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Articles about Bangkok,
Articles about Thailand
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Bangkok Companies has
collected a variety of articles, stories and observations about
Bangkok and Thailand. We have included articles about Thai history,
the geography of Thailand, Thai politics and economics and general
articles about life, living, working and holidays in the Kingdom of
Thailand.
If you have an article
to publish then please send to
bangkokcompanies@gmail.com
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Business in Bangkok, Business in Thailand |
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Step by step guide to doing business in Bangkok |
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Balloon Trip in
Thailand - A new adventure tour concept from a new Swiss-Thai
company - Balloon flights over Pattaya |
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Thailand
Facts and Statistics
Tables charts and statistics
about Thailand Geography, Thai Education, Thai population and various
business information. |
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Thailand Overview
- A general viewpoint of some of the features that make Thailand such a
great place to visit and a great place to live in. |
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July
2005 Thailand Tax Update - A recent guide to tax and financial
statistics and financial trends in Thailand |
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Thailand Air Conditioning
- Report on the Thai air conditioner industry |
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Mining in Thailand -
From the coal mines of South Yorkshire to The Tin Mine in the South of
Thailand |
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Tsunami Alarm System
- A special Tsunami warning alarm
system has been installed in the areas hit last year by the massive
waves which caused so much destruction and loss of life |
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Life in
Bangkok, Life in Thailand |
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Hanging around in Thailand
- Ballooning in Thailand
Flying over Bangkok, Chiang Mai,
Pattaya and Phuket |
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Thailand Diving Tour - Receive your
professional PADI dive certificate while staying at one of the most
beautiful and unspoiled stretches of white sand beach in all of southern
Thailand |
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How
to get around Bangkok - Busses, Tuk Tuk or taxi - the choice is
yours |
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The Tin MIne - How I
became a Thai movie star |
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Churches in
Thailand - Churches in Bangkok, Churches in Chiangmai, and the
provinces |
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Traditional Thai Medicine
Practices |
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Always Amazing
Thailand - a summary of Thailand - history, tourist attractions,
food and nightlife in Bangkok |
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Missing in Thailand
- Looking for a missing husband, son or daughter? advice on how to trace
a person who is lost in Thailand |
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Golf Tourists and Golf
Expats - The mystery solved - Why do single guys come to Thailand?
to play golf of course!! - tales of what goes on at the extra hole |
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Looking for a Thai Wife? - First of all are
you really sure you want to get involved with a Thai Girl - If so we
have an offer you can't refuse |
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Bangkok 101
(Reasons to come - Reasons to stay) |
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Bangkok102
(Guys, Girls and rabbits on Viagra) |
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Viagra in Thailand - What's up guys? - where
do you buy cheap Viagra? and who really needs the pills in
Bangkok |
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Another
Brick in the wall - Teaching in Thailand. Thinking of taking a TEFL
course in Thailand. Do you really want to be a
teacher in Thailand? |
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Massage Parlours in Bangkok |
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Thai Language |
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Study
Thai - The Ultimate guide for studying Thai Language and Thai
Culture |
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Thai Culture |
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Thai
Society and Its Environment - Neither static nor a revolutionary
society, Thailand has always been able to harness the talents of its
people. More... |
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Thailand Geography, Environment |
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Physical
Setting - Thailand's 514,000 square kilometers lie in the middle of
mainland Southeast Asia. More... |
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Boundaries -
Thailand in the late 1980s shared boundaries with Burma, Malaysia, Laos,
and Cambodia. More... |
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Topography
and Drainage - The most conspicuous features of Thailand's terrain
are high mountains, a central plain, and an upland plateau.
More... |
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Regions - Landforms and
drainage divide the country more or less into four natural regions--the
North, the Northeast, the Center, and the South.
More... |
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Climate - Thailand
has a tropical monsoon climate; temperatures normally range from an
average annual high of 38° C to a low of 19° C.
More... |
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Thailand Human Geography |
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Population - One of the
20 most populous nations in the world, Thailand had in 1987 about 53
million people. More... |
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Ethnicity, Regionalism and Language - cultural features, such as
adherence to Theravada Buddhism--regionalism and ethnic differences were
socially and politically significant.
More... |
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The Thai and
Other Tai-Speaking Peoples - Thai--spoke dialects of one of the languages of
the Tai language family. More... |
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The Non-Tai
Minorities - Besides the Tai-speaking minorities, there were a number of
peoples speaking languages of other families.
