Archive-name: thai/Index
Soc-culture-thai-archive-name: Index
Version: $Id: sctfaq-Index,v 1.5 1994/05/25 16:14:45 trin Exp trin $

This is an index to the "soc.culture.thai Frequently Asked Questions"
periodic postings.

The current release of these FAQs can be fetched by anonymous FTP from
rtfm.mit.edu (or its mirror sites) under directories:
   /pub/usenet/news.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.culture.thai
or accessed via World-wide Web at URL:
  http://www.nectec.or.th/soc.culture.thai/master.html

INDEX OF SOC.CULTURE.THAI FAQs


GENERAL FAQ
General and legal information

 * General Information
  G.1)  What is soc.culture.thai?
  G.2)  Readership statistics (revised)
  G.3)  Where do I find old articles of soc.culture.thai?
  G.4)  Where can I get the latest news from Thailand?
  G.5)  Thai shortwave radio programs
  G.6)  Units of measurement
  G.7)  Holidays
  G.8)  Resource list (revised)
 * Legal
  X.1)  Occupations prohibited to aliens


CULTURE FAQ
History and Culture

 * History and Culture
  C.1)  An introduction to Thai history and culture
  C.2)  Bangkok's full name 
  C.3)  Buddhism and Thai culture
  C.4)  Thai buddhism information (new)
  C.5)  Traditional Thai calandar system
  C.6)  Use of "Khun"


LANGUAGE FAQ
Language and linguistics information

 * Language
  L.1)  The de facto Thai transcription scheme for soc.culture.thai
  L.2)  Learning Thai abroad
  L.3)  Learning Thai in Thailand
  L.4)  Poetry
  L.5)  The word "farang"


TRAVEL FAQ
Tourism and Travel information

 * Travel information
  T.1)  Royal Thai Embassies
  T.2)  Visa information
  T.3)  Where to get tourist and travel information?
  T.4)  Which credit cards are accepted in Thailand?
  T.5)  Car rental
  T.6)  General observations and recommendations
  T.7)  North
  T.8)  Northeast/Isan
  T.9)  East/Southeast
  T.10) Alternative accommodation: Bangkok International Airport


TECHNICAL FAQ
Networking and Software

 * Networking
  N.1)  Network map
  N.2)  Domestic host count
  N.3)  NSFnet network statistics
  N.4)  Network resources (revised)
  N.5)  Commercial network access
 * Thai software
  S.1)  Microsoft Windows 3.1 Thai Edition
 * Business
  B.1)  Domestic computer market


NUMERICAL FAQ
Numerical data for Thailand

 * Demography
  F.1)  Census
 * Economic indicators
  F.2)  Thailand's key economic indicators
  F.3)  State of the economy
  F.4)  Direction of Trade 1992 (million baht)
  F.5)  Four months' top exports
  F.6)  Banks awarded Bangkok International Banking Facilities licenses
  F.7)  Budget allocation
  F.8)  Budget structure
  F.9)  Current megaprojects
 * Economic forecasts
  F.10) Economic forecasts
  F.11) Education levels
  F.12) Education of the workforce
  F.13) Growth rate of value added of services at constant 1972 prices
  F.14) Growth rate of value added of GDP at constant 1972 prices
  F.15) Growth rate of agricultural added value at constant 1972 prices
  F.16) Growth rate of industrial value added at constant 1972 prices
  F.17) Regional GDP (GRP) growth
  F.18) Population growth rate by gender
  F.19) Electricity generating capacity for each consumer group
  F.20) Tourism targets
  F.21) Tourist forecast

 * General Information
  G.1)  What is soc.culture.thai?
  G.2)  Readership statistics (revised)
  G.3)  Where do I find old articles of soc.culture.thai?
  G.4)  Where can I get the latest news from Thailand?
  G.5)  Thai shortwave radio programs
  G.6)  Units of measurement
  G.7)  Holidays
  G.8)  Resource list (revised)
 * Legal
  X.1)  Occupations prohibited to aliens

----------------------------------------------------------------------

GENERAL INFORMATION

This part outlines information pertaining to the soc.culture.thai
newsgroup.

