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Thai Life & Tradition
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Introduction to Thailand |
| The kingdom of Thailand lies in the heart of Southeast Asia, making it a natural gateway to Indochina, Myanmar and Southern China. Its shape and geography divide into four natural regions : the mountains and forests of the North; the vast rice fields of the Central Plains; the semi-arid farm lands of the Northeast plateau; and the tropical islands and long coastline of the peninsula South. |
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Thailand's General Information |
| Thailand covers an area of 513,115 square kilometers. It is bordered by Laos to the northeast, Myanmar to the north and west, Cambodia to the east, and Malaysia to the south. See all general info about typography, population, religion, language here... |
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History of Thailand |
| The Thais, most historians believe, began migrating from southern China in the early part of the Christian era. At first they formed a number of city-states in the northern part of what is present-day Thailand, in places like Chiang Saen, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, but these were never strong enough to exert much influence outside the immediate region. |
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Bangkok, The capital city of Thailand |
| Thailand’s capital and gateway city is Bangkok which was founded in 1782 by King Rama I [Phra Buddha Yodra chulaloke]. The capital is located at the geographic centre of the country and on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, “River of King”, which rises in the hills of the North and flows through the flat central plains on its way to the sea in the Gulf of Thailand. |
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Life in the City |
| In terms of present-day Thailand, to speak of urban life essentially means to speak of Bangkok, for though many provincial capitals have grown rapidly in recent years the national capital is the ullimate city to every Thai. One out of every ten Thais lives in Bangkok, which is 45 times bigger than Chiang Mai, the second most populous city. The metropolitan area now covers some 1,537 square kilometres on both sides of the Chao Phraya River and new suburban areas are continually being added. |
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Muay Thai - The Thai Boxing |
| Muay Thai, translated into English as Thai Boxing, is the national sport of Thailand and is a martial art with origins in the ancient battlefield tactics of the Siamese (or Thai) army.The Art of the Eight Limbs is the Thai name for a form of hard martial art practiced in several Southeast Asian countries including Thailand. It is known as Pradal Serey in Cambodia, Tomoi in Malaysia, Muay Lao in Laos and as a similar style called Lethwei in Myanmar. The different styles of kickboxing in Southeast Asia are analogous to the different types of Kung Fu in China or Silat in the Malay peninsula. The Thai military uses a modified form of Muay Thai called Lerdrit. |
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Loy Krathong Festival |
| One of the most popular festivals in early November is the Loy Krathong Festival. It takes place at a time when the weather is fine as the rainy season is over and there is a high water level all over the country. |
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Songkran Festival |
| "Songkran" is the thai traditional New Year and an occasion for family reunion. At this time, people from the rural areas who are working in the city usually return home to celebrate the festival. Thus, when the time comes, Bangkok temporarily turns into a deserted city. |
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Long – necked Karen |
| The long – necked Karen hill tribes or Padaung is one of the latest hill tribe immigrants who have come to form a new minority group in Thailand. The Padaung prefer to call themselves "kayan", but Thai people call them the "Karieng Koh Yao" which means "the long-necked Karen hill tribe". The Padaung are a unique clan of the greater Karen people who inhibit the Thai-Burmese borderlands.
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Hill Tribes in Thailand |
| "Hill Tribe" refers to ethnic minorities living in the mountainous regions of the northern part of Thailand. Each hill tribe has its own language, customs, mode of dress and spiritual beliefs. Most of them migrated to Thailand from Tibet, Burma, China, and Laos during the past 200 years or so. |
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Tropical Thai Fruits |
| Thailand is popularly known as the “land of smiles”, “land of yellow robes” and probably another popularity of Thailand is a land of tropical fruits as the county is blessed with a myriad of delicious tropical and temperate fruits which only vary depending on the season. |
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Thai Silk |
| Thai silk is an ancient home industry. It was for a long time an occupation of people in the northeast of Thailand, where cloth weaving is a traditional folk craft. To follow the footsteps of their ancestors, northeastern women used to rear their own silkworms, spun and dyed the yarn using the primitive methods for their family needs and sometimes for sale in the markets. |
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Do's and Don't in Thailand |
| Thai people have a deep, traditional reverence for the Royal Family, and a visitor should be careful to show respect for the King, the Queen and the Royal Children. |
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Buddhism in Thailand |
| Buddhism plays a very significant role in the daily life of the Thai people. Since about 95% of the people in the kingdom of Thailand are Buddhists, Buddhism inevitably involves almost every occasion such as birthdays, marriages, moving to a new house, funerals, opening business offices and buying new vehicles etc. |
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Life of Thai Farmer |
| We often hear the sayings that farmers are backbone of the country and in the water there are plenty of fish while in the paddy fields there is an abundance of rice. These sayings are right as farmers grow rice to feed the entire nation. Rice is not only the staple food of the country, but now it is one of our main export products. Therefore, farmers are the most important work force of the country. |
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Long-boat Racing |
| Long-boat Racing is one of the traditional rites which marks the end of the Buddhist Rains Retreat. It mainly takes place in the 11th or 12th lunar months (around September or October). |
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The Elephant Round-up Festival |
| The most popular of Northeastern festivals with foreign tourists is the Surin Round-up which is held annually in November. The people of Surin have long been renowned for their skill in capturing and training wild elephants and the round-up. In the past wild elephants lived in the forest areas of nearby Cambodia. Unfortunately, these areas have been inaccessible due to civil war in Cambodia, and at the same time, the elephant population is markedly decreasing thus the elephant catchers must now make a living by taking their charges around the country giving shows. |
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Thai Food |
| Thai food is widely known for being hot and spicy since almost all Thai food is cooked with basic ingredients such as garlic, chillies, limejuice, lemon grass and fresh coriander leaf and fermented fish sauce (nam pia) or shrimp paste (kapi) to make it salty. |
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The Former Capital of Thailand |
| One of the golden eras of Thai history was during the period from 1350 to 1767 when Ayutthaya was the capital. The former capital was founded in 1350 by King Uthong, later crowned King Ramathibodi I, who led his men from U Thong where there was an outburst of cholera. The city was named for Ayutthaya, the home of Rama in the Indian epic Ramayana which means "Undefeatable". |
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The Emerald Buddha |
| The city of Bangkok (or Rattanakosin) was established by King Rama I as his capital in 1782. Being determined to observe the tradition of constructing a Buddhist temple in the compound of the Royal Palace which has been practiced since the Sukhothai Period, King Rama I (Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke) had the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (or Wat Phra Kaew) constructed in order to install the Emerald Buddha which he had taken from Vientiane in Laos. |
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King's Birthday |
| His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great was born on December 5, 1927 to Prince Mahidol of Songkhla and Mom Sangwan. His Majesty is the ninth King of the Chakri Dynasty and the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Thailand. |
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Life of a Temple Boy |
| Life for a temple boy in the countryside is very interesting. Early in the morning before daybreak, he must prapare the black-bowl or alms bowl and a food carrier for the monks. Then, when the monks are ready for alms collecting in the village, he will have to carry food for the monks. Everyday he will follow the monks who go for alms-collecting 2-3 kilometers away from the temple. Many times he has to run for safety when he encounters fierce dogs. |
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Asarha Puja and Buddhist Lent (July, 17-18) |
 The Asanha Puja Day is one of the sacred days in Buddhism as it marks the coming into existence of the Triple Gems, namely: the Lord Buddha, His Teachings and His Disciples. The day falls on the fifteenth day of the waxing moon of the eighty lunar month (July). It is an aniversary of the day on which Lord Buddha delivered the First Sermon to his first five disciples at the Deer Park in Benares over two thousand five hundred years ago. |
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