More... |
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The Highland Peoples,
Hill Peoples - Among the larger groups of highland people were the Karen (Kariang,
Yang), Hmong (Meo, Miao), Mien (Yao), Lahu (Mussur), Akha (Kaw), and Lisu, or
Lisaw. More... |
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The Khmer - Two groups
of Khmer could also be distinguished, long-time inhabitants of Thailand and more
recent arrivals. More... |
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The Mon - also known
as Raman or Tailaing, migrated from Burma during the sixteenth to eighteenth
centuries. More... |
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The Vietnamese - In
the mid-1970s, the number of Vietnamese in Thailand was estimated at between
60,000 and 70,000. More... |
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The Chinese - In 1987
an estimated 11 percent of the total Thai population, or about 6 million people,
were of Chinese origin. More... |
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The South Asians -
In 1979 the Ministry of Interior estimated that there were 60,000 Hindus and
Sikhs in Thailand. More... |
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Ethnic and
Regional Relations - the government took the position that all Tai people
should be accorded all the rights, privileges, and opportunities that went with
being a citizen. More... |
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The Social System -
The rural areas, where most Thai live, have been affected by change for many
decades. More... |
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Rural Social
Patterns - "The spatially defined rural village, which receives the
allegiance of its members, furnishes an important part of their social identity.
More... |
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National and
Urban Structures: Class and Status - In general, the Thai accorded high
status to those who wielded power.
More...
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Class Consciousness
- Of the categories or strata discernible in Thai society, only one, the royal
family and the hereditary nobility, constituted a self-conscious group.
More... |
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Social Mobility -
The expansion of the bureaucracy and the military and the movement of the Thai
into a rapidly growing private sector created opportunities for social mobility.
More... |
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Thai Religion |
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Theravada Buddhism
- the form of Buddhism practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, was
the religion of more than 80 percent of the Thai people in the 1980s.
More... |
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Historical Background - Thai Buddhism
was based on the religious movement founded in the sixth century B.C.
More...
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Buddhist Doctrine
and Popular Religion - The doctrine of Theravada Buddhism can be found in
the three-part Tipitaka. More... |
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The Sangha - comprises
two sects or schools, the Mahanikaya and the Dhammayuttika.
More... |
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Buddhism, Politics,
and Values - The organizational links between the sangha and the government
are an indication of their interdependence.
More... |
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Religious
Minorities - Defining Thai minority religions was as complex as defining
Thai ethnic minorities. More... |
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General
Thailand Articles |
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Education and The Arts
- In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, United States and
British missionaries introduced formal European education.
More... |
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Health and Welfare
- By Asian standards, the level of public health in Thailand was relatively
good. More... |
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The Indochinese
Refugee Question - The forced migrations of Indochinese to Thailand for
political or economic reasons had been a common occurrence throughout the 200
years of the Chakkri Dynasty. More... |
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Thailand Transportation |
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Transportation
System - Thailand's transportation system of inland waterways, railroads,
and roads was centered on Bangkok. More... |
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Inland Waterways
- 4,000 kilometers of inland waterways consisting of the rivers and canals of
the central plain. More... |
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Railroads - the first
section--from Bangkok to Ayutthaya-- was inaugurated in 1896.
More... |
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Roads - Extensive
development of the road network did not start until after World War II.
More... |
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Ports and Shipping
- The port of Bangkok had experienced continuous growth since the 1950s.
More... |
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Civil Aviation -
Domestic air service was furnished by Thai Airways Company (TAC), a
government-owned entity established in 1951.
More... |
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Thailand Energy |
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Fuels & Energy - There were
also deposits of lignite, which was used to fuel a number of power plants.
More... |
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Electric Power - In
1958 the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) was established to generate
and supply power to Bangkok. More... |
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Petroleum and Natural
Gas - Oil was discovered near Fang in the far north of the country in the
early 1950s. More... |
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Thailand Telecommunications |
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Thailand
Telecommunications - By the mid-1980s, Thailand had an average density of
one telephone per hundred inhabitants. More... |
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Thailand
Government and Politics |
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Government and
Politics - Under the Constitution of 1978, Thailand has a British-style
cabinet form of government. More... |
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The Constitutional Framework - The
Constitution provides for a parliamentary form of government with the king as
titular head of state. More...
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The Central
Government - all important decisions emanating from the traditionally
powerful bureaucratic elite in Bangkok. More... |
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The King - As ceremonial
head of state, the monarch is endowed with a formal power of assent and
appointment. More... |
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National Assembly
- Under the Constitution, the National Assembly was structured to accommodate
both the military and civilian bureaucratic elite and the electorate.
