Background
Thailand - a unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict.
Thailand then went through a series of coups d'état, but eventually progressed towards democracy in the 1980s.
Thailand is currently facing separatist violence in its southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces.
In 1997, Thailand was hit with the Asian financial crisis and the Thai baht for a short time peaked at 56 baht to the U.S. dollar compared to about 25 baht to the dollar before 1997. Since then the baht has regained most of its strength and as of May 23, 2007, is valued at 33 baht to the U.S. dollar.
The official calendar in Thailand is based on Eastern version of the Buddhist Era, which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian (western) calendar. For example, the year AD 2007 is called 2550 BE in Thailand.
A military coup in September 2006 ousted then Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat. The interim government held elections in December 2007 that saw the pro-THAKSIN People's Power Party (PPP) emerge at the head of a coalition government. The anti-THAKSIN People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in May 2008 began street demonstrations against the new government, eventually occupying the prime minister's office in August.
Clashes in October 2008 between PAD protesters blocking parliament and police resulted in the death of at least two people. The PAD occupied Bangkok's international airports briefly, ending their protests in early December 2008 following a court ruling that dissolved the ruling PPP and two other coalition parties for election violations.
The Democrat Party then formed a new coalition government with the support of some of THAKSIN's former political allies, and ABHISIT Wetchachiwa became prime minister.
Since January 2004, thousands have been killed as separatists in Thailand's southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces increased the violence associated with their cause.
Thai National Flag
Thailand's national flag, ceremoniously raised each morning in every town and village, is composed of five horizontal bands of red, white, and blue. The harmony of design expresses the complimentary nature of these three pillars of the Thai nation.
This tri-colored flag, called in Thai the "trirong", first introduced by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) in 1917, succeeded an earlier design that placed a white elephant (emblem of the absolute monarch) on a red background.
National anthem:
The national anthem of Thailand was adopted on 10 December 1939. The melody was composed by Peter Feit and the words are by Luang Saranuprapan. Phleng Chat (Thai: เพลงชาติ), literally meaning "national anthem", is a general word for national anthem. Phleng Chat Thai (Thai: เพลงชาติไทย), Thailand's national anthem, is also used to refer to this specific song.
The anthem was composed a few days after the 1932 coup in the very similar tune to the national anthem of France, La Marseillaise, and was first broadcast in July 1932. The original lyrics were by Khun Wichitmatra.
In 1934, Thai Government launched the competitions for the official national anthem, both with music and lyrics. For the music, Jangwang Tua Patayakosol composed another tune in a more traditional style called "Phleng Maha Nimit" for making the decision to the government but they still selected Phra Jenduriyang's melody because it sounded more modern. After that, in the competition for the lyrics with Phra Jenduriyang's music, the original words by Khun Wichitmatra won the first prize and still used as an official lyrics with, however, a minor edit and an additional version which wrote by Chan Khamvilai and won the second prize.
In 1939, when the name of the country was changed from Siam to Thailand, a competition was launched to create new lyrics, with those by Luang Saranuprapan winning. Prime minister Phibunsongkhram ordered the anthem to be played every day at 8.00 and 18.00, and ordering the populace to stand up to show respect for the nation. That law is still in force today.
The music of the Thai national anthem was composed in 1932 by Professor Phra Jenduriyang and its lyrics were written in 1939 by Colonel Luang Saranuprabhandi.
"Thailand is the unity of Thai blood and body.
The whole country belongs to the Thai people, maintaining thus far for the Thai.
All Thais intend to unite together.
Thais love peace but do not fear to fight.
They will never let anyone threaten their independence.
They will sacrifice every drop of their blood to contribute to the nation, will serve their country with pride and prestige full of victory.
CHAI YO.