Thailand

Ratcha Anachak Thai (Kingdom of Thailand) is a country in Southeast Asia.

History

The history of the country dates back pretty far, and was once considered to be the location of the oldest Bronze Age culture in the world (Ban Chiang village), but radiocarbon dating found that it actually came much later.

Thai people normally consider 1238 as the year of the country's formation, with Sukhothai as the capital, even though that there are several small kingdoms in the area before that, competing to carve out land.

Thailand lost half its territory to France and Britain in the 1800s, but it was the only South or Southeast Asian country never colonized by a Western power, by China, or by Japan (or one of two South and Southeast Asian countries never colonized, if one counts Afghanistan). Thailand survived through a combination of luck and having rulers whose skills were far into Magnificent Bastard levels, playing off the British, French, Burmese, Chinese and Vietnamese off one another.

Thailand was occupied by Japan in the Second World War, and became a Japanese ally -- but how much the Japanese trusted their new ally can be deduced from the fact that they issued the Thais rifles of a caliber made nowhere else in the world, and never issued them more ammunition than the bare minimum necessary for the next battle. The Free Thai Movement was significantly more active than the Thai military although the difference between the two was a bit fuzzy. The Army Chief of Staff was the head of the Free Thai movement and the pipeline for escaped allied air crew was run by the Thai police. Allied personnel in Thailand were driven around in official limousines. See Bangkok - Top Secret for the gruesome details of how the Thais made the Japanese look like idiots. After the war, free of the Japanese threat, Thailand allied itself with the United States.

The country was originally named "Siam;" it renamed itself to "Thailand" in 1939, "Siam" in 1945, and "Thailand" again in 1949. The name "Thailand" is often thought to derive from tai, "free," in commemoration of the independence of Thailand in the 18th century; it's more likely that it derives from the name of the Thai ethnic group, the predominant one in the country, with the connotation of "free" as a bonus. (Tai may actually mean "people," not "free;" The Other Wiki has more here.)

The country changed from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy in a bloodless coup in 1932. It had some bloodier coups with the right-wing military governments set up after World War II. A revolution in 1973, led by left-wing students, shifted the country towards democracy; the military seized control again in 1976. Thailand became a bicameral constitutional republic, more or less after the English fashion (with a prime minister, and the king as a primarily ceremonial figure). Another coup occurred in 2006, but ended in the restoration of democratic government; the current political situation remains unstable, with an Islamist insurgency in the ethnically Malay southeast region of Pattani and, since 2005, political crisis concerning the (now fugitive) Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies / successors.

Monarchy

Several dynasties have ruled the country. The current King is Bhumibol Adulyadej, 9th King of the Chakri dynasty, who is ruling since 1946 and is the world's longest-serving current monarch. Yellow is considered to be the color of the monarchy, and many people wear yellow clothing on occasion to show respect to the king. (Don't confuse this with The King in Yellow.)

The monarchy is considered to be sacred by the Thai people and any criticism of the monarchy is illegal - including from foreign nationals speaking or publishing from their own country. This has caused several works to be censored in Thailand, like The King Never Smiles, and The King and I (which is sufficiently far from completely accurate that it scandalized Thailand when it was released; see The Other Wiki). The worst case of censorship was in early 2007 when the government blocked access to YouTube because there were videos that were considered to be anti-monarchy.

Other things

Most people know Thailand for Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing), elephants, and Thai cuisine.

Censorship is pretty bad (although getting better), with Animation Age Ghetto in full effect, leading to massive blurring of scenes like exposed midriffs. This carries over to other works, to the extent where even a mannequin used in an education show was censored because it was female-breasted. Video games are also viewed in a bad light, too. Thailand also censors unflattering portrayals of the monarchy, as stated above.

The country is infamous for its sex tourism, especially in Pattaya, and its massive drug trade which has led to Bangkok's reputation as a Wretched Hive and Den of Iniquity. During The Vietnam War, it was a place where American soldiers went on rest And recreation. The sex shows are considered to be some of the most unbelievably raunchy in the world, minors of both genders are reportedly available for purchase, and male-to-female transsexual performers hold a special, almost revered place in the subculture. It apparently also has some number of Mail Order Bride businesses, if the page ads above are to be believed. Some caution is needed here; Thai women themselves will admit that they make wonderful girlfriends but terrible wives.

