The Thai education system: principles, organisation and school calendar
Twelve years of free basic education, nine years of compulsory schooling, fifteen years of free education if pre-school is included: the figures that…
Understand 11 min read
Latest articles
Europe in Bangkok: Neoclassical, Neo-Renaissance and Art Nouveau, from Rama IV to Rama VII
In little more than half a century, Bangkok acquired paved roads, tree-lined avenues, domed throne halls and palaces adorned with rococo or Art…
Understand 11 min read
Dusit, Rama V's ‘European-style’ royal quarter: how a palace garden shifted the centre of Bangkok
At the end of the 19th century, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) had rice fields and orchards purchased north of Bangkok, between two canals. Within some…
Understand 13 min read
Rattanakosin: Bangkok and the Chakri Kings Face Their Neighbours, 1782–1932
In 1782, a general moved the Siamese capital from one bank of the Chao Phraya to the other and founded a dynasty that still reigns today. The name…
Understand 13 min read
Elephants and mahouts in Thailand: a shared history, from warfare to tourist camps
A man seated on an elephant's neck, guiding it with his voice and his knee: the scene seems timeless. Yet it sums up at least seven centuries of…
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At the Wellspring of Visual Storytelling: The Art of Sukhothai and Its Legacy
The history of Thai art tends to begin at Sukhothai, in the 13th century, in what UNESCO presents as the first kingdom of Siam. Here we find brick…
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Talat Noi, the junk quarter: how a Sino-Thai village took shape on the banks of the Chao Phraya
Between Yaowarat and the Phadung Krung Kasem Canal, on the east bank of the Chao Phraya, Talat Noi covers less than half a square kilometre. Yet this…
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Thonburi and King Taksin: raising Siam again in fifteen years (1767–1782)
In April 1767, Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese army. The Siamese kingdom was left with neither capital nor dynasty, and several leaders vied for what…
Understand 13 min read
The Thai Sangha: the history and organisation of a monastic community
More than forty-four thousand registered temples, and several hundred thousand monks and novices depending on the period: the Thai Sangha is an…
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Mount Meru in the City: How Siam's Temples and Royal Pyres Reproduce the Hindu-Buddhist Universe
At the centre of the Buddhist universe rises a mountain, Meru, encircled by seven ranges, seven seas and four continents. In the 14th century the…
In depth 13 min read
Pahurat, Bangkok's ‘Little India’: a royal road, Punjabi merchants and a quarter still finding itself
A few steps from Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, a handful of streets in the old city sell saris, gold braid and lengths of fabric. Above them rises…
Understand 12 min read
Ayutthaya: Four Centuries of a Cosmopolitan Capital (1350–1767)
For more than four centuries, from its foundation in the mid-fourteenth century to its destruction by Burmese armies in 1767, Ayutthaya was far more…
Understand 12 min read