more at
http://news.quickfound.net/intl/thailand_news
.html
"
The country we once knew as
Siam is known today as Thailand--land of the free.
It's history is one of unbroken centuries of independence. It has a tradition of freedom which the
United States is helping to preserve through military assistance and broadening avenues of public health, transportation, and communications."
The Big Picture episode TV-616
The Big Picture
TV Series playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_hX5wLdhf_Jwfz5l_3NRAcCYURbOW2Fl
Public domain film from the
US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/
3.0/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Thailand
Thailand (/ˈtaɪlænd/ TY-land or /ˈtaɪlənd/ TY-lənd;
Thai:
ประเทศไทย, rtgs:
Prathet Thai), officially the
Kingdom of Thailand (Thai:
ราชอาณาจักรไทย, rtgs:
Ratcha Anachak Thai;
IPA: [râːt.tɕʰā ʔāːnāːtɕàk tʰāj] , formerly known as Siam (Thai: สยาม; rtgs:
Sayam), is a country at the centre of the
Indochina peninsula in
Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by
Burma and
Laos, 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 and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include
Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and
Indonesia and
India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
Thailand is a monarchy headed by
King Bhumibol Adulyadej,
Rama IX, and governed by a military junta that took power in May 2014. The king is the ninth of the
House of Chakri, and has reigned since 1946 as the world's longest-serving current head of state and the country's longest-reigning monarch.
The King of Thailand's titles include
Head of State,
Head of the
Armed Forces, Adherent of Buddhism, and Upholder of religions.
With a total area of approximately
513,
000 km2 (198,000 sq mi), Thailand is the world's 51st-largest country. It is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is
Bangkok, which is Thailand's political, commercial, industrial, and cultural hub. About 75–95% of the population is ethnically Tai, which includes four major regional groups: central Thai, northeastern Thai (Khon [Lao]
Isan), northern Thai (Khon Mueang); and southern Thai.
Thai Chinese, those of significant
Chinese heritage, are 14% of the population, while
Thais with partial Chinese ancestry comprise up to 40% of the population.
Thai Malays represent 3% of the population, with the remainder consisting of
Mons,
Khmers and various "hill tribes". The country's official language is Thai and the primary religion is Buddhism, which is practised by around 95% of the population.
Thailand experienced rapid economic growth between
1985 and
1996, becoming a newly industrialised country and a major exporter.
Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy. Among the ten
ASEAN countries, Thailand ranks second in quality of life and the country's
HDI is rated as "high". Its large population and growing economic influence have made it a middle power in the region and around the world
...
Cold War and development
The Vietnam War hastened the modernisation and westernisation of
Thai society.
The American presence and the exposure to western culture that came with it had an effect on almost every aspect of Thai life. Before the late
1960s, full access to
Western culture was limited to a highly educated elite in society, but the
Vietnam War brought the outside world face to face with large segments of the Thai society as never before. With
US dollars pumping up the economy, the service, transportation, and construction industries grew phenomenally. The traditional rural family unit was broken down as more and more rural Thais moved to the city to find new jobs. This led to a clash of cultures as Thais were exposed to
Western ideas about fashion, music, values, and moral standards.
The population began to grow explosively as the standard of living rose, and a flood of people began to move from the villages to the cities, and above all to Bangkok. Thailand had 30 million people in
1965, while by the end of the
20th century the population had doubled. Bangkok's population had grown tenfold since
1945 and had tripled since
1970...
- published: 10 Jun 2015
- views: 2252