Thailand

Thailand

By: Zachary Amiton

1My Questions about Thailand1. Thailand has a great reputation of being a very peaceful and loving country, has there been any wars?

What are some other holidays besides the very famous ones?

Why is the king so important to the Thai people?

4. What is the legend about Lord Buddha?

5. Why do we speak different languages?

6. How does culture affect us?

7. Why does Thailand have a national animal?

By: Zack

Answers to my questionsThe WarsThailand is a very loving country, but there was some wars. One of the most famous wars was the nine armies war (Burmese Siamese War) that went from 1785-1786. In this war, Burma invaded Lanna and Northern Siam. King Rama l himself sent the Thai army to fight the Burmese army. Another war was the Thai-Laotian border war, when Laos had a war with Thailand.

2. HolidaysThailand has many holidays. Some of these holidays, besides the most famous ones are Mahka Bucha day, and Visakha Bucha day, the day Lord Buddha was born. Some other holidays are Boon Pra Wate (Ghost Festival), and the queen and kings birthdays, which are national mothers days and fathers days.Answers to my questions continued3. Why they love the king

The Thai people love their king. They mainly love him because he is a kind man, but they also love him because he stood up and protected his people.

4. (Why Thailand has a National animal)

Thailand has a national animal because it symbolizes a kings honor and glory, but also because, on the map Thailand is shaped like the head of an elephant.Big QuestionsWhat happens when two cultures come together?

Well, if two cultures come together the other cultures could change the way another one lives, by changing their beliefs, maybe change what the other culture eats and stuff like that. I think the main things that happen when two cultures come together is that one culture can change the way another culture sees that culture, and or the cultures can learn from each other.

2. How do the components of culture influence how we live?

Well, the culture influences how you live, like if you live in Africa you dress differently then if you are in the U.S.A., because they both have different cultures. Another example food, so if you are in India you wont be eating the same food as if you are in the U.S.A., because there are different cultures, different location and different beliefs.

Potluck Lunch ReflectionI thought the potluck lunch was a very special experience. One of the things that I thought was interesting was that some of the dishes out there I hadnt ever heard of, so it was a bit of a learning experience to see some of the foods that another country eats. It was also cool to see how the people dress in that country. The potluck lunch was a very good chance to learn about someone elses country/culture. It was also a good chance to socialize. One of the things I found unique was that even if the country has the same dish, like the people in Japan and Korea both eat sushi, but in both of the countries the sushi tastes slightly different. One of the new things I tried was the Samosa from India. I really enjoyed the potluck lunch.

LocationThailand is a country that can be found in the Southeast part of Asia. Thailand is a very tropical country with lots of tropical fruit. Thailand is bordered Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, The Andaman Sea, Vietnam, and others. The capital of Thailand is Bangkok

Thailand only has two seasons; The rainy season and the dry season, because Thailand is near the equator. Thailand is nicknamed The Land of Sunshine, because it is always sunny in Thailand!

FoodThailand has great food. Some of the foods are a special cucumber sauce called ajat, and a noodle dish called Pad Thai. Some others Thai foods are Nam Phrik Kapi (a kind of fish) and Khanom Chin (Thai rice noodles).

Thailand also has a lot of tropical fruit. In Thailand there is tropical fruit, there is really good mango and mangosteen, dragonfruit, and many others. Many people enjoy Thai food. Luckily Thailand doesnt just have Thai food, Thailand has food from other countries too, in case you dont like Thai food.

Clothing In Thailand they wear certain clothes. Monks usually wear bright colored robes.Weavers usually wear black robes with a pretty collar and string necklaces. Many Thai people wear woven clothes or yellow clothes. Sometimes during shows the Thai people wear golden headdresses.

People from the Karen tribe, of Puduang wear golden neck rings as young as two! Men usually just wear suits, white or yellow. In Thailand the people wear a certain color of clothes every day. Every week the cycle starts over again.

CurrencyThe money used in Thailand is called baht. Baht can be coins or paper money, there are 1, 5, and 10 Baht coins. There are 20 baht bills 50 baht bills, 100 baht bills, 500 baht bills, and 1000 baht bills. In Thailand there is 32 baht to a dollar. Every coin or paper bill has the kings face on it because the king is very respected.

What the flag stands for

On the Thai the two red stripes stand for the blood of the Thai people, the two white stripes stand for the purity of Buddhism, and the big blue stripe in the center stands for the royal family. Usually when the Thai flag is being raised, people stand tall, and sing the national anthem respectfully.

To hear the national anthem go to:http://www.4shared.com/file/80952105/b651114b/Thai_National_Anthem.htmlThe alphabet

In the Thai alphabet there are 44 four letters and 30 vowels. Unlike English The Thai vowels and consonants and are not the same letters. So if you do your math correctly You are going to end up with 74 letters!

