Transcript Thailand - Justin H. Cohen

Thailand
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Population: 67,091,089
Life Expectancy: 73.83
Land area: 197,595 sq. miles
Total area.198,455 sq. miles
Thailand is neighbors with Myanmar and Laos.
It is about the size of France.
History
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Humans have inhabited Thailand for
over 40,000
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After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the
13th century, various states thrived such
as Tai, Mon, Khmer, and the Malay
Kingdoms
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Prior to the 12th century the first Thai
state was the Buddhist kingdom of
Sukhothai
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In 1932, a bloodless revolution was
carried out by the Khana Ratsadon (a
group of military and civilian officials)
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In 1939, the name of the kingdom
‘Siam’, was officially changed to
Thailand
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During World War II, Japan
demanded to move troops into
Thailand. Japan then invaded the
country and engaged the Thai army
for eight hours before Plaek
Pibulsonggram ordered an
armistice. Shortly thereafter Japan
and Thailand signed a military
alliance.
● From 1912 to 1973 Thailand was
dominated by a long string of
military dictators
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Recently there have been a lot of
protests to end the so called
Thaksin regime
A picture of a map of
Siam the former name
of Thailand.
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Thailand has a Constitutional Monarchy
Has prime ministers
Serve a four year term
Current prime minister:Yingluck Shinawatra
Yingluck is the first woman prime minister
Economy of Thailand
● export dependent
● us owes Thailand 366 billion
● in 2013 it grew 3.8-4.3
year
gdp (us billions )
export volume of goods
2000
122.725
17.5
2001
155.536
-4.2
2002
126.877
12.0
2003
142.640
7.0
2004
161.340
9.0
2005
176.352
4.1
2006
207.089
12.5
2007
246.977
13.0
Culture
Clothing
Modern day
Traditional
Made with raw silk
and often is
decorated with
flowers
Long full skirts and blouses or long dresses
Festivals
In Thailand there are many festivals.
● Some of the festivals have national
importance
● Others have a more regional bent
● The timing of Thai festivals are determined
by the lunar calendar so they change
every year
● A festival is held every month in Thailand
Krathong
Some of these festivals include:
★ The Songkran festival, which is held on the
month of April(the festival celebrates the Thai
new year)
★ Loy Krathong festival, which is held in
November(festival of light people drop
krathongs in the water and make a wish)
★ Chiang Mai Flower festival
Food
● In Thailand their portions of food are smaller
● Thai food does not consist of as much meat as in
America
● Thai food is a lot milder than American food
● They often eat insects in many traditional dishes
Art
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Primarily comprised of art depicting
the Buddha
Thai paintings usually show two
subjects in two dimensions without
perspective. The size of each element
is reflected in its degree of
importance.
The frequent subjects are the Jataka
stories, episodes from the life of
Buddha, Buddhist heavens and hells,
and scenes depicting daily life
Architecture
Stilt houses- A house built on stilts and the
room left under the house is often used for
storage
Kuti- A tiny house built on stilts for a monk.
It is used to discourage the accumulation of
material goods. Typically a monastery
consists of a number of these.
Religious Temples- Thailand has many
Buddhist temples scattered around
Sala Thai- An open aired
pavilion that is used as a
meeting place and to protect
people from the sun and rain.
Most are open on all four sides
Famous People
descending from
Thailand
Guess who they are?