachings found in the Tipitaka. The monastic code (Patimokkha) followed by Thai monks is taken from the Pāli Theravada—something that has provided a point of controversy during recent attempts to resurrect the bhikkhuni lineage in Thailand.
[edit] July 2007
The Siamese Cat (in Thai, วิเชียรมาศ or wichien-maat) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Oriental cat. In Thailand, where they are one of several native breeds, they are called Wichien-maat (a name meaning "Moon diamond"). In the twentieth century the cats became one of the most popular breeds in Europe and North America. The pointed cat known in the West as "Siamese" is one of several breeds of cats from Siam described and illustrated in manuscripts called "Tamra Maew" (Cat Poems), estimated to have been written in the 1700s.
The breed was first seen outside their Asian home in 1884, when the British Counsul-General in Bangkok, Edward Blencowe Gould, brought a breeding pair of the cats, Pho and Mia, back to Britain as a gift for his sister, Lilian Jane Veley (who went on to be co-founder of the Siamese Cat Club in 1901).
All Siamese Cats have a creamy base coat with coloured points on their snouts, ears, paws and lower legs, tails and (in males) scrota. The pointed pattern is a form of partial albinism, resulting from a mutation in tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in melanin production. The mutated enzyme is heat-sensitive; this results in dark colouration in the coolest parts of the cat's body, including the extremities and the face, which is cooled by the passage of air through the sinuses.
[edit] June 2007
The baht (Thai: บาท, symbol ฿, ISO 4217 code THB) is the currency of Thailand. It is subdivided into 100 satang. The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. The baht is also a unit of weight for gold and is commonly used in jewellers and goldsmiths in Thailand.
The currency was originally known as the tical and this name was used in the English language text on banknotes until 1925. However, the name baht was established as the Thai name by the 19th century. Both tical and baht were originally units of weight and coins were issued in both silver and gold denominated by their weight in baht and its fractions and multiples.
Until 1897, the baht was subdivided into 8 fuang, each of 8 att. The present decimal system, in which 1 baht = 100 satang, was introduced by king Chulalongkorn in 1897. However, coins denominated in the old units were issued until 1910. One hangover from the pre-decimalization system: the 25 satang (¼ baht) is still colloquially called a salueng or salung (สลึง). It is occasionally used for amounts not exceeding 10 salueng or 2.50 baht. A 25-satang coin is also sometimes called salueng coin.
[edit] May 2007
The Ayutthaya Kingdom (Thai: อยุธยา) was a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. King Ramathibodi I (U thong) founded Ayutthaya as the capital of his kingdom in 1350 and absorbed Sukhothai, 640 km to the north, in 1376. Over the next four centuries the kingdom expanded to become the nation of Siam, whose borders were roughly those of modern Thailand, except for the north, the Kingdom of Lannathai. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the city walls. The court of King Narai (1656-1688) had strong links with that of King Louis XIV of France, whose ambassadors compared the city in size and wealth to Paris.
The Siamese state based at Ayutthaya in the valley of the Chao Phraya River grew from the earlier kingdom of Lopburi, which it absorbed, and its rise continued the steady shift southwards of the centre of gravity of the Tai-speaking peoples. U Thong was an adventurer allegedly descended from a rich Chinese merchant family who married royalty. In 1350, to escape the threat of an epidemic, he moved his court south into the rich floodplain of the Chao Phraya. On an island in the river he founded a new capital, which he called Ayutthaya, after Ayodhya in northern India, the city of the hero Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana. U Thong assumed the royal name of Ramathibodi and became the first king of Ayutthaya (1350-69).
[edit] April 2007
King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Thai: ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; IPA: [pʰu:mipʰon adunjadeːt]; Royal Institute: Phumiphon Adunyadet; listen ) (born December 5, 1927), officially styled "the Great" (Thai: มหาราช, Maharaja) and also known as Rama IX, is the current King of Thailand. His name, Bhumibol Adulyadej, means "Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power". Having reigned since June 9, 1946, Bhumibol is the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-serving monarch in Thai history.
