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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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