------------------------------

G.1)  What is soc.culture.thai?

The soc.culture.thai newsgroup was inaugurated on April 28, 1991 on
the idea of Ayut Nissapa (ayut@ratree.psu.ac.th) proposed in the
soc.culture.asean newsgroup. It was intended to be a forum to discuss
information relevant to Thailand, Thai people and their culture.
Nittida Nuansri (noi@munnari.oz.au) was the coordinator for CFD and
CFV.

Soc.culture.thai charter appears in USENET control message to create
the newsgroup as:

> From tale@rpi.edu Sun Apr 28 17:50:24 1991
> Control: newgroup soc.culture.thai
> Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai.ctl
> Path: rpi!tale
> From: tale@rpi.edu (David C Lawrence)
> Subject: newgroup soc.culture.thai
> Message-ID: <jgygknh@rpi.edu>
> Sender: tale@cs.rpi.edu
> Nntp-Posting-Host: cs.rpi.edu
> Date: 28 Apr 91 21:50:11 GMT
> Approved: tale@rpi.edu
> Lines: 17
>
> soc.culture.thai is an unmoderated newsgroup which passed its vote for
> creation by 300:27 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on 24 April 1991.
>
> For your newsgroups file:
> soc.culture.thai        Thai people and their culture.
>
> The charter, culled from the call for votes:
>
> Purposes:       - for Thais & any others who are interested in Thai culture
>                   and other aspects such as :
>                          - travel information
>                          - news from Thailand
>                          - political circumstances
>                          - Thai food & recipes
>                                 etc.
>
> Language of discussion is English.

------------------------------

G.2)  Readership statistics

According to the USENET readership poll results of April 1994,
soc.culture.thai has an estimated readers of 80,000 worldwide; 66% of
all USENET sites carry this newsgroup; and total monthly traffic is
5044.2 kB.

Also in another readership poll conducted for two weeks by Joy Asawalap
in February 1994, readership distribution is tabulated as following:

                                                   Cumulative  Cumulative
                     GENDER   Frequency   Percent   Frequency    Percent
                     ----------------------------------------------------
                     F              22      19.0          22       19.0
                     M              94      81.0         116      100.0

                                                    Cumulative  Cumulative
                    NATION     Frequency   Percent   Frequency    Percent
                    ------------------------------------------------------
                    Australi          4       3.4           4        3.4
                    Finnish           1       0.9           5        4.3
                    German            5       4.3          10        8.6
                    Netherla          1       0.9          11        9.5
                    Non-Thai          1       0.9          12       10.3
                    Norway            1       0.9          13       11.2
                    Sri Lank          1       0.9          14       12.1
                    Swedish           2       1.7          16       13.8
                    Swiss             1       0.9          17       14.7
                    Thai             75      64.7          92       79.3
                    Thai-US           6       5.2          98       84.5
                    UK                4       3.4         102       87.9
                    UK-Aus            1       0.9         103       88.8
                    US               13      11.2         116      100.0

          Cumulative   Cumulative
                     DOMAIN   Frequency   Percent   Frequency    Percent
                     ----------------------------------------------------
                     AU              6       5.2           6        5.2
                     BE              1       0.9           7        6.0
                     CA              3       2.6          10        8.6
                     CH              1       0.9          11        9.5
                     COM            12      10.3          23       19.8
                     DE              4       3.4          27       23.3
                     EDU            61      52.6          88       75.9
                     FI              1       0.9          89       76.7
                     GOV             1       0.9          90       77.6
                     MIL             1       0.9          91       78.4
                     NL              1       0.9          92       79.3
                     NZ              3       2.6          95       81.9
                     ORG             2       1.7          97       83.6
                     SE              3       2.6         100       86.2
                     TH              9       7.8         109       94.0
                     UK              6       5.2         115       99.1
                     US              1       0.9         116      100.0

------------------------------

G.3)  Where do I find old articles of soc.culture.thai?

There is an effort at the National Electronics and Computer Technology
Center (NECTEC) in Bangkok to build an archive for soc.culture.thai. The
archive is located at URL:
  ftp://ftp.nectec.or.th/soc.culture.thai/archives/
Send old articles by e-mail to news@nwg.nectec.or.th for inclusion.
Duplicates will be automatically sorted out.