Although Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch, he has several times made decisive interventions in Thai politics, including the 2005-2006 Thai political crisis. Bhumibol has been widely credited with facilitating Thailand's transition to democracy in the 1990s, although in earlier periods of his reign he supported military regimes. Most recently, he did not oppose the September 2006 coup which overthrew the elected government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Bhumibol uses his great wealth to fund numerous development projects, particularly in rural areas. He is immensely popular in Thailand, and is revered as a semi-divine figure by many Thais.
[edit] March 2007
The Constitution of Thailand is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Thailand. Since the founding of the modern state in 1932, Thailand has had 17 charters and constitutions, reflecting the high degree of political instability and frequency of military coups faced by the nation. After successful coups, military regimes often abrogated existing constitutions and promulgated new ones.
All of Thailand's charters and constitutions have allowed a constitutional monarchy, but with widely differing balances of power between the branches of government. Most of them have stipulated parliamentary systems, however, several of them also called for dictatorships, e.g., the 1957 Charter. Both unicameral and bicameral parliaments have been used, and members of parliament have been both elected and appointed. The direct powers of the monarch have also varied considerably.
Following an army-led coup on 19 September 2006, the 1997 Constitution was abrogated. The royally-endorsed junta promulgated an interim constitution on 1 October 2006. The Interim Constitution allowed the junta to appoint a Prime Minister, legislature, and drafting committee for a permanent constitution.
[edit] February 2007
Isan, (Isan/Thai: อีสาน) is the northeast region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, and by Cambodia to the south. To the west it is separated from Northern and Central Thailand by the Phetchabun mountain range.
Agriculture is the main economic activity, but due to the socio-economic conditions and hot, dry climate output lags behind that of other parts of the country. This is Thailand's poorest region. The main language of the region is Isan (which is similar to Lao), but Thai is also spoken by almost everyone. Khmer (the language of Cambodia) is widely spoken in regions near the Cambodian border.
Prominent aspects of the Culture of Isan include mor lam (Thai: หมอลำ) folk music, Muay Thai boxing, cock fighting and Isan food, in which sticky rice (Thai: ข้าวเหนียว) and chillies are prominent.
[edit] January 2007
The 2006 Thailand coup d'état took place on Tuesday 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a coup against the government of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup, which was Thailand's first in fifteen years, followed a year-long political crisis involving Thaksin and political opponents and occurred less than a month before nation-wide House elections were originally scheduled to be held. The coup was bloodless, with no casualties reported. International reactions ranged from criticism by countries such as Australia to expressions of neutrality from countries such as China.
The new rulers lead by general Sonthi Boonyaratglin and organised in a Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), issued a statement of commitment to restore democratic government within one year. However, the CDR also announced that after elections and the establishment of a democratic government, the council would be transformed into a permanent "Council of National Security" whose future role in Thai politics has not yet been explained. The junta later drafted an interim charter and appointed retired General Surayud Chulanont as Premier.
[edit] December 2006
The cinema of Thailand has a history that stretches back to early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Berne, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by the Thai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry was started and in the 1930s, the Thai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films. The years after the Second World War saw a resurgence of the industry, which used 16 mm film to produce hundreds of films, many of them hard-driving action films. Competition from Hollywood brought the Thai industry to a low point in the 1980s and '90s, but by the end of the '90s, Thailand had its "new wave", with such directors as Nonzee Nimibutr, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and Apichatpong Weerasethakul as well as action hero Tony Jaa being celebrated at film festivals around the world. For every genre that Hollywood or other film industries offer, there is an example from Thailand that favourably compares.
[edit] May 2006
Surat Thani is the largest of the provinces of southern Thailand. It stretches from the low plain of the Tapi River to the hills of the Phuket and Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range. The province in its present form was formed in 1895 by merging the Mueang of Chaiya, Kanchanadit and Khiri Rat Nikhom.
