Once called Siam, Thailand is the only southeast nation never to have
been colonized by a European nation; however they have been influenced
by and lost land from the West.
Thai currency is the baht. Though fluctuation occurs, it’s around 33 baht to one US dollar.
The Thai calendar is based off of an Eastern version of the Buddhist
era, making it 543 our Western Gregorian calendar. The year AD 2008 is
called 2551 BE in Thailand.
Thailand has officially 75 provinces and unofficially 76 with Bangkok being provincial (and the capital).
In September, when we are prospected to be there, the climate will be
in transition from rainy and warm to dry and cool — depending on the
area. If we’re on the isthmus at all, we can be guaranteed hot and
humid conditions.
Buddhism of Theravada is the number one practiced religion, which means
“the Teaching of the Elders” or “the Ancient teaching”; the oldest
surviving Buddhist School. Second is Islam and the smaller religious
groups are Christianity, Hinduism and there’s also a small Jewish
community. Thais identity in their culture through the beliefs of
Buddhism of Theravada, syncretizing regional beliefs and resulting with
forms of animism and ancestor worship. In southern parts, Islam is
more prevalent. Thais have a sense of deep respect for
ancestors/elders and overall Thais show great hospitality, but there
exists a deep rooted sense of social hierarchy.
We have now entered one of my favorite parts — Language and cultural
nuances. Greeting is called the ‘wai’. The youngest person greeting
greets first saying, “Sawat-dee-khrap”(when spoken from male) or
“Sawat-de-kha”(when spoken by female) with their hands pressed
together, fingertips pointing upwards as the head is bowed to touch
their face to the hands. ‘Wai’ is a linguistic form of showing
respect.
Taboos in Thailand include touching someone’s head or pointing with the
feet, as the head is considered the most sacred and the foot the
dirtiest part of the body. Stepping over someone, or over food, is
considered insulting. Also, books and other documents are the most
revered of secular objects – so do not slide a book across a table or
place it on the
floor. Like a Bible.
Thai, Chinese and English are spoken. Thai is a tonal language, so
‘mai’ can be used to ask a question but also in negation depending on
the tone used. To convey politeness at the end of a sentence and after
questions, you should say ‘ka’. “Sa-baay-dee-reuu?” means ‘how are
you?’
If you’re interested in learning more, a really good site is: http://www.thai-language.com/id/801644
Despite feeling all my college professors frowning upon me with
disapproval from afar, the other info was taken from Wikipedia. I’m
planning on doing this with every country we will be sent to before
departure.
