Thailand
Anika Lee 7th Period
Introduction
Thailand's Flag
This is Thailand's Flag, as you can see the flag has the same colors that our flag uses: red, white, and blue except it is just in a different order. The red stripes represent the blood spilt for Thailand’s independence. The white stands for purity. Blue is Thailand's national color.
Buddhist Temple
This is a temple for Buddhism and it is very large but it symbolizes that Buddhism is very important. It is big because people think that they built a statue of Buddha inside the temple and that is why the temple is so huge.
Thailand Vandfald
You might be wondering what a vandfald is well a vandfald in our language is known as a waterfall. If you look into the picture you will see that it looks like a waterfall and you might want to say waterfall but in Thailand it is vandfald.
Slogan-Thailand the "Land of the Free"
Geography and Climate
Geography:
The meaning of geography is like landforms in Thailand. Some of the landforms are The Mountainous North, The Khorat Plateau, The Central Plain, and The Southern Peninsula. The Mountainous North is basically what it says, there are mountains in the northern part of Thailand. Mountains are broken because of rivers that flow from north to south and they have to flow downstream, and by those streams there is fertile land to grow crops and that's why farmers grow their crops here. The Khorat Plateau is a plateau that is in the northeastern part of Thailand. The plateau takes up about one third of the country's land. Another interesting fact that you would probably like to know is that The Khorat Plateau is also called as Isan. The Central Plain is as large as the foothills of the mountains in a place called the Mountainous North all the way down to the Gulf of Thailand, and I think that is one huge plain! The Southern Peninsula goes all the way from the northwestern border of Myanmar to the country Malaysia. This peninsula is just jungles and mountains. There are things that contribute in this peninsula to the economy of Thailand.
Climate:
The climate in Thailand is tropical. Thailand has like three seasons, one season is hot and dry this is mostly through March-May. Another is hot and wet this is through June-October, and last but not least cool and dry during the months November-February. Since mountain peaks are high into the clouds that means that way up there is very cold. From May-October comes something called monsoons that bring very heavy rain, so much heavy rain that a geography landform called The Southern Peninsula has about 100 inches of rain each year. Bangkok the capital of Thailand only gets about 55 inches of rain each year.
The Mountainous North
In the picture you see a mountain, but this is not one mountain but many and they are all called The Mountainous North, and in between are rivers that are near soil, and the soil is good for farmers to plant their food.
The Khorat Plateau
This is a picture of a the Khorat Plateau, and as you can see it is a large piece of land. The Khorat Plateau is so huge that it has to take up at least one third of Thailand to be able to fit! The Khorat Plateau is also called Isan
Thailand's Tropical Climate
In this picture it shows you Thailand when it is in the tropical climate. This picture is the normal climate of Thailand.
People and Culture
People:
The people section includes: ancestry, way of life, and housing. For ancestry most of Thailand's people belong to the Thailand ethnic group. More than 1,000 years ago, the ancestors of Thailand came from all the way from southern China. People either came because they were migrants, war prisoners, or refugees. These people are Mons, Khmers, Indians, Vietnamese, and Malays, but now they are Thai because they live in Thailand. Many Chinese people came to Bangkok and other cities in Thailand, the cooperated with Thailand and had new customs and they also had new people like Hmong, Karen, and Lua. The way of life is how Thailand's people live and one third of Thailand's people live in rural areas or small villages. Thailand traditionally do rituals and festivals, but now the radio and television are now a great influence. Large numbers of young adults moved from the rural areas to the city area in search of jobs and education. The city is rapidly growing and has created many problems, such as crowded living conditions, traffic jams, and pollution. In the past Thailand's people have worn light and simple clothing that works in the tropical climate. Now they wear the same clothing that the people in Europe and in North America wear. In housing, villagers that live in Thailand build houses made of wood that are on stilts, and the stilts are about 7-10 feet high. They are above the ground in case a flood came so they are protected. In the urban area or the city the have two-story buildings. In Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, the people live in apartments, large developments, and single-story homes.
Culture:
The culture will include food, recreation, languages, religion, and education. The the people in Thailand eat rice in almost every single meal. The most favorite foods that include rice with them are: hot and spicy stews that are called curries, salads which are made out of meat, fish, and vegetables, stir fry dishes, and boiled or fried fishes which are with sauce. Noodles are popular as well they are mostly eaten during lunch. In recreation, people like to have lots of fun. The national sport in Thailand is Muay Thai which in America boxing. In Thailand they can use their hands and feet like we do. Another national sport is takraw, which is a game that in America that we don't play. They have balls made out of woven palm stems, and they through it in the air and hit it in the air with their heads, legs, and feet. Another popular sport is soccer. For languages they speak Thai, Central Thai, Malay, Chinese, and languages in their own religions. English is also taught in school and spoken in business and government. The religion that they mostly have in Thailand is Buddhism. 95% of Thailand's people believe in Buddhism. The other 5% is Muslim. Most Thailand's people believe Theravada which is like following the way of the elders. According to the Thailand custom men in some point of their life have to be a monk. This time period could last up to one week-several months. They wear yellow robes and live lives of simplicity, meditation, and study. Most Chinese people who live in Thailand follow Confucianism in addition to practicing other religions that they know. The education that they have is very important, because the law requires children from ages 6-14 to go to school. The government allows public education and private education. Thailand has more than 20 public schools and more than 40 private schools and almost all of Thailand's population can read and write.
