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…
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Articles
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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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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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…
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Thailand's mangroves: a forest between land and sea, from collapse to recovery
Neither wholly terrestrial nor wholly marine, the mangrove fringes the estuaries and muddy shores of Thailand, from the upper reaches of the Gulf to…
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'Thainess': the history of a national identity constructed, imposed and contested
In official speeches, at school and in public debate, *khwam pen thai*, 'Thainess', literally 'the fact of being Thai', is taken as self-evident. Yet…
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From Rain-Fed Rice to the World Market: How Rice Cultivation Shaped Thai Society
The flooded paddies that now make up the image of the Thai countryside are not a timeless backdrop. Archaeology shows that the first rice cultivated…
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Sak yant: the history of a sacred Thai tattoo, between protective magic and ancestral art
On backs and shoulders, grids of ancient characters, tigers and deities appear. Outside Thailand, sak yant often passes for an exotic fashion. It is…
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Sukhothai, ‘the dawn of happiness’: kings, rivals and the birth of a Tai kingdom
In the 13th century, Tai chiefs broke away from Khmer authority and established at Sukhothai a power that rose to prominence, then, in little more…
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Wai, kreng jai and the smile: understanding Thailand's non-verbal codes
A greeting with palms pressed together, a hesitation to ask, a smile that does not always express joy: in Thailand, much communication happens…
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The Mekong between Thailand and Laos: a border drawn on a shared river
For hundreds of kilometres, the Mekong separates Thailand from Laos. Yet this line of water is no immemorial natural barrier. It was born of a…
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From the Ramayana to the Ramakien: how the Indian epic became Siamese
On the walls of Wat Phra Kaew, as on the stages of the *khon*, Phra Ram has been doing battle with Thotsakan for more than two centuries. Their story…
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Thailand's Festivals and Celebrations: The Year's Calendar, Month by Month
In Thailand, the year is not divided into months alone. It also follows the moon, the rice harvest, the rainy season and the rhythm of the…
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Yaowarat, from Sampheng market to the ‘dragon road’: how Bangkok’s Chinatown took shape
Some one and a half kilometres long, Yaowarat Road has become the emblem of Bangkok’s Chinatown, with its shop signs, its gold shops and its…
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Tha Rae, on the shore of Lake Nong Han: how Catholicism took root in Isan
On the edge of Lake Nong Han, some twenty kilometres from Sakon Nakhon, a boat-shaped cathedral towers over streets laid out with ruler-straight…
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Behind the Masks of Phi Ta Khon: What Dan Sai Really Celebrates
Every year, at the end of June or the beginning of July, Dan Sai, a small town in Loei province in north-eastern Thailand, fills with round-eyed…
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Patpong, between spy legends, the Vietnam War and nightlife: what do we really know?
In 1946, a family of Hainanese origin bought an outlying plot of land between Silom and Surawong. Within a few decades, Patpong had become Bangkok's…
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