More... |
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Council of Ministers
- The cabinet, the center of Thai political power, consisted of forty-four
members, including the prime minister, deputy prime ministers, ministers, and
deputy ministers. More... |
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Judiciary - The
judiciary provided for three levels of courts: the courts of first instance, the
Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. More... |
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Local government
- Local government comprised both regular territorial administrative units and
self-governing bodies. More... |
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Civil Service -
Personnel administration was in theory centralized under the Civil Service
Commission. More... |
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Political
Developments 1980-1987 - In 1987 Thailand was stable under Prime Minister
Prem's eighth consecutive year of administration.
More... |
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Political Parties
- The concept of party politics dated back to the early 1930s.
More... |
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Foreign Affairs -
Diplomacy has served Thailand well. More... |
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Foreign Relations
- During the 1960s, Thailand maintained close economic and security ties with
the United States. More... |
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Foreign
Relations since 1980 - Thailand was committed to solving its problems with
the neighboring states of Indochina--Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
More... |
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Thailand Police, Judiciary |
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Internal Security
System - The concept of public order founded on the supremacy of law has
long been stressed in Thailand. More... |
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Police and
Paramilitary Forces - maintenance of public order through enforcement of the
kingdom's laws was exercised by the Thailand National Police Department.
More... |
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Provincial Police
- This force provided police services to every town and village throughout the
kingdom except metropolitan Bangkok. More... |
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Border Patrol
Police - the paramilitary Border Patrol Police (BPP) has remained the
country's most effective internal security force.
More... |
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Metropolitan
Police - Responsible for providing all law enforcement services for the
capital city of Bangkok and its suburbs.
More... |
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Central
Investigation Bureau - The specialized units of the bureau, including the
railroad, marine, highway, and forestry police.
More... |
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Police Education
Bureau - responsible for training police personnel in the latest methods of
law enforcement and the use of modern weapons.
More... |
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Criminal Justice
- Until the nineteenth century the source of criminal law in the kingdom was
ancient Thai law. More... |
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Criminal Code - The
Criminal Code listed twelve kinds of offenses categorized as felonies.
More... |
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Procedures in Criminal
Law - The first step in a criminal case was a preliminary investigation
carried out by a police officer. More... |
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Penal System - The
penal system was administered by the Department of Corrections within the
Ministry of Interior. More... |
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Criminal Activity and the Narcotics Trade -
In general, organized crime appeared to be rare, except for the illicit trade in
opium, heroin, and cannabis. More..
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Do you have an article
to publish in this section? Please send to
bangkokcompanies@gmail.com
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Thai History |
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Historical
Setting - 5,000-year-old archaeological sites in the northeastern
part of the country are believed to contain the oldest evidence of rice
cultivation and bronze casting in Asia -
More... |
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The
Early History of Thailand - Archaeological evidence indicates a
thriving Paleolithic culture in the region and continuous human
habitation for at least 20,000 years -
More... |
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Mon and the Khmer
Civilizations - Mon and Khmer peoples entered Southeast Asia along
migration routes from southern China in the ninth century B.C.
More... |
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Tai People: Origins
and Migrations - The forebears of the modern Thai were Tai-speaking
people living south of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River)
More... |
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Sukhothai - Situated on the banks
of the Mae Nam Yom some 375 kilometers north of present-day Bangkok,
Sukhothai was the cradle of Thai civilization, the place where its
institutions and culture first developed More... |
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The Ayutthaya
Period -
The kingdom of Ayutthaya was founded by U Thong, an adventurer allegedly
descended from a rich Chinese merchant family who married royalty. In
1350, to escape the threat of an epidemic, he moved his court south into
the rich floodplain of the Chao Phraya. On an island in the river he
founded a new capital, which he called Ayutthaya -
More... |
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Thai Kingship
- Thai rulers were absolute monarchs whose office was partly religious
in nature. More... |
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Social and Political Development - The king stood at the apex of a
highly stratified social and political hierarchy that extended
throughout the society
More... |
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Thailand Economic Development - The Thai never lacked a rich food
supply. More... |
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Contacts with the West
- In 1511 Ayutthaya received a diplomatic mission from the Portuguese,
who earlier that year had conquered Malacca. These were probably the
first Europeans to visit the country.
More... |
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Ayutthaya: The Final
Phase - After a bloody period of dynastic struggle, Ayutthaya
entered into what has been called its golden age.
