Thailand Trivia

[bangkokburning]

The king of Thailand was born in the US, making him an American by birth (Massachusetts).

The eldest, first princess was wed to an American. I beleive she gave up her title but was given it back upon her divorce and return to Thailand.

[bangkokburning]

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by a European power.

But could it have been colonized?

Yes, it served as a buffer between said colonial powers, namely France and England. As it was also at the height of its power, it would also have been costly to defeat. France and Britan had their hand full.

In all candor, Thailand was never challanged. It eas able to negotiate rather than suffer to war.

[chiangmaikelly]

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by a European power.

But could it have been colonized?

Yes, it served as a buffer between said colonial powers, namely France and England. As it was also at the height of its power, it would also have been costly to defeat. France and Britan had their hand full.

In all candor, Thailand was never challanged. It eas able to negotiate rather than suffer to war.

Burma?

[krading]

I heard somewhere that some scenes in the Bruce Lee movie 'The Big Boss' were filmed in Pak Chong, Korat.

Anybody know about it?

[Payboy]

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by a European power.

Like the high school vamp that everyone enjoyed, but no one wanted to bring home to meet mom.

[chiangmaikelly]

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by a European power.

Like the high school vamp that everyone enjoyed, but no one wanted to bring home to meet mom.

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by a European power.

Like the high school vamp that everyone enjoyed, but no one wanted to bring home to meet mom.

The Japanese courted her and they dated for four years. After that she had a 10 year affair with a couple of hundred thousand American Airmen (not on R&R) who built airbases and protected her from those mean communists.

[bangkokburning]

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by a European power.

But could it have been colonized?

Yes, it served as a buffer between said colonial powers, namely France and England. As it was also at the height of its power, it would also have been costly to defeat. France and Britan had their hand full.

In all candor, Thailand was never challanged. It eas able to negotiate rather than suffer to war.

Burma?

Yes, Burma was quite a jewel in the crown. Rangoon once said to be the wealthiest port in the world.

[chiangmaikelly]

Yes, Burma was quite a jewel in the crown. Rangoon once said to be the wealthiest port in the world.

You did know Thailand went to war with Burma and Burma won right?

[bangkokburning]

What do

Yes, Burma was quite a jewel in the crown. Rangoon once said to be the wealthiest port in the world.

You did know Thailand went to war with Burma and Burma won right?

Yes, indeed. But that was hundreds of years prior to the colonial period that I thought you were questioning. Thailand was never much of a power, it rose msinly through yhe weakness of the surrounfing empires. Best can be said is at one time, it had reach. It really did not have much wealth. Put all the Thai kingdoms together and they are nothing compared to the Khmer or Burmese. More like err...Champa.

[bangkokburning]

Thailand after sacking the weakened remnants of the Khmer empire brought its artisans, scholars, craftsmen and religion packed it all up and brought it back to Thailand.

As much as Thai's love to hate the Khmer. All early great kingdoms of Thailand are to greater or lesser extent based on Khmer life, religion and custom.

None of the central kingdoms can compare to Bagan and-or Angkor temples and empire.

Thailand merely was able to capitalize on the weakness and disarray of its neighbors. Especially Cambodia that in its later throes had the Viets and French also chalanging its power.

[steve down under]

Full name of Bangkok, that Krung Thep mahanakorn etc etc, is the longest city name in the world.

102 syllables I believe?

Krungthepmahanakhon Amornrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharat Ratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amornphiman Awa-tarnsatthit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit

(กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตรโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยา มหาดิลกภพ นพรัตนราชธานีบูรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์)

Translates as :-

City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of thenine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected byVisvakarman at Indra's behest.

Hmm I just ran the Thai script part through Google translate and it came up with ...............................

