Siam or thailand?

[Mr Helper]

Does anybody know why Thailand is called Thailand???

  Why did they drop the name 'Siam' and call themselves Thailand. Personally I think they should go back to the name 'Siam', as it just sounds more exotic!!!

[singa-traz]

You can start from here : From Siam to Thailand

Thank you  Google !

Anyone with some knowledge on Thai History, to review the above link ?

[stevebkk]

Is it okay to say Siam?

Also, what does the place name SIEM REAP mean?  (The stop off for Angkor Wat).

[johnny]

Does anybody know why Thailand is called Thailand???

  Why did they drop the name 'Siam' and call themselves Thailand. Personally I think they should go back to the name 'Siam', as it just sounds more exotic!!!

Hey Mr. Helper,

That's really a great idea. Go on like this!

[caughtintheact]

According to a number of web sites, Siem Reap means :Siam Defeated".  This may be a good reason not to change the name back.  

According to this site: http://www.uwec.edu/greider....web.htm

Siam means the Land of the Great White Elephant.  But there are numerous other possible translations according to others.  Try a google search for "Siam means".

I see no reason why you cannot call Thailand Siam, but I think the Thai have come to like being known as the "Land of the Free"

[caughtintheact]

According to a number of web sites, Siem Reap means :Siam Defeated".  This may be a good reason not to change the name back.  

According to this site: http://www.uwec.edu/greider....web.htm

Siam means the Land of the Great White Elephant.  But there are numerous other possible translations according to others.  Try a google search for "Siam means".

In another site a Bishop Manat says Siam means "three" for the three types of people that were in early Siam.  

I see no reason why you cannot call Thailand Siam, but I think the Thai have come to like being known as the "Land of the Free".

[chaladmak]

I've heard that word Siam originates from Sanskrit word Shyam.... and there are some versions of reasons for that among the historians in India ...

[Khutan]

Is it okay to say Siam?

Also, what does the place name SIEM REAP mean?  (The stop off for Angkor Wat).</font>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well;

I thought I had read it before, This is from the United Peoples Party of Cambodia:

From the 13th to the end of the 14th century, the repeated Thai incursions compelled Khmers to abandon their capital city of Angkor Wat, and Khmers were forced into slavery. Four hundred years later, it was recaptured.  Then, the Angkor region was named as Siem Reap Province to remind all Khmers of how their ancestors suffered defeat by the Thais. Siem Reap means “Khmers living under Thai's repression.” With Japan backing them in 1940, the Thais seized Cambodia's north-western provinces.

Of course this has come from a political party website, so you can make up your own mind.... Here is the link United People of Cambodia