Asian elephants are revered in Thai culture. "White" (actually albino and rather pinkish) ones are all officially owned by the king, in much the way that all mute swans in Britain are owned by the Queen (actually it's only some swans, but never mind). This is the origin of the English phrase 'white elephant', as white elephants were considered desirable by Thai nobles but cost a lot to maintain and could not be used for practical purposes--so they looked big and impressive but were money sinks. Elephants are seen in daily life being used as work animals as they have been for hundreds of years, and vehicle/elephant car crashes are a leading form of road accident. (Elephant vs. tiny Asian car, elephant wins.) The Thai flag used to be three stripes of red on white with a white elephant on the middle stripe--apparently a Thai King took the elephant off when he realised it could be flown upside down in a disrespectful way. In World War One the middle red stripe was then changed to blue to more resemble the British and French flags, Siam's allies at the time.

Southern Thailand has an Islamist separatist insurgency. The terrorists recently announced a ceasefire, and of course promptly broke it. The Thai Army is surprisingly competent when it finally decides to do something. They are very good at staging coups.

Also, since 2005 there are constant stream of political crisis which has a lot to do with Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai Prime Minister who was ousted in 2006 and now a wanted fugitive.

Also, Bangkok has the longest city name on Earth. Translated, it reads: "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam." It's sort of complicated in that the Thai name uses archaic words few would be able to define, and the translation actually comes from Pali and Sanskrit.
 * In Thai, the name reads Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. Many Thai people know the full name primarily because of a popular song a few years back, which included the whole thing. Evidently any farang (white foreigner) rattling off the full thing will get some very strange (but appreciative) looks.

Thailand in fiction

Anime and Manga

 * Thailand in Axis Powers Hetalia is a Perpetual Smiler with a pet elephant named Toto.
 * Black Lagoon
 * In the Death Note Alternate Continuity film L Change the World, Thailand is where the bad guys test their bioweapons, the heroes do car chases, and
 * Street Fighter: Both Sagat and his disciple Adon are Muay Thai fighters from Thailand. Also in Street Fighter II, the final boss M.Bison (Vega in the original Japanese version) also lives in Thailand and his stage is the Grand Palace of Bangkok, specially the Temple of Emerald Buddha part. The fictional country Shadaloo in The Movie is located near Thailand as well. Also, in the second film, Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li, the eponymous Chun Li went to Bangkok to train herself. This series seem to love Thailand a lot.

Films

 * Bangkok Dangerous: Duh. Both the Thai original and the American remake.
 * The Beach
 * Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason: Bridget Jones goes on a holiday in Thailand, ending up in a Thai prison.
 * The Hangover II
 * The King and I
 * The Man With the Golden Gun
 * Ong Bak
 * Rambo briefly includes some scenes set in Thailand, which borders Burma.
 * Stealth - early part of the film is in Thailand.

Literature

 * The Big One and its sequels
 * The Windup Girl is a sci-fi novel set in a future Thailand.

Live Action TV
In Thailand, television series are called "lakhorns" and usually follow several broad categories. The biggest is revenge lakhorns, also known as "slap-slap-kiss", where the main male lead kidnaps, emotionally tortures, or destroys the corporation of the female love interest, only to find love in the end. A series is normally fifteen two-hour long episodes. Like many asian dramas, they rarely, if ever, have a second season or extension. They are also strangely conservative; they frequently have rape scenes but never show any type of kissing.

Thailand is looked as a tropical backwater outside the country in many television productions.


 * Lost's infamous Bai Ling episode, "Stranger in a Strange Land".

Music

 * Chess: One of the more well-known songs is 'One Night in Bangkok'. No points for guessing what gets described

Real Life

 * Bangkok Hilton- the real prison that is usually associated with that title is Bangkwang- a male-only prison.

Video Games

 * Sonic Unleashed - The continent of Adabat is partially based on Thailand.

Web Comics

 * Everyday Heroes - Jintara Sharpley is named for a popular Thai singer. She met her American husband Ben when he was on R&R in Bangkok and she was a sex worker.