(Bangkok. Amon colored precipitate the Oksintrs Mahindra Bank Maharashtra Medical Education Dilok worlds Nopparatrajathanee Pendlebury. Great place rich royal house. Amon Piman Avatars static. Vishnu asked a perfectly good idea performance). Bloody strange name for a capital city if you ask me

[chiangmaikelly]

What do

Yes, Burma was quite a jewel in the crown. Rangoon once said to be the wealthiest port in the world.

You did know Thailand went to war with Burma and Burma won right?

Yes, indeed. But that was hundreds of years prior to the colonial period that I thought you were questioning. Thailand was never much of a power, it rose msinly through yhe weakness of the surrounfing empires. Best can be said is at one time, it had reach. It really did not have much wealth. Put all the Thai kingdoms together and they are nothing compared to the Khmer or Burmese. More like err...Champa.

I guess it depends on how you want to define weakness. How many Thais died during WW II and the Vietnam war compared to other countries in SEA? Are we talking mental weakness? Or.....

[bangkokburning]

What do

Yes, Burma was quite a jewel in the crown. Rangoon once said to be the wealthiest port in the world.

You did know Thailand went to war with Burma and Burma won right?

Yes, indeed. But that was hundreds of years prior to the colonial period that I thought you were questioning. Thailand was never much of a power, it rose msinly through yhe weakness of the surrounfing empires. Best can be said is at one time, it had reach. It really did not have much wealth. Put all the Thai kingdoms together and they are nothing compared to the Khmer or Burmese. More like err...Champa.

I guess it depends on how you want to define weakness. How many Thais died during WW II and the Vietnam war compared to other countries in SEA? Are we talking mental weakness? Or.....

We are talking about mental weakness - yours. Nowhere in my posts did I mention the Japanese or even the 20th century. I was pointing out the decline of the Burmese empire around 1300 with the siam-burmese wars around 1550. Decline of the Khmer empire around 1400.

Less than 400 Thais died in the Vietnam war, the Thai contribution IN Vietnam amounts to nothing.

You are an idiot.

[chiangmaikelly]

You did know Thailand went to war with Burma and Burma won right?

Yes, indeed. But that was hundreds of years prior to the colonial period that I thought you were questioning. Thailand was never much of a power, it rose msinly through yhe weakness of the surrounfing empires. Best can be said is at one time, it had reach. It really did not have much wealth. Put all the Thai kingdoms together and they are nothing compared to the Khmer or Burmese. More like err...Champa.

I guess it depends on how you want to define weakness. How many Thais died during WW II and the Vietnam war compared to other countries in SEA? Are we talking mental weakness? Or.....

We are talking about mental weakness - yours. Nowhere in my posts did I mention the Japanese or even the 20th century. I was pointing out the decline of the Burmese empire around 1300 with the siam-burmese wars around 1550. Decline of the Khmer empire around 1400.

Less than 400 Thais died in the Vietnam war, the Thai contribution IN Vietnam amounts to nothing.

You are an idiot.

I think you misunderstood me. I said Compare the number of Thai people killed in WWII and the Vietnam war with the other countries in SEA. Singapore or Burma in WWII and Laos and Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Thailand lost almost no people in either conflict. That is quite an accomplishment. And there were quite a number of Thai troops in Laos in addition to Vietnam during that war.

Edited November 22, 2012 by chiangmaikelly

[bangkokburning]

Thailand had been breached by Japanese on numerous occassions. Japanese hada secret treaty with the Thais. Churchill thteatened Japs over any incursion into Thailand (obvious concerns over Burma and Malaya. In the end it was just luck that Thailand was not drawn into WW2 and thereby having a need to defend itself. This is more to do with external forces than the Thai military prowess, hegemony or the strength of its peasant population. This is a Thai fairy tale although they did play hand in pushing the French off the continent (not culminating until the Viets finished them at Dien Bien Phu). Accomplishment? Not so much. Luck.

As for deaths in Lao, that is another matter. You stated death in Vietnam.

Either way you are still wrong. The entire number of deaths for Thailand is as I stated 350. That is what Thailand claims as its total fallen for the Vietnam conflict.

