siam

25

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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