An experimental archive is available as two WAIS databases on the host
nexus.nectec.or.th. The databases have *not* been registered with WAIS
respository, hence server name, nexus.nectec.or.th, has to be specified
explicitly when searching. The databases are called:
      soc.culture.thai-1991
      soc.culture.thai-1992
      soc.culture.thai-1993
  and soc.culture.thai-1994

For instance:
  $ waissearch -h nexus.nectec.or.th -d soc.culture.thai-1992 recipe
is to search the 1992 collection for the first 40 articles (waissearch
default limit) containing the word 'recipe', or:
  $ waissearch -h nexus.nectec.or.th -d soc.culture.thai-1993 -m 400 internet
is to search the 1993 archive for the first 400 articles containing the word
'internet'.

For more information about WAIS, consult the newsgroup comp.infosystems.wais.

A large part of the collection came from Linitda Sooksomstarn,
linitda@tlaeng.enet.dec.com, of Digital Equipment Corporation (Thailand)
for all articles which arrived at their news server between late March 1992
thru mid October 1993.

------------------------------

G.4)  Where can I get the latest news from Thailand?

Some of the latest news in Thai language from Thai News Agency are available
for anonymous FTP from ftp.cs.washington.edu (a.k.a. june) in the directory
/pub/thaisys/thainews. To read these news, follow the instructions provided
in a README file in that directory.

A raw news archive is available on ftp.nectec.or.th:/pub/news. Use InfoZIP's
unzip5.0p1 (or later) with a command line switch -a to unpack on non-MSDOS
platforms or use PKWARE Inc's PKUNZIP 2.04g (or later) to unpack on MSDOS.
News on june.cs.washington.edu are the file all.asc in each zip file.

News from the Thai News Agency, Mass Communications Organization of
Thailand, is provided as a courtesy service from SysOp of the Datanet BBS
in Bangkok, Khun Samart Sririangkana (samart@nwg.nectec.or.th).

Besides, news in English is also occasionally posted to soc.culture.thai
by volunteer netters in Thailand.

Alternatively, news related to Thailand can be found in the newsgroups
clari.news.international.gov and bit.listserv.seasia-l (or the SEASIA-L
mailing list)

------------------------------

G.5)  Thai shortwave radio programs

1. BBC Thai language - Short wave Radio Broadcasting from London, UK.
   Time is in Bangkok timezone: 7 hours ahead of GMT, no daylight saving.

   6.30-7.00 (morning)
   6.08   7.16  11.865  MHz
    49     41    25     m

   19.30-20.00 (night)
   7.16  9.605 11.92  21.59 MHz
    41     31    25     13  m