Edited November 22, 2012 by bangkokburning

[chiangmaikelly]

Thailand had been breached by Japanese on numerous occassions. Japanese hada secret treaty with the Thais. Churchill thteatened Japs over any incursion into Thailand (obvious concerns over Burma and Malaya. In the end it was just luck that Thailand was not drawn into WW2 and thereby having a need to defend itself. This is more to do with external forces than the Thai military prowess, hegemony or the strength of its peasant population. This is a Thai fairy tale although they did play hand in pushing the French off the continent (not culminating until the Viets finished them at Dien Bien Phu). Accomplishment? Not so much. Luck.

As for deaths in Lao, that is another matter. You stated death in Vietnam. Either way you are still wrong. The entire number of deaths for Thailand is as I stated 350. That is what Thailand clai.s as its fallen.

Thailand attacked the French. Franco/Thai war 1940. Thailand invaded Burma 1942. Seems Thailand was pretty much the agressor in WWII to me. Thailand did not loose any people during WWII because they were on the Japanese side that did most of the killing in SEA during WWII. Vietnam war, Thailand invoked the treaty obligations of the SEATO parties to help defend itself against communist agression. Had it not done so it would have gone the way of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Seems pretty smart to me. All of the above is actually good trivia. Also when Thailand attacked the French they were driving tanks made by the British with Model T engines made by Ford and flying planes made in America.

Edited November 22, 2012 by chiangmaikelly

[bangkokburning]

Thailand did not go the way of Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao because it bought off its commies snd killed the rest. Another trivia.point.

None of the countries had a socialist insurgency as Vietnam. In reality though, it was a struggle for Vietnamese nationalism. Quite the opposite of Communism.

Cambo and Lao were just sad neo-Marxist tantrums that if the govenments listened a bit to.the people could have been wholly avoided.

We do not disagree about some points regarding the Thai-Japsnese relationship but again my originsl statements had nothing to do with modern history.

On a similar note - the Japanese landed in Cambodia and within weeks decided the place was hopeless -and left.

Edited November 22, 2012 by bangkokburning

[chiangmaikelly]

Thailand did not go the way of Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao because it bought off its commies snd killed the rest. Another trivia.point.

None of the countries had a socialist insurgency as Vietnam. In reality though, it was a struggle for Vietnamese nationalism. Quite the opposite of Communism.

Cambo and Lao were just sad neo-Marxist tantrums that if the govenments listened a bit to.the people could have been wholly avoided.

We do not disagree about some points regarding the Thai-Japsnese relationship but again my originsl statements had nothing to do with modern history.

On a similar note - the Japanese landed in Cambodia and within weeks decided the place was hopeless -and left.

Speaking of that I was suprised to learn that the Chinese who were left over from WWII in the North actually killed the commies in the mountains around Phetchabun. I always thought it was the Thais. Another trivia point.

[tim armstrong]

With my limited knowledge of Thai, I was pondering if there was any connection between Phar Lap - as in lightning and our esteemed Oz racehorse by the same name. From google it's unclear, but maybe a part owner of Phar Lap was indeed Thai ?

Phar Lap's name means 'lightning' in Thai. How a horse in Australia got a Thai name is a story in itself. A young man called Aubrey Ping, then a student in medicine at the University of Sydney, regularly watched horses in trackwork at Randwick and would often 'chew the fat' with riders and trainers.

Ping's father was a Zhuang speaker who migrated to Australia in the 19th century from southern China. Young Aubrey learnt some Zhuang from his father, and the Zhuang language shares with Thai the name for lightning. The use of the letters 'ph', instead of a simple 'f', created a seven letter name that was split into two words: Phar Lap. This was essential to Harry Telford because it replicated the dominant pattern set by Melbourne Cup winners.

