Portal:Thailand/Selected article
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[edit] April 2007
King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Thai: ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; IPA: [pʰu:mipʰon adunjadeːt]; Royal Institute: Phumiphon Adunyadet; listen ) (born December 5, 1927), officially styled "the Great" (Thai: มหาราช, Maharaja) and also known as Rama IX, is the current King of Thailand. His name, Bhumibol Adulyadej, means "Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power". Having reigned since June 9, 1946, Bhumibol is the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-serving monarch in Thai history.
Although Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch, he has several times made decisive interventions in Thai politics, including the 2005-2006 Thai political crisis. Bhumibol has been widely credited with facilitating Thailand's transition to democracy in the 1990s, although in earlier periods of his reign he supported military regimes. Most recently, he did not oppose the September 2006 coup which overthrew the elected government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Bhumibol uses his great wealth to fund numerous development projects, particularly in rural areas. He is immensely popular in Thailand, and is revered as a semi-divine figure by many Thais.
[edit] March 2007
The Constitution of Thailand is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Thailand. Since the founding of the modern state in 1932, Thailand has had 17 charters and constitutions, reflecting the high degree of political instability and frequency of military coups faced by the nation. After successful coups, military regimes often abrogated existing constitutions and promulgated new ones.
All of Thailand's charters and constitutions have allowed a constitutional monarchy, but with widely differing balances of power between the branches of government. Most of them have stipulated parliamentary systems, however, several of them also called for dictatorships, e.g., the 1957 Charter. Both unicameral and bicameral parliaments have been used, and members of parliament have been both elected and appointed. The direct powers of the monarch have also varied considerably.
Following an army-led coup on 19 September 2006, the 1997 Constitution was abrogated. The royally-endorsed junta promulgated an interim constitution on 1 October 2006. The Interim Constitution allowed the junta to appoint a Prime Minister, legislature, and drafting committee for a permanent constitution.
[edit] February 2007
Isan, (Isan/Thai: อีสาน) is the northeast region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, and by Cambodia to the south. To the west it is separated from Northern and Central Thailand by the Phetchabun mountain range.
Agriculture is the main economic activity, but due to the socio-economic conditions and hot, dry climate output lags behind that of other parts of the country. This is Thailand's poorest region. The main language of the region is Isan (which is similar to Lao), but Thai is also spoken by almost everyone. Khmer (the language of Cambodia) is widely spoken in regions near the Cambodian border.
Prominent aspects of the Culture of Isan include mor lam (Thai: หมอลำ) folk music, Muay Thai boxing, cock fighting and Isan food, in which sticky rice (Thai: ข้าวเหนียว) and chillies are prominent.
[edit] January 2007
The 2006 Thailand coup d'état took place on Tuesday 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a coup against the government of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup, which was Thailand's first in fifteen years, followed a year-long political crisis involving Thaksin and political opponents and occurred less than a month before nation-wide House elections were originally scheduled to be held. The coup was bloodless, with no casualties reported. International reactions ranged from criticism by countries such as Australia to expressions of neutrality from countries such as China.
The new rulers lead by general Sonthi Boonyaratglin and organised in a Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), issued a statement of commitment to restore democratic government within one year. However, the CDR also announced that after elections and the establishment of a democratic government, the council would be transformed into a permanent "Council of National Security" whose future role in Thai politics has not yet been explained. The junta later drafted an interim charter and appointed retired General Surayud Chulanont as Premier.
[edit] December 2006
The cinema of Thailand has a history that stretches back to early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Berne, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by the Thai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry was started and in the 1930s, the Thai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films. The years after the Second World War saw a resurgence of the industry, which used 16 mm film to produce hundreds of films, many of them hard-driving action films. Competition from Hollywood brought the Thai industry to a low point in the 1980s and '90s, but by the end of the '90s, Thailand had its "new wave", with such directors as Nonzee Nimibutr, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and Apichatpong Weerasethakul as well as action hero Tony Jaa being celebrated at film festivals around the world. For every genre that Hollywood or other film industries offer, there is an example from Thailand that favourably compares.
[edit] May 2006
Surat Thani is the largest of the provinces of southern Thailand. It stretches from the low plain of the Tapi River to the hills of the Phuket and Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range. The province in its present form was formed in 1895 by merging the Mueang of Chaiya, Kanchanadit and Khiri Rat Nikhom.