Refugees in Thailand
This is a picture of refugees. Refugees and people that have escaped from another country. These are children that have escaped from China to come to Thailand. They probably came with their parents to Thailand.
Rural Areas
This is the life of a person who lives in rural areas. They plant and grow rice. In the picture you see a lot of water and that is because when you plant rice you have to plant it in a lot of water, because rice needs a lot of water.
Thailand's Homes
This is one of the homes in Thailand that I talked about that stands on stilts as you can see. Water is under the house because it is on water and just in case of floods, they don't want to have their houses destroyed.
Food in Thailand
This is some of the food that they have in Thailand, this might not look good to you but to the people in Thailand this is an excellent meal.
Thailand Wrestling
In Thailand wrestling is called Muay Thai. They may use their hands and feet. They have wrapping around their hand so that their hands can be protected when they punch people.
Education in Thailand
The education in Thailand is very strict, because they have to wear uniforms. In Thailand they have 20 public schools and they have more than 40 private schools.
Government and Citizenship
Government:
In the government section includes national government, local government, politics, courts, and armed forces. For national government, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy which means that Thailand is ruled by kings and queens. A constitution was approved in 2007; this constitution provides a monarch, prime minister, and legislature. The monarch, prime minister, and legislature are all call the National Assembly. The Assembly is made out of the House of Representatives, members that are elected for four years, and a Senate. A Senate is members that stay for six years. The House of Representatives selects the prime minister with in their members. The prime minister has to be appointed by the monarch. The monarch has a role for as the head of the state, and the prime minister is the head of the government. For the local government, Thailand is divided into 76 provinces; these provinces are subdivided into 880 districts, 7,250 local units also called tambons, and 70,000 villages. Each of the 76 provinces has a governor, and all 880 districts need to have a district officer. Both the governor and the district officer are both appointed by the minister of the interior. Thailand's villages range in people is from a few hundred to a few thousand. Each village elects a headman to be its leader, and a headman is an officer. The people in the tambon select someone in the group of headman to be a kanman or also known as chief administrator. For politics, the citizens of Thailand have to be 18 or older to vote, just like in our country, but the people in Thailand 18 and older have to vote they don't have a choice. Thailand's political party has been organized by leaders instead of political philosophies, and some of the parties have some strength. For the part of the court, Thailand's highest court is the Supreme Court of Justice, and it is just like the same for this country. The Court of Appeals is the second highest court. A panel call Judicial Commission chooses Thailand's Judges and after that the king approves. The armed forces of Thailand are made out of an army, navy, and air force. Men from 21 to 30 years old may be in the army, navy, and air force. Women can serve by volunteering.
Citizenship:
Another word for citizenship is human rights, and the human rights for Thailand are:
1. Freedom of Speech
2. Freedom of Press
3. Peaceful Assembly
4. Association
5. Religion
6. Country Movement
Of course this is only some of the human rights, this is not all of them. Freedom of speech for like saying things or like speaking in front of big crowds. Freedom of press where you can print things that you would like. Peaceful assembly for have probably peace. Association for having calm moments of talking and not arguing. Religion just in case you don't want Buddhism you can do like Hinduism, Christian, Muslim, and many other religions. Country movement well maybe that means that you agree with what the country decides.
King and Queen of Thailand
These two people in the photograph are the two rulers in Thailand, the king and queen. These two people rule the country of Thailand.
Voting in Thailand
People in Thailand are allowed to vote when they are ages 18 and older. That is the same age when we are allowed to vote except we get to have the right to do it or not.
Air Force in Thailand
Men from 21 to 30 years old can be in the army, navy, and air force. The airplane in the picture is the type of airplane that has the wheel in the front of the airplane.
Economy
Fishing in Thailand
This is a picture of a little boy who is holding a fish but that is not the point in the background you can see a woman and you can see that she is holding a fishing pole.
Small Motorcycles in Thailand
This is motorcycle but this motorcycle is smaller that the motorcycle that we have in America. This is one of the popular was to get around Thailand.
Newpapers in Thailand
This is one of the newpapers in Thailand, and as you can see this is the Sunday paper. If you look below the headline you will not know the characters of this language, and it does not look Chinese or English so I think it might be Thai language.