100 Things You Didn't Know About Thailand

[toybits]

Long neck Karen are not from Thailand. They are from Kayah State in Burma (Myanmar). It was said that they first moved into Thailand as refugees (in Mae Hong Son). Some people thought of bringing tourists to see them and this has started a major tourism product - oggling at strange looking humans - really quite like a human zoo.

[wangsuda]

King Ramkhamhaeng, who ruled at the end of the thirteenth century, created the first Thai alphabet.

Sorry, he did not. Thai is made out of letters from various languages. King Ramkhamhaeng codified the Thai alphabet.

[Newbee]

Always wanted to know whether sala (thai open air covered pavillion) and sala (fruit) originate from the same word? They both have a kind of similar cover and name.

[Newbee]

And my two cents:

Carl Faberge (hint: jeweller, easter eggs) lived in Thailand upon invitation of the King Chulalongkorn. The Thai Royal collection of his masterpieces ranks the third largest of all Faberge collections in the world.

[MarkBKK]

Thailand imports chili - even with prodigious amounts already being grown in the kingdom, Thailand's requirement for chili has to be supplemented with imported prik!

Thai chile peppers originated in Latin America, as did squashes, maize (corn), chocolate, other foods.

I think imports of chillies rocketed (along with other fruit and veg) after the China FTA. There were interviews with farmers shortly after saying that the prices for the imports were lower than they could grow the same products for.

[Neeranam]

This is one for Nignoy, Bendix and the few Thai BMs - or anyone else who knows things.

I know so little but I'll start eith - only one hill tribe in Thailand has a written language.

In the same vein.

King Ramkhamhaeng, who ruled at the end of the thirteenth century, created the first Thai alphabet.

Many of the characters are similar to those of Sanskrit.

Also, the tone markers are called 'mai EK' 'mai dto' etc Ek is one in Hindi Dto is two etc.

Edited July 16, 2008 by Neeranam

[JetsetBkk]

I dont know issan slang or northern/southern slang, but i'd need to see it(dag, dahk, dark ??) written in thai script to get an understanding of the exact pronunication/tone.

ดาก ลิง - dahk-ling = monkey arse (Issan/Laos)

[Tinkelbell]

This is a great topic.

It gives the members an opportunity to show case their talents and imaginations. I had learned and laughed along with these wonderful threads.

Thanks, qwertz the OP

Now I'd like to share mine

Lopburi had been know as a soldier town. Did you know that at one time the Thai gov't expelled all the chinese-Thai out of this town. They were allowed to take all they could when they were forced to move out. Most of them ended up loosing their homes, shops, merchandises, live stocks etc., the things that they had to leave behind.

These unfortunate chinese had to starting all over again in another town. Some wealthy became poor man overnight.

[qwertz]

Thanks Tink. I thought it might focus attention more on Thailand and smoke out the intelligentsia.

Looks like it worked.

Here's another.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

The ethnic Chinese were for a long time forbidden to adopt existing Thai names and had to invent their own.

The long drawn out names stem mostly stem from this practice.

Edited July 16, 2008 by qwertz

[Steele404]

Silom road is the first and only(?) road in Bangkok that has undergrounded electricity cables and wires. Installed in 1989-90, the authority got fed up with having migratory birds flooding the street with bird shit as they perched on the electricity cables and telephone wires. The bird shit did not only caused a mess, it caused blackouts when the rain comes as the shit piled up and built arches that conducts electricity when wet.

Back then, if you saw a car covered in bird shit, you would know that the fella came from Patpong.

Edited July 16, 2008 by Steele404

[mrt273nva]

There has been 19 military coups in Thailand since World War II.

[Moonrakers]

Good thread.

Probably covered but:

Thailand has never been colonised by another country (Possibly the only country that can boast that).

Thailand was never officially involved in WWII????

In Thailand, having a legal driving licence means that your "Fines" for speeding or whatever are higher.

[Moonrakers]

Also Thailand has the Spiciest cuisine on the planet (Arguable)

[qwertz]

Thailand is one of the only 3 nations I know of that has not been colonised or conquered (in the last 1000 years or so), to have left

circulating traffic.

Edited July 16, 2008 by qwertz

[kiakaha]

Good thread.

Probably covered but:

Thailand has never been colonised by another country (Possibly the only country that can boast that).

