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Thai for cinnamon. Pointed square pillar made from stone, usually a memorial.
The ocean on which the Hindu god Vishnu reclines on the back of the snake Ananta during his cosmic sleep in between two cosmic time spans. To obtain the amrita, the nectar of immortality, the gods and demons churned the Ocean of Milk using Ananta as a stirring rope. During this process many things surfaced, including the elephant Airavata, the horse Uchchaisaravas, and eventually the elixir of life.
Civilization that originated around 100 AD in the province of An Giang in the Vietnamese Mekhong delta region and consisted of a mixture of Indian and local culture. Some of the objects unearthed show evidence of the existence of an ancient trading port and a cultural centre that produced artifacts ranging from precious metals and multi-coloured gemstones to pottery, kettles and monuments. The name Oc Eo was given by the French archeologist Louis Malleret who discovered the city. It was an important seaport city of the Funan kingdom and is believed to have existed from the 1st until the 7th century AD. The city was connected with the more northerly situated city of Angkor Borei, which was probably the capital city of Funan, by means of a canal. Its location at the Mekhong river, as well as its intermediate position as a stopover port on the maritime trade routes between the East and West, made Oc Eo an important and prosperous city. In the course of the 6th and 7th centuries however, merchant vessels were increasingly able to cover longer distances, making it no longer essential to follow the coastline or to stop in each and every port. Because the area had little commodities of its own to offer the importance of Oc Eo gradually declined. With the rise of the Chenla kingdom trade was largely moved to the upper Mekhong river, what eventually led to the downfall of Oc Eo. A festival in Bali celebrating the anniversary of a temple. 1. An arch with a double curved line including concave and convex elements, as in a chaitya. 2. A term in architecture for an ogive vault which ribs cross diagonally. ohm (ओम) Sanskrit. The most sacred mantra of the Hindus, also written aum.
Thai. A kind of pottery from Ratchaburi, namely bulbous earthen water vessels called ohng, decorated with dragon motifs in bas-relief.
See phaang pha theed. Commonly seen palm tree of the genus elaeis guineensis and mainly cultivated in southern Thailand and on the Malay peninsula. Its racemes which consist of large clusters of crimson seeds are picked and squashed to obtain palm oil used in cooking. In Thai called ton palm nahm man.
Thai. 'Put in your mouth and smile'. Name for a handmade lolly, a kind of candy popular with children. It is moulded from fructose and put on a stick. Usually made in the shape of colourful glazed animals or flowers.
See OTOP. Thai. Term and classifier used to indicate the 'number' of sacred things and objects or supernatural beings, as in 'chedi saam (3) ong', three pagodas, and 'phra song (2) ong', two monks. The term used for people is 'kon', and that for beings of a lower rank than humans is 'ton'. A monkey soldier in the army of Rama, in the Ramakien. He is the son of Bali and Montho who was cut from his mothers womb and placed in a goat's womb before she returned back to Totsakan. Drug made from the sap of the papaver somniferum and the raw material for making analgesic and narcotic drugs, such as morphine and heroin. Opium itself is smoked whilst lying down due to its strong effect. It is harvested from December to January and is grown on poor soil at high altitudes, making it an ideal and profitable cash crop for many of the hill tribes. In Thailand it is nowadays mainly cultivated and used by the northern hill tribes in the area of the Golden Triangle, who brought it with them from China in the late 19th century. Between 1839 and 1860 the British had fought the Opium Wars with China over the rights to import the drug from India, what resulted in legalization and free trade of the drug there. Although also a major commodity in Thailand at first it was outlawed in 1959 under pressure of the USA. Nonetheless, it flourished during the Vietnam War and even today the government has only been able to cut production by about 80 percent. Some of the illicit drugs trade is still in the hands of powerful drug lords, often with their own armies and operation from across the Burmese border, leaving police forces with a difficult task to completely abolish it. The government through some royal projects has been encouraging replacement crops, such as cabbages, tea, corn, etc. However, these often demand the use of more land area for a similar profit, resulting in the deforestation of many slopes, what in turn may trigger dangerous landslides. The word opium is derived from the Greek word 'opion' (poppy juice). In Thai opium is called fin. See also Khun Sa and Wat Tham Khao Krabok.
Pipe used to smoke opium.
A pair or scales or balance used to weigh opium, in combination with specially designed peng (fig.), opium weights.
Dish or phaan with instruments used to prepare opium.