More... |
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The Bangkok Period
- A new capital farther south in the delta at Thon Buri, a fortress town
across the river from modern Bangkok.
More... |
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The Chakkri Dynasty
- With the death of Taksin, the Thai throne fell to Chakkri, a general
who had played a leading role with Taksin in the struggle against the
Burmese. More... |
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Mongkut's Opening to
the West - Mongkut's twenty-seven years as a Buddhist monk not only made him
a religious figure of some consequence but also exposed him to a wide array of
foreign influences. More... |
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Chulalongkorn's
Reforms - Under his father's direction, Chulalongkorn had received a
thorough education by European tutors.
More... |
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The Crisis of 1893 -
The steady encroachment of the two most aggressive European powers in the
region, Britain and France, gravely threatened Siam during the last years of the
nineteenth century. More... |
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The
Beginning of the Constitutional Era - Early in his reign, King Prajadhipok
showed a tendency to share responsibility for political decision making with his
ministers. More... |
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The 1932 Coup - The long
era of absolute monarchy was brought to a sudden end on June 24, 1932, by a
bloodless coup d'etat engineered by a group of civil servants and army officers
More... |
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Phibun and
the Nationalist Regime - The Phibun regime sold nationalism to the public by
using propaganda methods borrowed from authoritarian regimes in Europe.
More... |
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World War II -
Thailand responded pragmatically to the military and political pressures of
World War II. More... |
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Pridi and the
Civilian Regime - The most influential figure in the regime, however, was
Pridi, whose anti Japanese views were increasingly attractive to the Thai.
More... |
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The Return of
Phibun and the military - Phibun's group played on intense public resentment
of the war reparations Thailand had to pay.
More... |
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November 1947 Coup
- In November 1947, the so-called Coup d'Etat Group, led by two retired generals
and backed by Phibun, seized power from the civilian government.
More... |
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November 1951 Coup
- By 1951 Phibun had begun to share political power with two associates who had
participated with him in the 1947 coup that overthrew the civilian regime.
More... |
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Phibun's
Experiment with "Democracy" - Phibun attempted to offset Sarit's advantage
among the military by generating popular support for himself.
More... |
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Sarit and Thanom - The king approved Sarit's
action; the royal family had opposed Phibun since the 1930s.
More... |
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Sarit's Return -
Sarit, who spoke of instilling "national discipline" in the country.
More... |
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Thai
Politics and Foreign Policy - Thanom focused his efforts on seeking to
maintain political stability; promoting economic development.
More... |
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November 1971 Coup
- In November 1971, Prime Minister Thanom executed a coup against his own
government. More... |
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Thailand in
Transition - The next day troops opened fire on the demonstrators, killing
seventy-five, and occupied the campus of Thammasat University.
More... |
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Military Rule and
Limited Parliamentary Government - With the support of the king and the
military membership of NARC, a new government was formed.
More... |
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Prem in Power -
Although a military figure, Thailand's new prime minister sought to give
civilians a greater role in government. More... |
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Foreign Relations
- The Thai government under Prime Minister Kriangsak had sought a rapprochement
with Indochina's new communist states - More... |
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Thailand Economics |
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The Thai Economy - It
remained capitalist in orientation, largely operated by the private sector with
supportive infrastructure furnished by the government.
More... |
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Economic and Financial Development - pragmatic economic management resulted
in the emergence of one of the fastest growing and most successful economies
among the developing countries.
More... |
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Public Finance -
The financing of public expenditures caused a major imbalance because of high
deficit and low public savings. More... |
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Money and Banking -
governmental intervention put the financial sector under stress.
More... |
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Financial
Institutions - The primary state-owned facility was the Bank of Thailand.
More... |
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Money and
Capital Markets - The Security Exchange of Thailand (SET) had combined the
functions of securities market and securities commission.
More... |
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Rural Finance -
Beginning in the late 1960s, the government gave top priority to increasing
credit availability to the agricultural sector.
More... |
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Industrial Finance
- Commercial banks, finance companies, and the Industrial Finance Corporation of
Thailand (IFCT) were the main suppliers of credit to the industrial sector.
More... |
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Monetary Policies
- Control over the rate of credit extension was the primary means for supporting
growth. More... |
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Employment and Wages
- The work force had gone through some structural changes in terms of age and
sex. More... |
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International Trade and Finance - Thailand sustained a trade balance deficit
from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. More... |
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External Debt - The
composition of Thai indebtedness in terms of interest rates, maturity, and
currency structure appeared to be better than that in most other developing
countries. More... |
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Thailand Industry &
Manufacturing |
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Industry - The industrial
sector in Thailand contributed considerably to economic growth.