In Thailand they stopped using two letters. Kho khud, and kho kon because they had other letters with the same sound. Also they used different letters for the same meaning. Also unlike English the letters on their own mean something, but when the letters are but in a sentence the letter has a different meaning. About The LanguageThe Thai language was invented around 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng. The Thai language is spoken by about 65 million people, mainly in Thailand but also in the Midway islands, Singapore, the UAE, and the U.S.A. Did you know that the word Thai came from the Thai word Tai meaning freedom?

The Kingdom of Siam I bet you didnt know that Thailand wasnt always called Thailand. Thailand used to be called Siam, but around 1940 they changed Siam to Thailand. Did you know that Thailand means Kingdom of Smiles?

The Thai HolidaysThailand has lots of holidays. The two most famous ones are a water festival in April called Songkran. During this holiday, the local and farangs (Thai word for foreigner) take part in the holiday by splashing Water on each other. This holiday is also the Thai New Year.

Another famous Holiday is Loi Kratong. During this holiday the locals and farangs make a small circle raft out of banana leafs and put incense sticks, coins, flowers and other objects on the raft. They people always put a large candle in the center and light it, and then push it out in the water. The purpose of this holiday is to wish for forgiveness to the water god for polluting the water, and also to wash away bad luck for the coming year. This holiday usually takes place in November, or December (Depending on the full moon). This year Loi Kratong will be on November 10th!

The Thai Holidays continuedSome of the other Thai holidays are Mahka Bucha day,and Visakha Bucha day, the day Lord Buddha was born.

Another holiday called Boon Pra Wate, meaning ghost festival, is a holiday where Thai people all dress up in colorful masks. The reason for this holiday is to celebrate something that happened long ago. The prince went on a trip and many thought he was dead but when he returned they had a huge party which was said to wake the dead. That is why they celebrate the ghost festival. This holiday takes place on February 23.

They also celebrate the queens birthday on August 13th which is also known as a national Mothers Day, and the kings birthday on December 5th which is also known as a national Fathers Day.

The Royal FamilyPeople in Thailand really respect their king and queen.Mocking, or insulting the king or queen can get you in heaps of trouble. Recently a drunk man threw drinks on a poster of the king,and went to jail! These things are very serious so dont insult the royal family.

There have been 9 kings and queens! The king of Thailand is almost 84, and the queen is 78! Sadly the queen recently had a heart attack and is still recovering. The people love there king so much because he steered them through tough times, and stood up to protect his people.

Sports and GamesThailand has many games. One of the games is called Makruk,A strategy game much like chess. Another one of the games, is agame much like volley ball. In this game, called takraw, you can onlyuse your feet. Many people in Thailand like takraw, and they havecompetitions. In Thailand they also like Muay Thai (Kickboxing). In Thailand they also do many forms of martial arts such as Wushu andothers.

ReligionThe religion in Thailand is mostly Buddhism (Meaning they believein Buddha). In Thailand they greatly pay respect and pray to Buddha. The Thai people usually pray to Buddha in Watts, and they payrespect to Buddha. There are also some other religions like Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, but the main religion is Buddhism.

for more in for information on lord Buddha go to: http://www.incredibleindiatours.org/buddhism-india.html19MonksIn Thailand there are many monks. The boys that become monks wear orange, yellow, or red robes. The young boys usually become temporary monks (only monks for a short time). They do this so that the boys can wait until they are older so they dont have to leave their family at such a young age. The boys usually become permanent monks at an older age around 18. When boys become permanent monks, the boys have to shave their heads

The National AnimalIn Thailand the national animal is the elephant. Did you know that in Thailand every March 13th is a national Elephants Day. Thailands national animal is the elephant because it used to be used as transportation but they finally decided to make it the national animal.

According to ancient Thai traditions, a white elephant symbolizes a kings honor and glory so that is mostly why the elephant is the national animal. The mean reason why the elephant is the national animal, is because on the map Thailand is shaped like the head of an elephant.

Thai WarsYou might think Thailand was peaceful and loving country but that doesnt mean Thailand had no wars. One of the wars was the nine armies war (Burmese Siamese War) that went from 1785-1786. In this war, Burma invaded Lanna and Northern Siam. King Rama l himself sent armies to fight the Burmese.

Another war was the Thai-Laotian border war, when Laos had a war with Thailand. This war went from 1987-1988.

Reflection I really enjoyed this culture project. One of the things I liked about it was that even though I lived there for five years I found out so much that I never knew. I thought learning about the wars was one of the most interesting things, because Thailand has great reputation of being a very peaceful and loving country so I didnt think Thailand would be involved in any wars. To me this project was a great learning experience because even if youve lived somewhere, even all your live, there will still be some things that you never knew and now you can get a chance to find out more about the country. I hope I get another chance to do something else like this in my later life.

The EndThanks for watching! I hope you enjoyed my presentation and learned a lot about Thailand!

24SourcesWebsites:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wars_involving_Thailand

Culture Grams: http://online.culturegrams.com/kids/kids_country.php?contid=3&wmn=Asia&cid=65&cn=Thailand

Images:flikr.cc:http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/flickrCC/index.php picsearch:www.Picsearch.com

COMMENTS27COMMENTS