Wars between China and England between 1839-42 and 1856-60 over the rights to import opium from India. By the 1830's, the English had become major players in the global opium trade. Growing opium in India, the East India Company shipped tons of it into Canton which it traded for Chinese manufactured goods and for tea. In the early part of the 19th century this trafficing had produced a China filled with drug addicts, causing the imperial government to declare opium illegal, in 1836. Lin Tse-hsü, the Imperial Commissioner at Canton, thus began to aggressively crack down on the trade by enforcing the new opium laws by closing down smoking dens and rooting out corrupt Cantonese officials who the British generously bribed in order to keep the opium traffic flowing. Deeply concerned about the opium menace Lin Tse-hsü set out to cut off the opium trade at its source and wrote a letter to Queen Victoria with the request that the British cease their export of opium to other countries, suggesting that trade should only be in beneficial goods. The English however, who, because of its harmful effects had made opium consumption and trade illegal in England, refused to back down from their overseas trade in opium. In response, Lin Tse-hsü threatened to cut off all trade with England and expel all English from Chinese soil. When Chinese junks attempted to turn back English merchant vessels in November 1839, the English responded by sending warships. Thus war broke out in June of 1840. Due to the technological superiority of the British the Chinese suffered a humiliating defeat and were forced into signing an ignomious peace agreement under the Treaty of Nanking. The treaty stipulated that no restrictions were placed on Englsih trade, and, as a consequence, the opium trade more than doubled in the following decades. But, even with the Treaty of Nanking in place, trade remained rather restricted, thus angering the English who felt this was clear treaty violation. The Chinese, for their part, were incensed at the wholescale export of Chinese nationals, sent overseas to work at what was no better than slave labour. In 1856 these differences escalated into a series of skirmishes that ended in 1860 with a second set of treaties that further humiliated and weakened the imperial government. The most disgracing of clauses in these new treaties was perhaps the complete legalization of opium throughout China. Also called the Anglo-Chinese War. Weights in the form of figurines used for weighing opium, usually representing fowls or bantams, but also elephants and other animals or objects. They come as a series of weights, the bigger the heavier. In Thai called peng.
Collective name for a tropical parasitic plant living on trees in the rainforest and sometimes on rocks or marshy soil. The main genera are: asocentrum, with 5 species; brassavola with around 20 species; brassia with about 25 species; cattleya, a genus with between 40 and 60 species (depending on which botanical classification is followed); culogyne with more than 100 species; dendrobium, one of the largest genera with around 1,200 species; dendrochilum with circa 150 species; disa, a kind that occurs on soil, with around 125 species; laelia with about 50 species and related to the cattleya to which it resembles; laeliocattleya, a crossed form of the laelio and the cattleya, with around 2,000 registered names; miltoniopsis, a manipulated kind with only 5 species; odontoglossum, with approximately 200 species; oncidium, with more than 450 species; paphiopedilum, with about 60 species; phalaenopsis, with almost 50 species; and renanthera, with nearly 15 species, mainly climbers. Most orchids have bare stalks, often with two rows of closely overlapping thick leaves (fig.). There are orchid nurseries nationwide and Khon Kaen has a park with wild orchids (fig.). The flowers of one particular species, the scorpion orchid (fig.), resemble scorpions. In Thai gluay mai.
Popular name for the opulent tourist train which runs between Singapore and Bangkok, via Penang and Butterworth in Malaysia. The distance is about 2,000 kilometers and the train takes around 36 hours to reach its destination. The renowned dining offers a five star menu, prepared by internationally distinguished chefs. Officially it is called Eastern & Oriental Express.
Japanese. The art of folding paper into decorative shapes such as flowers, mammals, birds, etc. Early December 2004 the Thai government called upon all Thai citizens to fold paper crane birds as a token of solidarity to the people living in the deep South of Thailand who were suffering violent attacks by Muslim separatist groups. A total of around 60 million birds were dropped from airplanes above the southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. The local people there collected the paper birds falling from the sky which they could turn in to receive rewards, e.g. ten birds could be exchanged for a package of dried noodles, more birds could be exchanged for prices such as bicycles, etc. Many birds had written messages of solidarity on them. Also prime minister Taksin Shinnawat autographed a paper bird promising a scholarship to its finder. Other people folded paper birds made from banknotes.
Thai-English abbreviation for 'One Tambon One Product'. A government supported initiative to promote local produce from all over the country, as well as a support to conserve the local heritage. In advertisement usually written with the Thai number 1 (๑), that is '๑T๑P' (Neung Tambon Neung Phlitaphan, or: one district one product).
Thai. 'Go out of the rainy season'. End of the Buddhist Lent, on the 15th full moon of the 11th lunar month, usually mid-October. That evening on the Mekhong River in Nong Kai a strange 'natural' phenomenon takes place, called the fireball phenomenon or bangfai phayanaag. See also khao pansa. Burmese name for a klong aew, the largest kind of drum in Thailand with origins in Burma. |
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