Thanks to Chicog and BigJBK. What a fascinating story, and an interesting piece of research to follow up Aubrey Ping's wife. It was also the same experience when I was new to Thailand and driving through a thunderstorm, that sparked my interest, - as my wife and others in the car kept going on about phar lap!

[loong]

Thailand had been breached by Japanese on numerous occassions. Japanese hada secret treaty with the Thais. Churchill thteatened Japs over any incursion into Thailand (obvious concerns over Burma and Malaya. In the end it was just luck that Thailand was not drawn into WW2 and thereby having a need to defend itself. This is more to do with external forces than the Thai military prowess, hegemony or the strength of its peasant population. This is a Thai fairy tale although they did play hand in pushing the French off the continent (not culminating until the Viets finished them at Dien Bien Phu). Accomplishment? Not so much. Luck.

As for deaths in Lao, that is another matter. You stated death in Vietnam.

Either way you are still wrong. The entire number of deaths for Thailand is as I stated 350. That is what Thailand claims as its total fallen for the Vietnam conflict.

I don't know what point you are making here.

Thailand allied with the Japanese.

Thailand declared war on UK and USA.

Maybe they were not drawn into the war because the UK and USA didn't take the Thai declaration of war seriously?

[chiangmaikelly]

Thailand had been breached by Japanese on numerous occassions. Japanese hada secret treaty with the Thais. Churchill thteatened Japs over any incursion into Thailand (obvious concerns over Burma and Malaya. In the end it was just luck that Thailand was not drawn into WW2 and thereby having a need to defend itself. This is more to do with external forces than the Thai military prowess, hegemony or the strength of its peasant population. This is a Thai fairy tale although they did play hand in pushing the French off the continent (not culminating until the Viets finished them at Dien Bien Phu). Accomplishment? Not so much. Luck.

As for deaths in Lao, that is another matter. You stated death in Vietnam.

Either way you are still wrong. The entire number of deaths for Thailand is as I stated 350. That is what Thailand claims as its total fallen for the Vietnam conflict.

I don't know what point you are making here.

Thailand allied with the Japanese.

Thailand declared war on UK and USA.

Maybe they were not drawn into the war because the UK and USA didn't take the Thai declaration of war seriously?

Funny both the UK and the USA bombed Bangkok so much then. Also rather odd that the UK wanted so much war reparations from Thailand after the war. And then there were the war crimes trials.....

[SiameseCurios]

What do

Yes, Burma was quite a jewel in the crown. Rangoon once said to be the wealthiest port in the world.

You did know Thailand went to war with Burma and Burma won right?

Yes, indeed. But that was hundreds of years prior to the colonial period that I thought you were questioning. Thailand was never much of a power, it rose msinly through yhe weakness of the surrounfing empires. Best can be said is at one time, it had reach. It really did not have much wealth. Put all the Thai kingdoms together and they are nothing compared to the Khmer or Burmese. More like err...Champa.

But ... could Siam have been colonized centuries earlier?

[chiangmaikelly]

No

[SiameseCurios]

could Siam have been colonized centuries earlier?

No

You sure about that?

[chiangmaikelly]

could Siam have been colonized centuries earlier?

No

You sure about that?

Yes

[draggons]

Gone from trivia to colonization in a couple of pages.................................................Oh well

[WilliaminBKK]

Gone from trivia to colonization in a couple of pages.................................................Oh well

Yep, shame really I thought the post had potential to be be very interesting but we know why these things happen.

[chiangmaikelly]

Gone from trivia to colonization in a couple of pages.................................................Oh well

Yep, shame really I thought the post had potential to be be very interesting but we know why these things happen.

Well get pro active and post some trivia and let the nuts who want to discuss colons go somewhere else.

[draggons]

How about this?

Most THAIvisa threads go off topic in a couple of pages..............................

[yermanee]

To get back on topic :

Thailand's buffalo's are the weakest (healthwise) examples of the breed

Until November 27, 1902, the baht was fixed on a purely silver basis, with 15 grams of silver to the baht.

Yermanee