Thailand was never officially involved in WWII????

In Thailand, having a legal driving licence means that your "Fines" for speeding or whatever are higher.

Sure has had the shit kicked out of it by the burmese over the centuries though

I though Man United had already colonised Thailand ?

[kiakaha]

Always wanted to know whether sala (thai open air covered pavillion) and sala (fruit) originate from the same word? They both have a kind of similar cover and name.

Fruit = ผลไม้ (polamai)

Pavilion = ศาลา (saalaa)

There is a word from Khmer origins , สลา (salaa) , which means Areca Nut, whatever that is.

[Chaimai]

Good thread.

Probably covered but:

Thailand has never been colonised by another country (Possibly the only country that can boast that).

Thailand was never officially involved in WWII????

In Thailand, having a legal driving licence means that your "Fines" for speeding or whatever are higher.

Sure has had the shit kicked out of it by the burmese over the centuries though

I though Man United had already colonised Thailand ?

I think you will finf that Taksin. on behalf of Thailand, is colonising Manchester

(Frankly, I would let him have it)

[dougieboy]

The full name of Bangkok is the longest place name in the world and recorded in the Guinness book of records, 163 letters

Krungthepmahanakhon Amornrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharat Ratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit

which translates into english as

The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated God, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.

My wife say this is correct I take back my comment and apologise for my ignorance, she can say it in just 5 seconds

Edited July 16, 2008 by dougieboy

[kiakaha]

Well, I've seen on here through the years people say they thought a secretary or someone in their office called them "Kee Nok" which of course means bird shit, but what they in reality said was 'Kee Ngok" which means "cheap charlie" when they didn't want to buy or pay for something "Farang Kee Ngok".

Whatever the spelling it still means bird shit, and the implied meaning of bird shit farang, amongst others is cheap charlie, the great unwashed, low class tourists etc. When used jokingly between friends/work associates it is only mildly offensive. When delivered with venom, it can be considered a genuine insult.

Farang kee nok can also supposedly also mean feijoa according to a kiwi mate - feijoa is another type of guava (maybe not even available here?), as used in the flavoured vodka, the name of which escapes me. Tell me that's not useful info.

Edit: brand is '42 Below'

I'm using thai script here..because that IS the spelling :

ฝรั่ง(farang) can mean guava or person of caucasian appearance

ขี้นก(kee nok) literally means "bird excrement"....colloquially can mean several bad things ie: worthless, inferior,insignificant,meaningless, low class

so ฝรั่งขี้นก (farang kee nok) basically means "you worthless caucasian "

ขี้เหนียว(kee neeow) literally means "sticky shit"..but is used to mean stingy. It is akin to the term "cheap charlie"..this is more slang than anything.

งก (ngok) , the adjective, also means stingy ....so ฝรั่งงก (farang ngok) could mean stingy caucasian person.

นก (nok), means bird

To the non-thai reader/writer , obviously ngok and nok seem similar, but pronounced VERY differently (many people find the ง ng consonant the hardest to grasp..but that is another subject)

[Moonrakers]

My wife gave me an explanation to the "Kee Nok" thing.

So we all know it means bird shit.......... Bird shit dropped from airplanes and fall on Thailand.

Bit it runs deeper than that because what does Bird shit usually contain? Seeds! And the smallest seed can grow into a Tree and originally "Kee Nok' means anybody who only distributes their wealth to those beneath their branches (Family).

The term has however been conveniently adapted to any foreigner that does not splash the cash to the general public.

[Goshawk]

all this shit talk gets my foot tappin'... ...

prik = chilli

kee = shit

noo = mouse

prik kee noo = yee haa

[teacup]

all this shit talk gets my foot tappin'... ...

prik = chilli

kee = shit

noo = mouse

prik kee noo = yee haa

kee+noo: when using together it also means = SMALL

Therefore "prik keenoo" = small chilli

Keep learning, you're almost there

[Tilokarat]

- Bamrungrad International Hospital is regarded as the world's no. 1 and is the leader of medical tourism in Thailand. Patients come from 150+ countries.

- Bangkok was voted the world's best city for 2008

- Thailand was the only country in Asia which has never been colonized. There's a saying in Thai "We're like tall grasses, we lean towards the wind and follow the winning ally".

- Pattaya, sin city, was formed only because of the American's presence during the Vietnam war.

