People
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Thailand is a meeting place, where people of diverse backgrounds have come together to pool their culture and racial characteristics, giving rise to something new, strong and vital.
With a territory and population about the same size as France, Thailand's people are mostly ethnic Thai, with other ethnic groups mixed in: Burmese, Chinese, Lao, Khmer and hilltribes. The vast majority of people are Buddhists, with less than 10 % believing in other faiths, like Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Brahmanism.
Thai people are extremely friendly, hospitable and warm hearted and welcoming of foreigners. The expression "Land of Smiles" is very accurate in describing the Thai view of life, as people deem a minute without a smile to be a lost minute.
Thai people are proud of their country, very loyal to their King and for the most part strong believers in the Buddhist value system, meaning that all humans are equal and propagating people to be friendly, to avoid conflict and live a good, honest and useful life, caring for others.
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The Thai way of life is very "easy going" and could very well be described as "live and let live", being generous, uncomplicated and not to worry too much. Thai prople live very much in the present moment and do not spend too much time thinking about the future.
Thailand has its own national language; Thai. The language spoken in the Central Plains of the Kingdom is the standard Thai taught in all schools, broadcast over radio and TV, and printed in publications.
The language has derived from many words of other languages, particularly Sanskrit and Pali from India which came to Thailand with Brahmanism and Buddhism.
Words co-opted from the languages of neighbouring countries are in common use : Chinese , Khmer and Lao. Thai language is standard and used all over Thailand, however, some regions have their own dialect.
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Thai Food
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Thai food is among the most favourite world wide. However, Thai food is best when made and eaten in Thailand. Much fresher, more tasty. Plus, there's a lot more options to choose from. Whether chilli-hot or comparatively blands, harmony is the guiding principle behind each dish.
Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai. Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were eschewed. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizeable chunks to Thai cooking.
A proper Thai meal should consist of a soup, a curry dish with condiments, a dip with accompanying fish and vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry should be replaced by non spiced items. There must be a harmony of tastes and textures within individual dishes and the entire meal.
Thai food is eaten with a fork and spoon. Even single dish meals such as fried rice with pork, or steamed rice topped with roasted duck, are served in bite-sized slices or chunks obviating the need for a knife.
Ideally, eating Thai food is a communal affair involving two or more people, principally because the greater the number of diners the greater the number of dishes ordered.
Generally speaking, two diners order three dishes in addition to their own individual plates of steamed rice, three diners four dishes, and so on. Diners choose whatever they require from shared dishes and generally add it to their own rice. Soups are enjoyed concurrently with rice.
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Soups are enjoyed concurrently with other dishes, not independently. Spicy dishes, not independently. Spicy dishes are "balanced" by bland dishes to avoid discomfort.
The ideal Thai meal is a harmonious blend of the spicy, the subtle, the sweet and sour, and is meant to be equally satisfying to eye, nose and palate.
A typical meal might include a clear soup (perhaps bitter melons stuffed with minced pork), a steamed dish (mussels in curry sauce), a fried dish (fish with ginger), a hot salad (beef slices on a bed of lettuce, onions, chillies, mint and lemon juice) and a variety of sauces into which food is dipped.
This would be followed by sweet desserts and/or fresh fruits such as mangoes, durian, jackfruit, papaya, grapes or melon.
The harvesting seasons are spanning all three seasons of the year. Thailand has more than three dozen kinds of attractive fruit that come in a collage of shapes, a spectrum of colours, and a melange of flavours.
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Thai Culture
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Flowers and plants blossom in profusion and display a myriad of colours to delight the eyes and refresh the spirit all year round.
Festivals in Thailand serve mostly to celebrate the seasons. Some Festivals are held only in a particular region while others are held nationwide. Some festivals relate to the Buddhist religion. Festivals in Thailand are celebrated all year round. Two of which are likely to be recognized by all are Songkran and Loi Kratong.
In April, the Songkran festival comes with big celebrations. In the morning people will bathe the images of Buddha, pouring bowls of perfumed water over them. Later in the day young people will go out and play with one another by splashing water, and no one would complain of becoming soaking wet. In Bangkok the celebration may last one or two days, but in the villages, particularly in the North, the splashing of water may go on for a week.
Loy Kratong is celebrated on the full moon night in November. On the night of Loy Kratong, people of all ages go down to the rivers or wherever there is flowing water carrying a Kratong: a floating cup made of banana leaf or colored paper each containing a candle, incense sticks and flowers, which will float along in the water as an expression of reverence for water to which Thai people owe so much.
The birth, enlightenment and Nirvana of the Buddha are celebrated on Visakha Bucha Day, the full moon day in April - May. Around July-August is another important celebration day call Khao Phansa.
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This marks the beginning of the three months' rainy season retreat period for Buddhists. During this period of retreat, monks are bound to their monasteries, and the pious will spend much time in study and meditation.
Most ordinations take place at this time, particularly for young men who will spend the entire period in the monk-hood in preparation for careers and marriage. Three months later, the retreat ends with more merry making.
The cool dry weather has arrived and it is an ideal time for fairs and ceremonies, in particular the offering of new robes to monks. This joyous festival is called Kathin. Communities get together and provide funds and lay on hands for all the work that will be needed. All these festivals are celebrated nationwide.
Some parts of Thailand have special festivals of their own usually involving processions of one sort or another.
In September Surin, the province in northeast, holds its greatest celebration, that of the elephants, hundreds of elephants are brought together to walk in procession, as is done for centuries, and to engage in races and tests of strength. The capture of wild elephants is also enacted.
Every February, the city of Chiang Mai, the largest in the northern region, celebrates the Festival of Flowers to reinstate the central role natural loveliness plays in the lives of its citizens. Thais value their festivals highly and celebrate them in a cheerful spirit.
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