Download - Siam 2552
siam
25
52
Contributing Photographer Caroline Allard
Written & Photographed by Amélie Légaré
Thailand
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SiamThe country’s official name was Siam until
1949. Located in the heart of Southeast
Asia, It iss bordered to the north by Burma,
to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the
south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia,
and to the west by the Andaman Sea. With
approximately 64 million people, About
75% of the population is ethnically Thai.
Thailand has a prevalence of Buddhism that
ranks among the highest in the world.
Thailand is also known as the “Land of
white Elephant.” White elephants were
highly esteemed and valued by the Thai
Rulers. Elephants are still highly revered in
Thailand. They are considered as the symbol
of peace and prosperity.
The official calendar in Thailand is based
on the Eastern version of the Buddhist Era,
which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian
(western) calendar. For example, the year
AD 2009 is 2552 BE in Thailand. (The date in
Thailand is based on Buddha’s death which
occurred approx 2552 years ago.
Bangkok
Grand PalacePhra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang is a complex
of buildings in Bangkok that serves as the
official residence of the Kings of Thailand
from the 18th century onwards. Construction
of the Palace began in 1782, during the reign
of King Rama I, when he moved the capital
across the river from Thonburi to Bangkok.
The King ordered the building of the Temple
of the Emerald Buddha; as the Monarch’s
personal place of worship and royal temple.
The country is a kingdom, a constitutional
monarchy with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the
ninth king of the House of Chakri, who has
reigned since 1946, making him the world’s
longest-serving current head of state
and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai
history. Publicly acclaimed “the Great”,
he is also known as Rama IX and his name
means “Strength of the Land, Incomparable
Power”.
Recent HistoryThailand retains much of its original culture,
because it is the only Southeast Asian nation
that has never been colonized. Before the
Thais, the Mon ruled much of what is now
Thailand. The Khmer also held large areas.
The Mon had a large Buddhist empire and they
had been trading with Indians for centuries
when the Thai arrived. Before the Mon it is
thought the Lawa people also had a large
kingdom. Both the Mon and the Lawa continue
to live in Thailand and Burma, but they are
now small and poor minority groups.
In 1932, a bloodless revolution carried out
by the Khana Ratsadon group of military and
civilian officials resulted in a transition of
power, when King Prajadhipok was forced to
grant the people of Siam their first constitu-
tion, thereby ending centuries of absolute
monarchy. Thailand then went through
decades of political instability characterised
by coups d’état as one military regime replaced
another, but eventually progressed towards a
stable prosperity and democracy in the 1980s.
Amulet MarketThe amulet market is adjacent to the famous
temple Wat Mahathat, between Maharat Road
and the river, is Bangkok’s biggest amulet
market, where a fantastic array of religious
amulets, charms, talismans, and traditional
medicine is sold. Hundreds of the faithful
squat on the ground studying tiny images of
the Buddha with magnifying glasses, hoping
to find one that will bring good fortune or
ward off evil. Each amulet brings a specific
kind of luck — to get the partner you want,
to pass your exams or to keep bugs out of your
rice stock.
NorthNorthThe north is a region of adventure with
forests and mountains, rivers and waterfalls,
often set against a backdrop of swirling mists
and fog. With high mountain ranges, plentiful
flora and fauna and crisp fresh weather, the
region is also home to distinctly different
food, music, arts, culture and even language.
Thailand enjoys a high level of literacy, and
education is provided by a well-organized
school system. Education is compulsory up to
and including grade 9, and the government
provides free education through to grade 12.
Like most Asian cultures, respect towards
ancestors is a great part of Thai spiritual
practice. Thais have a strong sense of
hospitality and generosity, but also a strong
sense of social hierarchy. Seniority is an
important concept in Thai culture. Elders
have by tradition ruled in family decisions
or ceremonies. Older siblings have duties to
younger ones.
Hill TribesThe conventions and customs of Thailand’s
hill tribes peoples differ from mainstream
Thai culture and whose ways of life have
altered little in generations. Many superior
handicrafts are produced by northern hill
tribes, making this an excellent place to pick
up authentic gifts, keepsakes and souvenirs of
the journey. They live in primitive huts built
from roughly cut wood and palm leaves. The
Padaung tribe, that you can see on these pages,
have always occupied the areas of Northwest
Thailand and the Shan states of Myanmar.
