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mrreality

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    The Thai Flag

    in General Topics

    Posted

    History of The Thai National Flag

    When and how the first Thai flag was flown has never been determined by historians, although as in any other civilized nation flags must have been used since time immemorial. The earliest actual mention of flag raising appears in an account of events during the reign of King Narai the Great of Ayutthaya (1656-1688), but there is good reason to presume that flags had been used before this time.

    Well before the reign of King Narai, for example, King Ekatotsarot, King Naresuan's younger brother and successor, despatched the first Thai embassy to the court of the Hague in 1608, thus paving the way for the arrival of European traders and missionaries in Thailand in subsequent years. It seems most probable that some kind of flag representing the Royal Kingdom of Ayutthaya was flown on this occasion, since all European nations had already evolved their own national flags by the beginning of the sixteenth century.

    With the influx of European traders and vessels, coupled with the usual Chinese and Japanese merchants, Ayutthaya was turned into a cosmopolitan city, especially during the reign of King Narai. His reign has been called the golden age of Ayutthaya not only on account of the proliferation of arts and literary works but also on account of the open-door foreign policy which prevailed. It is thus not surprising that, as it is generally believed, the first Thai national flag "officially" made its appearance in 1680 when a French warship arrived at the mouth of the Chao Phya River on a good - will visit. An enquiry was made to the administration as to whether it would be acceptable for the French warship to fire gun salute as it passed theVichaiyendr Fort. King Narai graciously granted the permission and ordered Phra Saksong kram, then Governor of Bangkok, to return the gun salute. The story goes that as it was customary to raise the national flag over a fort before a gun salute was fired and as the order was given on such short notice, a piece of red cloth of appropriate rectangular shape (an item very common in a Thai home) was attached to a rope and raised to accept the French warship's salute. This, presumably, began a period in which the red flag was used as the Thai national flag. Although this may be just a speculation, it is certain that the red flag must have been a common sight long before.

    According to Prince Damrong (one of King Chulalongkorn's brothers and one of the country's most renowned scholars) who conducted research into the origin of the Thai national flag, evidence clearly indicated that use of the flag could be traced to the reign of King Boromokot (1733-1758). At the request of the Ceylonese authority, a group of Thai monks led by Monk Upali went to Ceylon in 1752 to purify Singhalese Buddhism and to ordain monks. A memoir written at the time mentions that only red flags were flown on the barges used.

    The red flag remained in use until the reign of King Rama II (1890-1824) of the Bangkok period. National rehabilitation and consolidation having been achieved after the sack of Ayutthaya by the Burmese army in 1767, the country now enjoyed relative peace and prosperity. Trade was almost at its height. Thai ships displaying the red flag could be seen on the high seas and in the ports of neighbouring countries, such as India, China, and Singapore. One fine day, however, a note was sent from the Singaporean authority to the effect that it could not differentiate the private merchant ships from the official ones. Could the Siamese authority issue a new flag for the official ships? The time was around 1816 - the year in which King Rama II had just acquired the third white elephant. This was an unprecedented phenomenon, heralding great and good things to come under his reign. To commemorate the event, the picture of a white elephant facing towards the hoist was placed at the center of the red flag. Thus, a new national flag was born. The Thai Elephant Flag was hoisted over official buildings and private houses, presenting a spectacular sight against the national flags of the foreign consulates whose number was on the rise.

    In 1915 King Vajiravudh (Rama IV) observed during one of his boat trips up the Chao Phya River an elephant flag flown upside down over a hut. On returning to Bangkok, he began designing a simpler and modern-looking flag for the kingdom, the reason being that the flags of most European power were composed of stripes of the national colours. At the outset, he designed the five-striped red and white flag which has hoisted at the Suapa Field on the right of the Royal PLaza for a trial period. Later, the deep blue (the colour of his own birthday) was inserted. Hence the "Trairong" or tricolour, the present-day Thai national flag, came into being on September 28, 1917. It consists of five horizontal bands of, from the top, red, white, dark blue of double width, white and red. Red, white and blue signify the Thai Nation, Buddhism and the Monarchy respectively.

