Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,627
edits
Thailand: Difference between revisions
BOT: Consistency with the rest of the wiki, and freeing up "Category:Asia" for the disambiguation page
m (cleanup categories) |
(BOT: Consistency with the rest of the wiki, and freeing up "Category:Asia" for the disambiguation page) |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Useful Notes}}
[[File:thailand-map_2680.png|frame]]
Line 15 ⟶ 14:
Thailand was occupied by Japan in the [[World War II|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 [[La Résistance|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;" [[Istanbul (Not Constantinople)|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 [[wikipedia:Thailand#Etymology|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.
Line 21 ⟶ 20:
'''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 [[
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 [[Banned in China|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 [[wikipedia:The King and I#Reaction in Thailand|The Other Wiki]]). The worst case of censorship was in early 2007 when the government [[New Media Are Evil|blocked access to YouTube]] because there were videos that were considered to be anti-monarchy.
Line 33 ⟶ 32:
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 [[Crosses the Line Twice|some of the most unbelievably raunchy in the world]], minors of both genders are reportedly available for purchase, and [[Sweet on Polly Oliver|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; [[Self-Deprecation|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, [[Mighty Glacier|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
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.
Line 96 ⟶ 95:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:
| |||