Welcome to the Thailand Portal / สถานีย่อยประเทศไทย
Map of Thailand
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.
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...)
Himavanta is a legendary forest, also called Himmanpan Mountain, which is said to be located in the Himalayas. Himavanta appears in a piece of Thai literature called Traibhumikatha which explains that Himavanta is a forest where many diverse mythical creatures such as Phaya Naga, Phaya Krut, and Kinnaree, spirits or even gods and goddess reside.
The mythical Nariphon tree that is often mentioned in Thai folklore is also said to grow here. The story of Himavanta and the explanation of the three existing planes were written by the philosopher-king of Si Satchanalai, Phaya Lithai. Since the Himavanta forest relates to Buddhist cosmology, it profoundly influences beliefs, cultures and artworks in the Buddhist and Hindu religions, among others. (Full article...)
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Proposed Thai Canal routes
The Thai Canal (Thai: คลองไทย), also known as Kra Canal (คลองกระ) or Kra Isthmus Canal (คลองคอคอดกระ), is any of several proposals for a canal that would connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand. Such a canal would significantly reduce travel times through heavily-navigated trade routes.
The canal would provide an alternative to transit through the Strait of Malacca and shorten transit for shipments of oil to Japan and China by 1,200 km. China refers to it as part of its 21st century maritime Silk Road. Proposals, as of 2015, measure 102 kilometres long, 400 meters wide and 25 meters deep. Plans for a canal have been discussed and explored at various times. Cost, environmental concerns, and geopolitical concerns have been weighed against the potential economic and strategic benefits. (Full article...)
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Graph showing homicide rate in Thailand from 1995 to 2015 Crime in Thailand has been a defining issue in the country for decades, inspiring years of policy and international criticism. Drug use and corruption make up the majority of the crime in Thailand and due to this, many Thai administrations attempted to curtail the drug trade, most notably Thaksin Shinawatra with the 2003 War on Drugs. Since 2003 crime has been decreasing with the crime rate decreasing from 9.97 to 2.58. Despite this, juvenile delinquency has been increasing in recent years. The Murder rate In Thailand per 100,000 populations was 1.84 per 100,000 in 2021 and 1.9 per 100,000 in 2022 and 2.2 per 100,000 in 2023 and 2.6 per 100,000 in 2024. In November 2015, The New York Times reported that in the fiscal year ending September 2015, the national police have seen a surge in thefts, burglaries, and robberies, more than 75,557 thefts and other property crimes in the fiscal year, 10.5 percent higher than the previous year. Violent crime was up 8.6 percent during the same period. These figures have been contested by the police and by Amorn Wanichwiwatana, a criminologist at Chulalongkorn University, who said he was not aware of any significant uptick in crime since the military came to power. "I don’t think that’s the case. It's not possible," he said of the 60 percent increase reported by the Times. Crime statistics from the Royal Thai Police (RTP) show a statistically negligible increase of 1.9 percent over the same period, with 920 additional crimes reported after an overall decline since 2009. (Full article...)
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Formal portrait, c. 1900s
Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was characterised by the modernisation of Siam, governmental and social reforms, and territorial concessions to the British and French empires. As Siam was surrounded by European colonies, Chulalongkorn, through his policies and acts, ensured the independence of Siam.
Chulalongkorn was born as the son of Mongkut, the fourth king of Siam. 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. The 1893 Franco-Siamese crisis and Haw wars took place during his reign. All his reforms were dedicated to ensuring Siam's independence given the increasing encroachment of Western powers, so that Chulalongkorn earned the epithet Phra Piya Maharat or known as the Great Beloved King. (Full article...)
The Pheu Thai Party (PTP; Thai: พรรคเพื่อไทย, lit. 'For Thais Party', RTGS: Phak Phuea Thai, pronounced[pʰákpʰɯ̂atʰāj]) is a major Thai political party. It is the third incarnation of a Thai political party founded by former prime ministerThaksin Shinawatra, and like the previous incarnations, is the main political vehicle for the Shinawatra family. It is the current majority ruling party of Thailand, ruling along with other parties in a coalition.
The Pheu Thai Party was founded on 20 September 2007, as an anticipated replacement for the People's Power Party (PPP), which the Constitutional Court of Thailand dissolved less than three months later after finding party members guilty of electoral fraud. The People's Power Party was itself a replacement for Thaksin's original Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT), dissolved by the Court in May 2007 for violation of electoral laws. (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...)
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population of 11.3 million people as of 2021, 13% of the country's population. Over 17.4 million people (25%) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region as of the 2021 estimate, making Bangkok a megacity and an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in both size and importance to the national economy.
Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew and became the site of two capital cities, Thonburi in 1767 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of the modernization of Siam during the late-19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was at the centre of the country's political struggles throughout the 20th century, as Siam—later renamed Thailand—abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule, and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings. The city, incorporated as a special administrative area under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in 1972, grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact on Thailand's politics, economy, education, media and modern society. (Full article...)
Image 27Map 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 55Wat 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 58Ananta 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 6715th-century Kalong ware glazed stoneware dish (from Culture of Thailand)
Image 68Display 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)
This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen (Thai: วัดปากน้ำภาษีเจริญ, RTGS: Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen) is a royal wat ('temple') located in Phasi Charoen district, Bangkok, at the Chao Phraya River. It is part of the Maha Nikaya fraternity and is the origin of the Dhammakaya tradition. It is a large and popular temple, supported by prosperous community members. Wat Paknam was established in 1610, during the Ayutthaya period, and received support from Thai kings until the late nineteenth century.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, the temple had become nearly abandoned and had fallen into disrepair. The temple underwent a major revival and became widely known under the leadership of the meditation master Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro, who was abbot there in the first half of the twentieth century. Seven years after Luang Pu's death, Somdet Chuang Varapuñño [th] became the new abbot until his death in 2021. (Full article...)
... that a kind of deep fried egg dish might be perceived as a warning in Thai folklore?
... 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 during Siam Niramit, a Bangkok cultural show, the forestage was transformed into a 50-metre-long (160 ft) river?
... that "gambling lord" Hong Taechawanit's mansion in Thailand became a police station?
![Image 1 Yam wun sen kung, a spicy Thai salad with glass noodles and prawns Thai cuisine (Thai: อาหารไทย, RTGS: ahan thai, pronounced [ʔāː.hǎːn tʰāj]) is the national cuisine of Thailand. 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...)](https://kihulane.eu/encyclopedia/martin-helme?rdp_we_resource=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3ABlank.png)
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