What about Thailand?

 Let's talk about Thailand!

 

Thailand, country located in the centre of mainland Southeast Asia. Located wholly within the tropics, Thailand encompasses diverse ecosystems, including the hilly forested areas of the northern frontier, the fertile rice fields of the central plains, the broad plateau of the northeast, and the rugged coasts along the narrow southern peninsula.

                                   

Until the second half of the 20th century, Thailand was primarily an agricultural country, but since the 1960s increasing numbers of people have moved to Bangkok, the capital, and to other cities. Although the greater Bangkok metropolitan area remains the preeminent urban centre in the country, there are other sizable cities, such as Chiang Mai in the north, Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), Khon Kaen, and Udon Thani in the northeast, Pattaya in the southeast, and Hat Yai in the far south. 

                     

Siam, as Thailand was officially called until 1939, was never brought under European colonial domination. Independent Siam was ruled by an absolute monarchy until a revolution there in 1932. Since that time, Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy, and all subsequent constitutions have provided for an elected parliament. Political authority, however, has often been held by the military, which has taken power through coups. During the last two decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, parliamentary democracy steadily gained wider popular support. Although a crisis emerged in 2006, when the military, aligned with the monarchy, overthrew an elected government, new parliamentary elections were held—as promised by the interim government—in 2007.       

                                  

Languages

Most of the languages spoken in Thailand belong to one of four major language families: Tai (a subfamily of Tai-Kadai languages), Mon-Khmer (a subfamily of Austroasiatic languages), Austronesian, and Sino-Tibetan. In addition, English is widely used in Thailand for commercial and many official purposes. It is a required school subject from the primary grades on up, although only children who go beyond those grades, and especially those who attend elite schools, gain significant competence in the language.                   

Religion

The vast majority of people in Thailand are adherents of Buddhism. The Theravada tradition of Buddhism came to Thailand from Sri Lanka and is shared by peoples in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and parts of southern China and southern Vietnam. The community of monks (sangha) is central to this tradition. In Thailand almost every settlement has at least one temple-monastery (wat), where monks in their distinctive yellow robes reside and where communal rituals take place.

        

The Baht

The Baht is the official currency of Thailand. It is among the ten most used in global foreign exchange payments.

Currently, Thai baht banknotes represent five denominations: 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 baht. They have the most modern and advanced security measures to prevent counterfeiting.

                                     

And that's everything for this week, I want to say thanks to everyone for the time in this blog.

Finally, please tell me in the comments if you want to know some interesting things about this country, I read you.