   23.15-23.30 (midnight)
   6.065 7.105 9.605  MHz
    49    41    31    m

------------------------------

G.6)  Units of measurement

                    THAI UNITS OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
                           -----++++O++++-----
_____________________________________________________________________________
                                  |         Approximately equal to:
   MEASURE OF LENGTH:             |
                                  |       British      |      Metric
                                  |--------------------|---------------------
   1 kabiet                       |      3/16 inch     |    5 millimeters
   4 kabiet  =   1 nieu           |      3/4 inch      |    2 centimeters
   12 nieu   =   1 keub           |     10 inches      |   25 centimeters
   2 keub    =   1 sawk           |  1 ft. 7 1/2 ins.  |   50 centimeters
   4 sawk    =   1 wah            |  6 ft. 6 1/4 ins.  |    2 meters
   20 wah    =   1 sen            |      44 yards      |   40 meters
   400 sen   =   1 yote           |      10 miles      |   16 kilometers
__________________________________|____________________|_____________________
                                  |                    |
   MEASURE OF SURFACE:            |       British      |      Metric
                                  |--------------------|---------------------
   1  sq. wah                     |   4.78  sq.yards   |     4 sq. meters
   100 sq. wah = 1 ngan           |   478   sq. yards  |   400 sq. meters
   4 ngan      = 1 rai(1 sq.sen)  |   2/5 acre         |  1,600 sq. meters
__________________________________|____________________|_____________________
                                  |                    |
   MEASURE OF CAPACITY:           |      British       |       Metric
                                  |--------------------|---------------------
   1 standard tanan               |                    |     1 litre
20 standard tanan=1 standard sat  |                    |    20 litres
50 standard sat = 1 standard ban  |                    |  1,000 litres
2 standard ban=1 standard kwien   |                    |  2,000 litres
__________________________________|____________________|_____________________
                                  |                    |
    PADDY AND RICE MEASURE:       |      British       |       Metric
                                  |--------------------|---------------------
  1 coyan = 16 pikuls paddy       |   2,133 1/3 lbs.   |   968 kilograms
  1 coyan = 22 pikuls cargo rice  |     1.31 tons      |  1,330 kilograms
  1 kwien = 23 pikuls white rice  |     1.37 tons      |  1,391 kilograms
  The rice miller's kwien is:-    |                    |
  82 baskets of 40 lbs. each      |                    |
          = 24 pikuls             |     1.46 tons      |  1,488 kilograms
__________________________________|____________________|_____________________
                                  |                    |
            WEIGHT:               |      British       |        Metric
                                  |--------------------|---------------------
  1 baht (tical)                  |   1/2 oz.(AVDP)    |     15 grams
  4 baht = 1 tamlung              | 2 1/10 oz. (AVDP)  |     60 grams
  20 tamlung = 1 chang (kati)     | 2 5/8 lbs. (AVDP)  |     1.2 kilograms
  50 chang   = 1 hap (pikul)      | 133 1/3 lbs.(AVDP) |     60 kilograms
__________________________________|____________________|_____________________

------------------------------

G.7)  Holidays

From: somsak@nwg.nectec.or.th (Somsak Limavongphanee)
Date: 31 Dec 1993 18:26:58 +0700

Thailand Holidays  1994

January
=======
GB      1 Saturday              New Year's Day
B       3 Monday                Substitution Day

February
========
GB      25 Friday               Makha Bucha Day

April
=====
GB      6 Wednesday             Chakri Day
GB  12-14 Tuesday-Thursday      Song-Kran Festival

May
===
B       1 Sunday                National Labour Day
B       2 Monday                Substitution Day
GB      5 Thursday              Coronation Day
G      11 Wednesday             Royal Ploughing Ceremony
GB     24 Tuesday               Wisakha Bucha day

July
====
B       1 Friday                Midyear Day
G      22 Friday                Asarnha Bucha Day
GB     23 Saturday              Buddhist Lent Day
B      25 Monday                Substitution Day

August
=======
GB     12 Friday                H.M.The Queen's Birthday

October
=======
GB     23 Sunday                Chulalongkorn Day
B      24 Monday                Substitution Day


December
========
GB      5 Monday                H.M.The King's Birthday
GB     10 Saturday              Constitution Day
B      12 Monday                Substitution Day
GB     31 Saturday              New Year's Eve


=============================================================================

G=For Government Only
B=For Bank Only

------------------------------

G.8)  Resource (reading) list

A compilation of reading lists on various subjects pertaining to Thais,
Thai culture and Thailand is accessible from world-wide web at URL:
  http://www.nectec.or.th/resource-list.html

Original articles are available for anonymous FTP from ftp.nectec.or.th
in directory /soc.culture.thai/SCTinfo/resources.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Acknowledgements

The original soc.culture.thai FAQ was proposed, put together and initially
maintained by Thanachart Numnonda (thanon@ccu1.auckland.ac.nz).

This part of the soc.culture.thai FAQ cannot be completed without
information from the following contributors:
  Alan Dawson (alan.dawson@wov.com) for G.6;
  C Tantipaibulvut (C.tantipaibulvut@lut.ac.uk) for G.5;
  Ekkehard Uthke (euthke@siam.muc.de) for X.1;
  Joy Aswalap (joy@cc1.unt.edu) for G.2 and passing on G.6;
  Linitda Sooksomstarn (linitda@tlaeng.enet.dec.com) for soc.culture.thai
    archive in G.3;
  Somsak Limavongphanee (somsak@nwg.nectec.or.th) for G.7; and
  Trin Tantsetthi (trin@nwg.nectec.or.th) for G.1, G.2, G.3, G.4 and G.8.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive-name: thai/culture
Soc-culture-thai-archive-name: culture

The "soc.culture.thai Frequently Asked Questions" periodic postings are
divided into 6 parts plus an index. Requests for inclusion, correction
or update can be made by posting a public message or follow-up to this
FAQ.

