THAILAND AWARE
- Thailand (formerly Siam) means ‘Land of the Free’ because it successfully retained its freedom when surrounding countries were colonized by Western powers (although it was forced first by the British to open its markets to free trade in 1855).
- It is believed that a special guardian angel protected the land, and a golden image of this spirit being was made. It has been worshipped ever since.
- The land is in bondage to a complex web of culture, spirit appeasement, occult practices and Buddhism, with a social cohesiveness out of which few have dared to come. For many Thai their nationality and religion are inextricably linked.
- Religion : Buddhist 92%, Muslim 5%, Christian 0.7%
Thailand is one of the oldest, but most resistant, mission fields in Asia. Buddhism has dominated Thailand since 11th century and Thais have resisted the Gospel message from the time it was first introduced in 1828.
- Buddhism
Buddhism is the state or majority religion of 12 countries: Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam. Today at least 350 million people are born Buddhists (equivalent in size to the entire population of the United States or half of all Europeans alive today!)
- There are over 30,000 Buddhist temples and around 250,000 monks in Thailand. Nearly all Buddhist men enter a monastery for a few days or months.
- Royalty
During the reigns of King Rama VI (1910-25) and his brother, King Rama VII (1925-35), Thailand saw a flood of changes and the erosion of traditional Thai ways. Rama VII had no direct heirs so the kingship fell to his young nephew, Ananda Mahidol, who became King Rama VIII while still a teenager at school in Switzerland. During his only one brief visit to Siam as preparations were being made for his return to Switzerland to finish his studies, he was found dead from a gunshot wound in his palace bedroom under circumstances that have never been fully explained. In 1946, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Bhumiphon Adulyadej, the present king (Rama IX). He is the world's longest-serving head of state.
- Population 64 million
- Capital: Bangkok 12 million, Chiang Mai 1 million
- Peoples: 108 groups - Thai 80%, Chinese 10.5%, Others (inc Malay, Mon-Khmer, Tibeto-Burman) 9.5%
- Origins: The Thai people migrated from SW China, where the Thai-speaking minority nationality (Dai or T'ai) exist today.
- Economy: The Chinese control 85% of the Thai economy
