10 Unknown Details About Thailand
1. Rainmaker King
Some years back the rice farmers of Thailand experienced a serious drought period. The king, who since several years had been related to improving the rural population of Thailand invented an approach to make rain, where also, he filed a global patent. Airplanes are employed to shoot silver iodide chemicals into the clouds in specific ways, so they are stimulated to rain. This technique did proof successful.
2. Mysterious Fireballs
At a certain time of the year, a strange phenomenon occurs that hasn't been scientifically explained yet. Well, there was scientific theories, however, scientists in are baffled by this phenomenon and cannot explain it properly. It's from the north-eastern component of Thailand, and the locals there their very own own explanation for that mysterious fireballs that emerge from the Mekong river: they are saying these are generally fireballs from your legendary Naga serpent.
1 time a TV team aimed to uncover "the hoax" and declared that the phenomenon was simply Cambodian soldiers shooting in to the air. However, they quickly got proven wrong. You will find records with this phenomenon occurring for many years, and It's form of Thailand's version of the "Loch Ness"
3. Thai Bonsai
Most people are aware together with the Japanese bonsai trees. But Thailand also provides it's own tradition of miniature trees, which can be called mai dat. Historic evidence shows that this tradition has been around already since the 13th century. Mai dat have their own style - there are significantly less tiny as being the Japanese bonsai, rather often bigger. Also, while with Japanese bonsai the goal is commonly to produce the tiny tree look at natural as possible, mai dat are meant to look particularly well-trimmed. This is the objective of the mai dat artist to make a tree that is made based on human shapes. thajsko is a country which used to be covered almost completely in forest and swampland - it had been a tropical wilderness. Only in recent decades hold the forests been cleared and turned into farms and cities. Thus, imitating nature is not what Thais consider beautiful.
4. Demigod-King
This can be a traditional Thai assume that the King is a human reincarnation in the Hindu god Vishnu. All kings with the present dynasty, since the 18th century, are already called "Rama" - the current King being Rama XI. Rama was the name of an halfgod coming from the Indian epic Ramayana, that has it's own Thai version, the Ramakien.
5. Can't Touch This (Monk)
It is forbidden for woman to touch a Buddhist monk. Some women feel offended by this or imagine that it is because woman are thought unworthy, but this may not be the case. It's simply about avoiding to stirr up feelings that wouldn't be ideal for monks, feelings like libido.
6. Bangkok Tram
There once was really a tram in Bangkok. Nowadays, Bangkok is acknowledged for chronic traffic-jammeritis, and essentially the only way to avoid being stuck in traffic may be the ultra-modern skytrain (BTS) or maybe the even newer subway (MRT). However, once upon a moment, there was a tram running through Bangkok. The Tram network in Bangkok was established in 1894 and got closed down in 1968. Actually, even since 1888 there is a man called Alfred John Loftus (Phraya Nithetcholthee) who operated a tramway line in Bangkok - drawn by horses! However, after a couple of changes of ownership, the horse-drawn wagons where substituted with electric wagons. New routes were opened and built, until in 1968 the previous tramway in Bangkok was stoped.
You could still see several of the railways in the region of Thanon Charoenkrung Soi 39.
7. Thai-Tomboys
While almost everyone knows about the ladyboys in Thailand (and quiet a couple of men can identify stories of surprise when they found that the "woman" they were hitting on all night long was actually not a woman whatsoever), not a lot of people know that we now have also lots of tomboys: woman or girls who dress, act and check like men. Whole books have been written on Thai gender roles, and even while some ladyboys and tomboys and gay feel they are not treated equally, they may be treated a lot more toler
Some years back the rice farmers of Thailand experienced a serious drought period. The king, who since several years had been related to improving the rural population of Thailand invented an approach to make rain, where also, he filed a global patent. Airplanes are employed to shoot silver iodide chemicals into the clouds in specific ways, so they are stimulated to rain. This technique did proof successful.
2. Mysterious Fireballs
At a certain time of the year, a strange phenomenon occurs that hasn't been scientifically explained yet. Well, there was scientific theories, however, scientists in are baffled by this phenomenon and cannot explain it properly. It's from the north-eastern component of Thailand, and the locals there their very own own explanation for that mysterious fireballs that emerge from the Mekong river: they are saying these are generally fireballs from your legendary Naga serpent.
1 time a TV team aimed to uncover "the hoax" and declared that the phenomenon was simply Cambodian soldiers shooting in to the air. However, they quickly got proven wrong. You will find records with this phenomenon occurring for many years, and It's form of Thailand's version of the "Loch Ness"
3. Thai Bonsai
Most people are aware together with the Japanese bonsai trees. But Thailand also provides it's own tradition of miniature trees, which can be called mai dat. Historic evidence shows that this tradition has been around already since the 13th century. Mai dat have their own style - there are significantly less tiny as being the Japanese bonsai, rather often bigger. Also, while with Japanese bonsai the goal is commonly to produce the tiny tree look at natural as possible, mai dat are meant to look particularly well-trimmed. This is the objective of the mai dat artist to make a tree that is made based on human shapes. thajsko is a country which used to be covered almost completely in forest and swampland - it had been a tropical wilderness. Only in recent decades hold the forests been cleared and turned into farms and cities. Thus, imitating nature is not what Thais consider beautiful.
4. Demigod-King
This can be a traditional Thai assume that the King is a human reincarnation in the Hindu god Vishnu. All kings with the present dynasty, since the 18th century, are already called "Rama" - the current King being Rama XI. Rama was the name of an halfgod coming from the Indian epic Ramayana, that has it's own Thai version, the Ramakien.
5. Can't Touch This (Monk)
It is forbidden for woman to touch a Buddhist monk. Some women feel offended by this or imagine that it is because woman are thought unworthy, but this may not be the case. It's simply about avoiding to stirr up feelings that wouldn't be ideal for monks, feelings like libido.
6. Bangkok Tram
There once was really a tram in Bangkok. Nowadays, Bangkok is acknowledged for chronic traffic-jammeritis, and essentially the only way to avoid being stuck in traffic may be the ultra-modern skytrain (BTS) or maybe the even newer subway (MRT). However, once upon a moment, there was a tram running through Bangkok. The Tram network in Bangkok was established in 1894 and got closed down in 1968. Actually, even since 1888 there is a man called Alfred John Loftus (Phraya Nithetcholthee) who operated a tramway line in Bangkok - drawn by horses! However, after a couple of changes of ownership, the horse-drawn wagons where substituted with electric wagons. New routes were opened and built, until in 1968 the previous tramway in Bangkok was stoped.
You could still see several of the railways in the region of Thanon Charoenkrung Soi 39.
7. Thai-Tomboys
While almost everyone knows about the ladyboys in Thailand (and quiet a couple of men can identify stories of surprise when they found that the "woman" they were hitting on all night long was actually not a woman whatsoever), not a lot of people know that we now have also lots of tomboys: woman or girls who dress, act and check like men. Whole books have been written on Thai gender roles, and even while some ladyboys and tomboys and gay feel they are not treated equally, they may be treated a lot more toler