The current release of these FAQs can be fetched by anonymous FTP from
rtfm.mit.edu (or its mirror sites) under directories:
   /pub/usenet/news.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.culture.thai
or accessed via World-wide Web at URL:
  http://www.nectec.or.th/soc.culture.thai/master.html

The working copy of this FAQ can be accessed by anonymous FTP from
ftp.nectec.or.th in directory /soc.culture.thai.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CULTURE FAQ
History and Culture

 * History and Culture
  C.1)  An introduction to Thai history and culture
  C.2)  Bangkok's full name
  C.3)  Buddhism and Thai culture
  C.4)  Thai buddhism information (new)
  C.5)  Traditional Thai calandar system
  C.6)  Use of "Khun"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

CULTURAL INFORMATION (HISTORY/CULTURE)

This part provides information on the social sciences fields including
history, culture, etc aspects.

------------------------------

C.1)  An introduction to Thai history and culture

                   Thai History/Culture at a Glance.
                   --------------------------------

No one really knows when and where the Thai civilization originated.
If the current popular theory, that the Thai people have been here
in their present location from the very beginning, is correct then the
Thai civilization is a very ancient one, as is attested by the various
recently unearthed artifacts. The bronze artifacts at Ban Chiang,
a small village in Northeastern Thailand for example, have been
dated to be as much as 1,000 years older than those of Mesopotamia.

Written record of the Thai people started in the 13th Century A.D.
when King Ramkamhaeng of Sukhothai Kingdom invented Thai alphabets
by an adaptation from Pali, the language used in Buddhist Scriptures.
Some scholars, however, contend that a similar script had already
been in use in the area long before the supposed invention.

Sukhothai's power gradually eroded and was superseded by the Southern
principality centering at Sri Ayudhaya. Under the Sri Ayudhaya
Kingdom, the Thai people had strengthen their identity both as a
unique group of people and as a nation through language, art, culture,
trades and warfares with neighboring countries.

In 1782, after Sri Ayudhaya was demolished for the second time by the
invading Burmese, the capital was relocated briefly at Thonburi and
then to Bangkok, where it has survived and prospered up to the present.

With the central capital established and the Kingdom's boundary secured
from warfare, art, architecture, and culture once again flourish.
Trades and contacts with the West also increased dramatically during this
period. Thailand's long acquaintance with the West together with her
shrewdness in diplomatic maneuvering and her strength had contributed
to her being the only country in South/Southeast Asia to have preserved
independence through the Colonial Era.

Despite her relative small size, Thailand is very diversified.
There are many ethnic groups within the country. But in general,
there are four major dialects (and hence subcultures) within Thailand:
the Central, the North, the Northeast and the South. Thai language
in particular is very rich, unique, subtle and poetic. It is no wonder
that poem has been an integral part of the Thai culture. Varieties
of Thai poems are as many and as tasty as Thai foods.

Buddhism has flourished in this area for a long time, as is evidenced
by the findings about the Suwannaphumi and the Srivijaya Kingdoms.
By the time of the Sukhothai Era, the Thai people had already accepted
Theravada Buddhism as their national religion, though sometimes mixed
with Hinduistic and animistic beliefs. In the deep South, however, Islam
has been the dominant religion. There are roughly 96% Buddhists and
4% Muslims in the Kingdom of Thailand. There has never been an incident
of religious or ethnic clash in Thailand, an indication of high
toleration among her diversified people.

There are about 10% ethnic Chinese in the Kingdom -- The result of years
of migration to escape poverty and famines from mainland China.
Inter-marriage, similarity in religious beliefs and high toleration
on both sides have all contributed to the peaceful co-existence
of the Chinese and the mainstream Thais, so much so that both sides
seem to completely forget about their differences. It is safe to
assume that the second and later generation Chinese think and act
like Thais and that they love Thailand and are proud to be Thais.
The traditional Thai ways of life have also been modified to some
extent by those of the Chinese, especially in the urban area.

