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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 40 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Thailand
Tin. Diamonds and tungsten are also mined and there are large crude oil resources. There is some coal and copper, but they are not of any importance.
Chao Phraya. Chao Meng--fu was a Chinese painter. The Irrawaddy is the main river of Myanmar. The Brahmaputra is a tributary of the Ganges.
monsoon. From April to October the monsoon blows from the southwest, bringing heavy rains. The rest of the year it is a dry wind blowing from the northeast.
f. Thailand is the only country in south-east Asia that has never been under a European power. Its neighbors Myanmar, then Burma, and Malaysia were part of the British Empire. Other neighbors, Laos and Cambodia were under French control. A small province of Thailand, Chantaburi, was occupied by the French for twelve years until 1905 due to a border dispute over what is now Cambodian land.
rice. Other important exports are tin, diamonds and shrimp.
Sea of Andaman. The southernmost area of Thailand stretches across the Malay Peninsula with the Sea of Andaman on the west and the Gulf of Thailand on the east.
Mekong. The Mekong forms part of the border between Thailand and Laos. It later flows through Cambodia and enters the South China Sea.
t. A small area of Thailand extends southwards down the Malay Peninsula. In one part it is only ten miles from the Myanmar border to the Gulf of Thailand.
Buddhism. 95% of Thais are Buddhists. One teaching of Buddhism is as follows, "The only thing that it is good to kill, is anger."
Ping. Chang Mai is a popular tourist destination. Day trips to the rain forest, rafting, and elephant trekking are popular.
| What was the approximate population of the capital city of Thailand at the beginning of the 21st century? | Facts about Thailand
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10 million. The capital Bangkok is over ten times bigger than Chiang Mai, the second largest city.
Mekong. The Mekong is the third longest river in Asia. The rare Asian river dolphin makes its home in it.
Siam. Sri Lanka was formerly known as Ceylon. Taiwan was formerly known as Formosa. Ghana was the Gold Coast
| What is the Thai name for the new year festival held in April, where people enjoy drenching each other with water? | Thailand
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Songkran. Saengthip is a brand of Thai whiskey. Mae Hong Son is a town in northern Thailand. Song san means to pity.
| To which town southwest of Bangkok does the King of Thailand often go for rest and recreation at his palace there? | Thailand
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Hua Hin. Hua Hin is a place on the Gulf of Thailand that is popular with Thai nationals for weekend breaks. It's located 180 km from Bangkok - only a three hour drive. Surat Thani is south of Hua Hin on the Gulf of Thailand and Krabi and Phuket are both on the other coast of the southern part of Thailand, at the Andaman Sea.
| What would I be if I "thaan khao thii raan aahaan"? | Thailand
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eating at a restaurant. "Thaan khao" literally means "to eat rice" but it is used for any form of food. A "raan ahaan" is a restaurant.
Buying a present at a market is "suu khong khwan thii dtalaat". Taking a taxi to the airport is "chaw roth taxsii pay sanaam bin" and buying a bus ticket is "suu tua roth may". Apologies to all Thai teachers for the transliteration capability of this website!
| What would I be doing if I "ab det" on the "hat"? | Thailand
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sunbathing on the beach. A "hat" is a beach and "ab det" means to sunbathe. The other three activities are much more in tune with the exotic Thai holiday...but I still find playing Funtrivia via wi-fi while "ab det" on the "hat" a pleasurable experience. Try it too!
| The Mekong river flows along one of Thailand's borders. Which country does it NOT border or flow through? | Thailand
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Malaysia. The golden triangle is perhaps more accurately reserved as a moniker for the area known for producing opium. It is, however, also used as the name for a tourist attraction at the side of the Mekong river (with a quasi tacky sign), where it is possible to see Thailand, Myanmar and Laos with the naked eye from the top of a hill. And capture all three with a decent camera. Malaysia borders Thailand but the Mekong exits land in Vietnam, even though Vietnam does not share a land border with Thailand.