More... |
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Manufacturing -
Manufacturing was the most important industrial sub-sector in Thailand,
comprising on average 25 percent of each addition to GDP.
More... |
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Industrial Policy
- The Thai industrial sector was under the supervision of seven governmental
agencies. More... |
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Thailand Agriculture,
Fishing & Mining |
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Agriculture - The Thai
farmer's ability to adapt to changing market conditions contributed to the
country's agricultural success. More... |
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Land Use and Soils
- Roughly two-fifths of Thailand is covered by mountains and hills, the
steepness of which generally precludes cultivation.
More... |
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Land Tenure -
Traditionally, the king owned all the land, from which he made grants to nobles,
officials, and other free subjects. More... |
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Tenancy and Land
Reform - agricultural tenancy nationwide appeared to have been low except in
the commercial rice-growing areas of the central plain and in the North.
More... |
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Irrigation - Thai
farmers traditionally relied on rain and flood water for crops, but the amount
needed for rice cultivation was not always received.
More... |
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Crops - Other important
crops in which major production increases also had been made were pineapples,
peanuts, cashew nuts, soybeans, bananas, sesame, coconuts, cotton, kapok, and
castor beans. More... |
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Rice - Rice, the nation's
major crop, was grown by about three quarters of all farm households.
More... |
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Rubber - In 1901 British
planters introduced rubber trees into the Malay Peninsula.
More... |
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Maize - Maize was believed
to have been introduced by Spanish or Portuguese traders in the sixteenth
century. More... |
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Cassava - Cassava, a root
crop from which tapioca is made, was introduced in about 1935.
More... |
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Other Crops, Sugarcane,
Kenaf, Pineapples, Coffee - Sugarcane has long been widely grown.
More... |
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Livestock and
Poultry - Animal husbandry accounted for about 13 percent of the gross value
of agricultural production. More... |
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Fisheries - Fish also
accounted for about three-fifths of the protein in the national diet.
More... |
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Forestry - Except for a
few small, privately owned, coastal mangrove areas, all forestland was the
property of the state. More... |
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Mining - Tin was the
leading mineral. The existence of tin in the area of present-day Thailand was
known at least by the thirteenth century. More... |
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Thailand
Media and Publications |
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The Media - the media
played an important role as the principal source of domestic and foreign news
and, to a lesser degree, as a source of public entertainment.
More... |
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Thailand National Security, Defense,
The Military |
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National Security
- The pragmatism inherent in Thai national security policy brought the country
safely through World War II. More... |
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Insurgency - Insurgency
also became much more active in the South. More... |
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Potential External
Threats - the government turned to protecting the country from outside
aggression. More... |
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The Armed Forces -
Composed of heterogeneous elements of regular cadres and conscripts, the armed
forces in mid-1987 had a total strength of approximately 273,000 officers.
More... |
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General
Military Development - From early times, the country's kings were, with few
exceptions, military leaders. More... |
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Military in
National Life - Liberal-minded observers deplored the inordinate influence
the armed forces had on the country's sociopolitical existence.
More... |
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The Military Roles
- The army's main purpose was to defend the country against invasion by any
foreign ground force. More... |
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Military Manpower
- All Thai males were required to register when they became eighteen years of
age. More... |
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Defense Spending
- the amounts of money budgeted and expended for defense varied somewhat
according to whether or not a military regime controlled the government.
More... |
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Domestic Defense
Industry - Before the 1970s, domestic defense production was extremely
limited. More... |
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Foreign
Security Assistance - Western nations, notably Britain, West Germany, and
Italy, have provided Thailand with moderate amounts of military aid.
More... |
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Military Structure
- Thailand's military establishment reflected to some degree the influence of
American defense practices. More... |
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Royal Thai Army -
The oldest and largest of the military services, the Royal Thai Army
traditionally served as the mainstay of the kingdom's defense system.
More... |
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Royal Thai Navy -
The navy's combat forces included the Royal Fleet and the Royal Thai Marine
Corps. More... |
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Royal Thai Air
Force - The Royal Thai Air Force was the most recently formed of the three
services. More... |
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Military Training
- New army conscripts customarily underwent a sixteen-week program of
instruction. More... |
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Military Uniforms,
Ranks, and Insignia - each Thai service component developed its own
distinctive uniforms, ranking system, and insignia.
More... |
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