- Island in Phuket is named after James Bond

This is not entirely true since parts of the Northern Thai kingdom of Lanna came under the control of Burma for over one hundred years. Fact:- The 8th Buddhist Council was held at Wat Chet Yod in the Lanna capital of Chiang Mai in 1477. It was sponsored by King Tilokarat, who was cremated at the Wat after his death in 1478.

[kiakaha]

My wife gave me an explanation to the "Kee Nok" thing.

So we all know it means bird shit.......... Bird shit dropped from airplanes and fall on Thailand.

Bit it runs deeper than that because what does Bird shit usually contain? Seeds! And the smallest seed can grow into a Tree and originally "Kee Nok' means anybody who only distributes their wealth to those beneath their branches (Family).

The term has however been conveniently adapted to any foreigner that does not splash the cash to the general public.

There are many terms all written and pronounced differently that sound similarish

งก (ngok) stingy

นก (nok) bird

งอก(ngaawk) to sprout,grow

there are also a couple more too, but not relevant in this context.

ขี้งอก (kee ngaawk), "to sprout from excerement/dung" makes more sense than ขี้นก (kee nok) "bird excrement -> inferior/worthless" to fit your family branch analogy.

I've already written about ขี้นก(kee nok) and ฝรั่งงก(farang ngok) in a previous post.

[Goshawk]

all this shit talk gets my foot tappin'... ...

prik = chilli

kee = shit

noo = mouse

prik kee noo = yee haa

kee+noo: when using together it also means = SMALL

Therefore "prik keenoo" = small chilli

Keep learning, you're almost there

you cheeky so and so.. - prik kee noo (พริกขี้หนู, literally "mouse shit chili")

[teacup]

Sometimes

And you can’t fool me!

[RusT]

From Thailand Facts

• There are approximately 2,500 domesticated elephants and 2,000 wild elephants in Thailand.

(Sorinda Salwala, Friends of Asian Elephants)

• From January to May 10, 2008 there have been 14,000 reported dengue cases in Thailand, an increase of 70% for the same period in 2007.

(Office of Disease Prevention and Control)

• Thailand has approximately 130 million rai of farmland of which 63 million rai are rice fields.

(Bangkok Post, May 20 2008)

• Opposition party leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva has over 200,000 friends registered on his homepage on the hi5 website.

• Thailand’s vehicle ownership is estimated at 125 vehicles for every 1,000 people from which 12 fatalities are reported for every 10,000 road accidents compared with 2 fatalities per 10,000 road accidents in the United States.

(Bangkok Post, June 2 2008)

• The number of people committing suicide in Thailand has increased from 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2007 to 6.5 in 2008.

(Mental Health Department)

• Currently there are 327 KFC outlets in Thailand.

(Bangkok Post, June 4 2008)

• Phuket has a registered population of around 300,000 but the unofficial population is around 1,000,000 with around 6,000,000 visitors per year.

(Niran Kalayanamitr, Phuket Governer)

• Nakhon Pathom had the highest death rate and injury toll in Thailand in 2007.

(TNA, May 1 2008)

[enyaw]

There is almost 5 times as many ethnic Laoans residing in Thailand than there are in Laos.

Edited July 17, 2008 by enyaw

[toybits]

That island you are referring to is actually a part of Phang-Nga province. Phuket just wants to market is as part of Phuket so that tourists book tours from Phuket and not from Phang-Nga. Sneaky Phuket tour operators don't tell you this.

- Bamrungrad International Hospital is regarded as the world's no. 1 and is the leader of medical tourism in Thailand. Patients come from 150+ countries.

- Bangkok was voted the world's best city for 2008

- Thailand was the only country in Asia which has never been colonized. There's a saying in Thai "We're like tall grasses, we lean towards the wind and follow the winning ally".

- Pattaya, sin city, was formed only because of the American's presence during the Vietnam war.

- Island in Phuket is named after James Bond

This is not entirely true since parts of the Northern Thai kingdom of Lanna came under the control of Burma for over one hundred years.[/color] Fact:- The 8th Buddhist Council was held at Wat Chet Yod in the Lanna capital of Chiang Mai in 1477. It was sponsored by King Tilokarat, who was cremated at the Wat after his death in 1478.

[enyaw]

Thailand abolished slavery - 1905