    From Thailandlife

    massive yawn

    A Rumour...

    in General Topics

    Posted

    All the Thais at my workplace this morning are talking about the latest predictions from the fortune tellers in the local newspapers... 30 days and 30 nights of wind, rain, storms, and maybe a tsunami... starting from 1st October (tomorrow).  :D

    Anyone else heard about it?  :o

    Note: I'm not usually one to start rumours or post gossip, but this has got everyone really animated...  :D

    It's a load of <deleted>, don't listen to it!

    Crackdown On Crackdowns ?

    in General Topics

    Posted · Edited by mrreality

    One more crackdown should be good.

    I suggest a crackdown on back to back tourist visas.

    :o That might ruin a few marriages... :D

    That WOULD ruin a few marriages!

    Thailand is not worse off with foreigners spending their money in Thailand, as opposed to in their home countries.

    If this was like Britain for example, where people can come in, get residency fairly easily because of some crap reason why they don't want to go home, and then live off taxpayers' money then I would support the back to back tourist visa idea.

    But because Thailand is not and never will be a welfare state, and is a third world country then I do not support this idea.

    Thai Visa (how To I.d Other Members)

    in General Topics

    Posted

    In all of my eight years in this country, I have to say that farangs are the most unfriendliest bunch of people here that another farang could ever meet.  I have lost count of the amount of times that I have walked past a farang in the street and have tried to get eye contact in order to exchange a friendly nod, or even said hello and just been completely ignored.

    Why would you go ahead to assume this applies to everyone? My guess is that these folks just didn't want to have anything to do with you and, on the available evidence, I applaud their choice.

    Did I say that I assume that this applies to everyone? Can't remember saying so.

    How would folk not want to have anything to do with me, without ever having spoken to me and finding out what a nice chap I actually am?

    Actually, you are the kind of farang that I would avoid at all costs in this country. Also, it's people like you who clog up this site, in terms of sending in pathetic replies just for the sake of it.

    Go away, please!

    You sell timeshare?

    :o

    Secret code for knowing another TV member.

    DUH.

    Answer:

    DUH.

    No, my good friend. I do not, and have never sold, timeshare.

    Crackdown On Crackdowns ?

    in General Topics

    Posted

    there are so many crackdowns going on , so will they have next a crackdown on any further crackdowns ? This cannot go on ! Thais can only take so many crackdowns !

    Well spoken!

    All of these crackdowns are getting out of hand. A lot of them are wise crackdowns, such as the drug trade for instance. But crackdowns on bars closing even earlier? On massage parlours?

    I understand the need of the Thai government to think that they are 'doing what's right', but eventually, if it's not already happening, less and less people will just want to stop coming here.

    I wonder if anyone from the Thai government or police reads this site, to find out what expats and tourists think of their policies?

    "oil" Or "oy"?

    in Thai Language

    Posted

    I have never heard of anyone called Ple :o

    Which part of the world does this come from?

    Thailand

    I have known a lot of "Ple"s.

    Comes from the word "apple"

    Sometimes it is pronounced "pen", other times "pill"

    Now I understand, if it had been written as "Pen", I would have recognised it as a Thai name. I would also have had a clue if it had been written "Pel"

    There IS a popular Thai nickname 'Pen', but it is spelled this way and pronounced differently from 'Ple'.

    This is getting rather confusing, isn't it?

    "oil" Or "oy"?

    in Thai Language

    Posted

    I have never heard of anyone called Ple :o

    Which part of the world does this come from?

    Thailand

    I have known a lot of "Ple"s.

    Comes from the word "apple"

    Sometimes it is pronounced "pen", other times "pill"

    Now I understand, if it had been written as "Pen", I would have recognised it as a Thai name. I would also have had a clue if it had been written "Pel"

    There IS a popular Thai nickname 'Pen', but it is spelled this way and pronounced differently from 'Ple'.

    Developing Hostage Crisis Story?

    in General Topics

    Posted

    A disturbing story just put out. A drastic departure from the "normal" violence occuring in the Deep South on a daily basis. Hoping extremely strongly that things are resolved peacefully....

    Villagers take two soldiers hostage

    Published on Sep 21 , 2005

    About 200 villagers held two Thai soldiers hostage inside a mosque Wednesday after the soldiers went to investigate a deadly ambush in Narathiwat province, according to the military.

    Late last night two soldiers were detained in Tanyong Limo village of Ranae district after their car broke down as they were investigating the ambush in which four villagers were wounded and one died, said Major General Pongsak Tntharasuangsak, a miltiary spokesman.

