Today we will help you out to know about some awesome and interesting facts about Thailand, you will be amazed after reading these interesting facts about Thailand.
Interesting facts about Thailand
- Thailand was formerly the kingdom of Siam. In 1939 it was renamed Prathet Thai (ประเทศไทย) which means “free country” or land of the Thai ( Thailand and hence Thailand ).
- Its capital is Bangkok and the official language is Thai. It has 65 million inhabitants.
- It is a constitutional monarchy, the king is Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX, born in the United States) and the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (born in the United Kingdom). The king has been on the throne since 1949 and is the head of state who has held the longest position in the world.
- Around 95% of Thais are Buddhists of the Theravāda tradition but there are also minorities of Muslims, Christians and Hindus. Islam prevails in the southern provinces of the country.
- Thailand is the second strongest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. It depends mainly on its exports of rice and tourism.
- Honor is a very important concept in Thai culture, that’s why you never see them arguing or shouting in public.
- The greeting or reverence they perform by joining their hands is called wai .
- It is impolite to touch the head of a person or point to something or someone with their feet. It is an insult to step on the food or pass over a person who is sitting or lying on the floor. Nor is it well seen to put your feet on the chair, these should always be on the floor. Do not point your feet towards the Buddha image and you always have to take off your shoes when entering a house or temple.
- Thai cuisine mixes five flavors: sweet, spicy, sour, bitter and salty. The basic food is rice, which is in almost all meals. And it’s so but so rich that I’m afraid to go rolling again!!
- It is illegal to step on bills or coins as they have the image of the king.
- Thailand is a very open and tolerant country with respect to homosexuality. Bangkok is one of the most gay friendly cities in the world, but on the other hand gays cannot study to be teachers or join the army.
- The food is eaten with sticks or with a fork and a spoon: the spoon is used as a fork and the fork as a knife (or to push the food on the spoon). Thai people find it very strange that someone uses a fork to take food to their mouths (I was doing all these days!). When you finish eating, put the fork on top of the spoon, in the middle of the plate.
- The cars have the steering wheel on the right side and it is driven on the left (first time I see this in real life).
- The anthem is passed twice a day in public places, on trains and subways. The Thais stop what they are doing and stay until the anthem ends. Out of respect, foreigners must do the same (not like me I realized several seconds after the whole park was frozen listening to the anthem).
- Thai dogs can have life insurance: there is a company that offers compensation in case of death of the pet. If the dog is of foreign origin with pedigree, the insurance covers up to 500,000 baht (about 20,000 dollars), if it is local breed, for about 500 dollars.
- Many motorcyclists walk without helmets but with chinstraps (why, I did not discover it yet).
- In the villages, when the Thais wake up, it is very common for them to go out to sweep the sidewalks or the beaches.
- For now I did not find a street that follows a straight line for many meters, in general they form S or other letters like that …
- Besides that the Thai alphabet is very complicated to learn for its writing and pronunciation, there is something else: men end their sentences with khráp and women say kha .
- From what I’ve seen so far, Thais eat at all times … Today I went for a walk at 7 in the morning and they were already preparing fried chicken.
- In Thailand there are more than 5000 (yes, five thousand) 7-Eleven (an American chain that sells food, candy, cookies, pharmacy items … something like a “mini super” or a large kiosk with a lot of air conditioning).