This tribe attracts many curious visitors on
account of their long-necked women.
A tradition of beautifying women by adding
brass rings to their necks has been preserved
largely for generating tourism. Although
the neck appears cruelly elongated, it is the
collarbone which has been displaced rather
than the stretching and weakening of the neck.
OrchidsThe Gluay Mhai is found in Thailand in an
amazing range of shapes, sizes and vibrant
colours. Orchids naturally grow on the
bark of forest trees and collect much
of their water and food from rain water
running down the trunks, and are classified
as epiphytes because of this way of grow-
ing. There are more than 1,000 species of
orchids in Thailand and the skills of the
horticulturists have developed their art
into a major export industry, valued at
US$250million per year.
Chiang Mai Chiang MaiThe actual meaning of Chiang Mai itself is
“new city”. Chiang Mai has its share of wats
and shrines. It also has a variety of “markets”,
which are really bazaars and in between there
are food vendors. We took cooking classes
and found out that Thai food is known for
its balance of five fundamental flavors in each
dish or the overall meal: hot (spicy), sour,
sweet, salty, and (optional) bitter. he highly
prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous
to Thailand. This naturally aromatic long-
grained rice grows in abundance in the ver-
dant patchwork of paddy fields that blanket
Thailand’s central plains. Steamed rice is
accompanied by highly aromatic curries,
stir-fries and other dishes, sometimes incorpo-
rating large quantities of chili peppers, lime
juice and lemon grass. If you turn 4 pages, you
will see the Purple Mangosteen (Garcinia man-
gostana), a tropical evergreen tree, believed
to have originated in the Sunda Islands and
the Moluccas of Indonesia. the fragrant
edible flesh can be described as sweet and
tangy, citrusy with peach flavor and texture.
Phi Phi Islands
TsunamiOn December 26, 2004, the 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami hit Thailand very hard. The
earthquake was one of the deadliest natural
disasters in recorded history. Ko Phi Phi was
devastated by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of
December 2004, when nearly all of the island’s
infrastructure was destroyed. As of 2010
most, but not all, of this has been restored.
Here is an example of an area that hasn’t yet
been restaured.
This beautiful set of 6 islands is located be-
tween the large island of Phuket and the
western Andaman Sea coast of the mainland
and part of Krabi province. Ko Phi Phi Don is
the largest island of the group, and is the
only island with permanent inhabitants,
although the beaches of the second largest
island, Ko Phi Phi Lee are visited by many people
as well.
Maya BayThe islands came to worldwide prominence
when Maya Bay was used as a location for the
film The Beach. Phi Phi Leh also houses the
‘Viking Cave’, from which there is a thriving
bird’s nest soup industry. There is an abundance
of corals and amazing marine life. There are
limestone mountains with cliffs, caves and
long white sandy beaches.
The local climate is tropical and character-
ized by monsoons. There is a rainy, warm, and
cloudy southwest monsoon from mid-May to
September, as well as a dry, cool northeast
monsoon from November to mid-March. The
southern isthmus is always hot and humid.
Prostitution in Thailand is illegal, but in prac-
tice it is tolerated and regulated. They esti-
mate that at least 10% of tourist dollars may
be spent on the sex trade and a study recently
put the number of prostitutes total
of 2.8 million sex workers in Thailand,
including 2 million women, 20,000 adult males
and 800,000 minors under the age of 18.
Gulf
Muay ThaiIn the past “Muay” (Thai Boxing) was taught
to royal soldiers for combat on battlefield
if unarmed. After they retired from the army,
these soldiers often became Buddhist monks
and stayed at the temples. They often send
their sons to be educated with the monks.
”Muay” is also one of the subjects taught in
the temples. Muay Thai achieved popularity all
over the world in the 1990s. Although similar
martial arts styles exist in other Southeast
Asian countries, few enjoy the recognition
that Muay Thai has received with its full-con-
tact rules allowing strikes including elbows,
throws and knees.
Floating Market