In the regional competition, Thailand is the most successful football team in Southeast Asia with seven ASEAN Championship trophies and nine senior-level gold medals from the Southeast Asian Games, the most of any Southeast Asian country. In higher levels, Thailand achieved the third place in the 1972 AFC Asian Cup where it was the host, and has a total of seven appearances in the AFC Asian Cup so far. Furthermore, the team reached the fourth-place in the 1990 and 1998Asian Games and participated in the Summer Olympics twice. However, Thailand has failed to obtain higher achievements in the continental and global records. The team obtained their first win in the AFC Asian Cup in 2007 and had to wait 47 years to finally sneak out of the group stage in 2019. Thailand also advanced to the final round of World Cup qualification twice, in 2002 and 2018, but failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. (Full article...)
Phutthayotfa Chulalok (born Thongduang; 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), also known by his regnal nameRama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (now Thailand) and the first King of Siam from the reigning Chakri dynasty. He ascended the throne in 1782, following the deposition of King Taksin of Thonburi. He was also celebrated as the founder of Rattanakosin (now Bangkok) as the new capital of the reunited kingdom.
Rama I, whose given name was Thongduang, was born from a Mon male line descent family, great-grandson of Kosa Pan. His father served in the royal court of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Thongduang and his younger brother Boonma served King Taksin in wars against the Burmese Konbaung dynasty and helped him in the reunification of Siam. During this time he emerged as Siam's most powerful military leader. Thongduang was the first Somdet Chao Phraya, the highest rank the nobility could attain, equaled to that of royalty. In 1782, he took control of Siam and crowned himself as the monarch. The most famous event in his reign was the Burmese–Siamese War (1785–1786), which was the last major Burmese assault on Siam. (Full article...)
Government policies during the late 1930s and early 1940s resulted in the successful forced assimilation of various ethno-linguistic groups into the country's dominant Central Thai language and culture, leading to the term Thai people to come to refer to the population of Thailand overall. This includes other subgroups of the Tai ethno-linguistic group, such as the Northern Thais and the Isan people, as well as non-Southeast Asian and non-Tai groups, the largest of which is that of the Han Chinese, who form a substantial minority ethnic group in Thailand. (Full article...)
The UDD in 2007 The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD; Thai: แนวร่วมประชาธิปไตยต่อต้านเผด็จการแห่งชาติ; นปช., alternatively translated as National Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship), whose supporters are commonly called Red Shirts, is a political pressure group opposed to the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the 2006 Thai coup d'état, and supporters of the coup. Notable UDD leaders include Jatuporn Prompan, Nattawut Saikua, Veera Musikapong, Jaran Ditapichai, and Weng Tojirakarn. The UDD allies itself with the Pheu Thai Party, which was deposed by the 2014 military coup. Before the July 2011 national elections, the UDD claimed that Abhisit Vejjajiva's government took power illegitimately, backed by the Thai Army and the judiciary. The UDD called for the Thai Parliament to be dissolved so that a general election could be held. UDD accused the country's extra-democratic elite—the military, judiciary, certain members of the privy council, and other unelected officials—of undermining democracy by interfering in politics. The UDD is composed of mostly rural citizens from northeast (Isan) and north Thailand, of urban lower classes from Bangkok, and of intellectuals. Although the movement seems to receive support from former prime minister-in-exile Thaksin Shinawatra, not all UDD members support the deposed prime minister. (Full article...)
Lalisa Manobal (Thai: ลลิษา มโนบาล; born Pranpriya Manobal, March 27, 1997), known mononymously as Lisa (Thai: ลิซ่า; Korean: 리사), is a Thai rapper, singer, dancer, and actress. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, which debuted under YG Entertainment in August 2016. She made her acting debut in 2025 in the HBO television series The White Lotus.
In September 2021, Lisa released her debut single album Lalisa, which made her the first female artist to sell 736,000 copies of an album in its first week in South Korea. The music video for its lead single is the most-viewed music video in the first 24 hours on YouTube by a solo artist, while the album's viral second single "Money" became the first song by a K-pop solo artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify; both songs charted in the top ten of the Billboard Global 200. In 2024, Lisa established her own management company named Lloud, signed with RCA Records, and achieved her first number-one single on the Billboard Global Excl. US with "Rockstar", the lead single of her debut studio album Alter Ego (2025). (Full article...)
The party was founded on 14 March 2018 by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the former vice president of Thai Summit Group, and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a legal scholar. The party was founded on a progressive platform that sought to restrain the military's power in Thai politics, decentralize the bureaucracy, and improve social and economic equality. The party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court on 21 February 2020. (Full article...)
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In a rural hill tribe in Northern Thailand, a villager smiles with stained teeth from her Betel Chew. Betel quid chewing has always been an important part of Thai culture and tradition. In the past, betel chewing was a popular daily activity among Thais all over the country. Betel comes from the plant known as Areca catechu, which grows wild all over Thailand and is known as หมาก (maak). (Full article...)
Operating from its primary hub at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, THAI currently serves 51 international and 10 domestic destinations using a fleet of 77 aircraft consisting of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus with 90 aircraft on order as of April 2025, with plans to increase its fleet to 143 aircraft by 2029. Currently THAI's route network is dominated by flights to cities in Europe, Asia and Oceania flying to 30 countries as of March 2025 including 9 domestic routes. (Full article...)
Image 11Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, the royal reception hall built in European architectural style. Construction was started by Rama V, but was completed in 1915. (from History of Thailand)
Image 17Wat Arun, the most prominent temple of the Thonburi period, derives its name from the Hindu god Aruṇa. Its main prang was constructed later in the Rattanakosin period. (from History of Thailand)
Image 42Display of respect of the younger towards the elder is a cornerstone value in Thailand. A family during the Buddhist ceremony for young men who are to be ordained as monks. (from Culture of Thailand)
Image 68Map showing linguistic family tree overlaid on a geographic distribution map of Tai-Kadai family. This map only shows general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes, not specific routes, which would have snaked along the rivers and over the lower passes. (from History of Thailand)
The Grand Palace (Thai: พระบรมมหาราชวัง, RTGS: Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang lit.'The Supreme Grand Palace') is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) since 1782. The king, his court, and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), resided at the Chitralada Royal Villa and his successor King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) resides at the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, both in the Dusit Palace, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year. The palace is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Thailand, with over eight million people visiting each year.
... that So Sethaputra compiled his authoritative English–Thai dictionary while in prison, with the manuscripts smuggled out for publication?
... that the first batch of Action Computer Enterprise's Discovery 1600, one of the first multi-user microcomputers, was delivered to a tobacco-growing business in Thailand?