| Thai is a tonal language. This means that one word can have multiple meanings, depending on the way it's pronounced. How many tones are there in the Thai language? | Thailand
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five. So for example the phrase "New silk does not burn, right?" can be created from the word that, to an English speaker, looks like "mai" and has to be pronounced with different tones. Of course to a Thai national it would be differentiated by spelling and tone markers but to a non Thai it can be confusing and amusing. Problems exist with pronunciation of vowels too, one of the most common being the confusion caused by "khwaay", which means "buffalo", and "khuay", which means "male member". Thai people are often amused/embarrassed by the foreigners' pronunciation of "Bridge over the River Kwai"...but that's another story.
| What is the name of the popular tourist attraction weekend market in Bangkok, near the northern bus terminal on Paholyothin Road? | Thailand
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Chatuchak. Chatuchak market has many sections selling anything from live animals to oil paintings and is only open on weekends. The oil paintings are worth a look as some of the artists are quite good. The floating market requires a hairy boat ride and I made up the other two answers!
| What is the English translation of "khruang bin"? | Thailand
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Aeroplane. "Khruang bin" literally means "engine fly". If you listened carefully to the Thai announcement on your flight into Thailand you would have heard "gaan bin" and then your airline. That could of course have given you a clue. A motorcycle is a "motorsi". A bus is a "rot may" and a car is a "rot yon".
Samui. It's in the north-eastern part of Koh Samui and famous for its dominating Buddha statue. It is slightly off the beaten track from the more popular Chaweng and Lamai beaches.
| Thailand has an Eastern and a Western coastline which face two very different seas. Which ones are they? | Thailand
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Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand. The Andaman Sea is on the west coast of Thailand and is part of the Indian Ocean.
The east coast is on the Gulf of Thailand which is part of the South China Sea. Although the isthmus is less than 100 km wide they are very different environments. The Gulf of Thailand is on average 30-40 meters deep with limited visibility underwater. The Andaman Sea has a true continental shelf and drops quickly to 400 meters plus. It is usually crystal clear blue water. To get from one to the other you have to go past Malaysia and around Singapore, 2000 km to the South.
| What is the climate of Thailand? | Thailand
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Tropical. Although it can get quite cool at night in the northern mountains for a few weeks during the year, the average temperature is very tropical, with Bangkok usually around 30-33 Celsius.
| What was the country called before it was renamed Thailand in 1939? | Thailand
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Siam. Thailand means land of the free. The decision to rename it was made after the change from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in the early 1930s. The new government wanted a new name for what they felt was a new country.
| The Thai royal house is held by the Chakri dynasty which started with Rama I in April 1782. King Bhumibol ascended the throne in 1946 making him which numbered king? | Thailand
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9. The Chakri dynasty rulers take on the title of Rama (as well as their own name), hence King Bhumibol is the IX Rama. For the 20th century he was the world's second longest reigning monarch.
| What is the political system in Thailand? | Thailand
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Constitutional monarchy. Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932 although there have been numerous army coups since then. Politics in Thailand can be quite chaotic but is never boring.
| What is the name of the river which bisects Bangkok? | Thailand
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Chao Phraya. Chao Phraya river means River of Kings in Thai. In the rainy season it often overflows, causing serious flooding in the central plains north of Bangkok. It is very popular with tourists for its many river dining cruises offered by all the large hotels situated on its banks.
The Mekong River forms the border between Thailand and Laos. It finally flows into the South China Sea in Vietnam.
The Irrawaddy River is in Burma.
The Yellow River runs through China.
In northern Thailand, close to Burma and Laos. In the 1960s the Golden Triangle was the largest producer of opium in the world. Thanks to a successful international crop substitution program and strict law enforcement the cultivation of poppies has been almost entirely eradicated and has mainly moved to other parts of Asia.
| What is the smallest Thai province? | Thailand
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Samut Songkram. Phuket is small but not that small. It is 543 sq km. Samut Songkram is only 416 sq km. It is only a one hour drive from Bangkok and is famous for its floating market and Don Hoi Lod, a beach on the gulf of Thailand with many excellent and cheap seafood restaurants. Very few foreigners actually visit but in the weekends it is packed with Thai visitors from Bangkok. You can also do longtail boat trips from Don Hoi Lod through mangrove swamps. During these trips you have a very good chance of seeing large monitor lizards, monkeys and wild boars.
Nhakon Ratchasima is the largest province and Koh Samui is not a province at all but falls under Surat Thani.
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