    Pongsak would not identify the two soldiers, but said they were in plain clothes and were in a car chasing a pickup truck used by militants.

    The villagers have formed a human shield around the mosque in which the soldiers were being held, according to news report.

    Narathiwat governor Pracha Taerat and navy Captain Trikwan Krairish were

    attempting to negotiate with the villagers for their release, but were not allowed to cross a bridge leading to the mosque.

    Villagers assured them that the two hostages were safe.

    "The villagers demanded Malaysian reporters come to cover the incident, not Thai reporters, because they do not trust the independence and credibility of Thai journalists in the area, one villager said.

    I do not agree with hostage taking, nor for that matter, what many muslim extremists the world over are doing right now, in terms of violence.

    But I do agree with their need for Malaysian reporters to cover the incident as opposed to Thai ones, as I agree with their mistrust of the independence and credibilty of Thai journalists overall, let alone in the area.

    Blatant Theft Of Copywrite Material

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Take a look at this http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...eal-estate.html.  Then take a look at this - http://lannarealty.com/faq.php #4.  They are the same!  I wrote the text for lannarealty.com but I now see it in lostinthailand's website.  They copied it directly from me without giving any credit and when I contacted them I got the standard answer "we are looking into it and will get back to you" which they never did.  Is there anything I can do?

    I notice this isn't an isolated incident - http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...chiang-rai.html and http://www.thailand-lawyer.com/land_purphase.html - probably lots more!

    (Sorry, title should be copyright not copywrite)

    If the information in your site is valuable enough, why don't you file a lawsuit? I'm sure that you can prove that the information in your site was established before theirs.

    From past experience, just the threat of a lawsuit could make them 'get back to you' quicker, or at least take you more seriously.

    Thai Visa (how To I.d Other Members)

    in General Topics

    Posted

    In all of my eight years in this country, I have to say that farangs are the most unfriendliest bunch of people here that another farang could ever meet.  I have lost count of the amount of times that I have walked past a farang in the street and have tried to get eye contact in order to exchange a friendly nod, or even said hello and just been completely ignored.

    Why would you go ahead to assume this applies to everyone? My guess is that these folks just didn't want to have anything to do with you and, on the available evidence, I applaud their choice.

    Did I say that I assume that this applies to everyone? Can't remember saying so.

    How would folk not want to have anything to do with me, without ever having spoken to me and finding out what a nice chap I actually am?

    Actually, you are the kind of farang that I would avoid at all costs in this country. Also, it's people like you who clog up this site, in terms of sending in pathetic replies just for the sake of it.

    Go away, please!

    Thai Visa (how To I.d Other Members)

    in General Topics

    Posted

    In all of my eight years in this country, I have to say that farangs are the most unfriendliest bunch of people here that another farang could ever meet....................................................

    whatever gave you that idea you miserable daft fck faced cnt.

    :D:D:D

    Whatever gave me that idea?

    a) Read my post again, because I already explained why, in it.

    :o People like you.

    c) Question: How do you know I'm ###### faced? You've never seen my face!

    Thai Visa (how To I.d Other Members)

    in General Topics

    Posted · Edited by mrreality

    Frankly, I don't care if a farang I see in the street is a tourist, expat or otherwise.

    In all of my eight years in this country, I have to say that farangs are the most unfriendliest bunch of people here that another farang could ever meet. I have lost count of the amount of times that I have walked past a farang in the street and have tried to get eye contact in order to exchange a friendly nod, or even said hello and just been completely ignored.

    For this reason I live in areas where there are next to no farangs, as I find the Thais much better people to get on with. I also only go into Sukhumvit or Silom whenever it is that I need to get some half-decent farang food.

    Culture Shock

    in General Topics

    Posted

    A culture shock for me, that continues to be one, no matter how long I live here...

    EVERY Thai TV program MUST have a token lady-boy, otherwise it's not fit to be on the television.

    On the subject of lady-boys, if anyone sees one on the streets in the UK, many people will stop, stare, and a lot will want to throw up (males (real men) of course!) But in Thailand, nobody looks twice, like it's a perfectly natural thing!

    Oh, and in the UK, nose picking in public is very rude but in Thailand nobody looks twice, even if someone has a pick-axe up their nostrils.

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