Absolute Monarchy system was abolished by a bloodless coup d'etat
in 1932 and a Constitution Monarchy form of government was established.
Since then, Thailand  has been struggling with the Western ideal of
democracy and economy; many coup d'etats had alternated with
elected civilian governments. The past 60 years have seen the Thai
people tried to reshape their country to survive and to be respected
in the world community. Through all this, the ancient ways of life have
still largely been preserved as is attested by: the famous Thai smiles,
the serene Buddhist monks walking their alms rounds in early morning,
the water-throwing festival in April, the respect for the elderly,
the graceful Thai manner, Thai classical music and dances, etc.

Let's hope that Thailand will continue to be unique in her evolution
path so that she can faithfully do her parts in enhancing lives
on this planet earth.

------------------------------

C.2)  Full name of Bangkok

According to the Committee for Rattanakosin Bicentennial Celebration
to Commemorate the Rattanakosin Bicentennial who author the book,
Phra^ma^haa+ka'sad' nay-phra^bOO-rom-chak'krii-wong-
kab'pra'chaa-chon-, or THE CHAKRI MONARCHS AND THE THAI PEOPLE: A
SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, the English title as given by the authors
themselves, after King Rama I, took throne on April 6, 1782, his first
task was to find the new site for the capital city. He didn't not want
to continue using Thon-bu'rii- as the capital citing the fact that as
the wall of the city was on jaaw"phra^yaa- River which could be hard
to defend in time of war. Besides, Thon-bu'rii- was in the bottom of
the River's curve and the land on its bank eroded. The palace itself
was constrainted by two wats: wat^a'run- and wat^thaay^ta'laad'. He
believed the other side of the River was better as the city would be
situated on the top of the curve. The River itself could serve as a
natural kuu-muang- on the western side. On the eastern side, a
kuu-muang- (man-made water reservoir created to protect the enemy)
could be easily dug.

The site was at the time occupied by the Chinese who then were
relocated to the new site between Kloong-wat^saam+plUm" and
Kloong-wat^sam+pheng-. On Sunday of the sixth month, khUn"sip'kam"
(the 10th day of the rising moon period), at 15 minutes after
midnight, the City's pillar was erected. The date is translated to the
western calandar as April 21, 1782.

The new city was named by King Rama I as:

   "...Krung-theb^ma"haa+na"kOOn- bOO-wOOn-rat"ta'na"ko-sin+
   ma"hin+tha"raa-yut^tha^yaa- ma"haa+di'lok'pob^
   nob^rat^ta'na^raat"cha^thaa-nii-buu-rii-rom-
   u'dom-raat"cha^ni^weet^ma"haa+sa'thaan+ a'mOOn-maan-a'wa^taan-sa'thid'
   sak'ka'thad"ti'ya"wid^sa'nu^kam-pra'sit'..."

King Rama IV (Kung Mongkut) had the term bOO-wOON- changed to a'mOOn-
as the name now appears.

King Rama I ordered a canal to be dug connecting to the River at
Baang-lam-phuu- on the northern side and at wat^saam+plUm" on the
southern side. Then wall was built along the canal inner side for more
than 7 kilometers. Along this wall, there were 14 forts.

Within this wall, the Grand Palace was constructed. There were many
halls and a wat, wat^phra^sii+rad"ta'na^saad'sa'daa-raam- (wat
phra^kAAw"). The palace was cosmologically designed to be the center
of the new city. From the name one could see the term a'yut^tha^yaa-
which was from, as was that of krung-sii-a'yud^tha^yaa-, the former
capital, the legendary a'yoo-tha^yaa- where the Rama was born, as
appeared in the Ramayana (or Raam-ma"kian- ...its Thai version).

The canal is actually two klongs attached to each other in the inland
at pOOm^phra^kaan- (phra^kaan- Fort). The northern one is
klOOng-baang-lam-phuu- and the southern one is klOOng-ong'aang'.
(ibid, pp. 20-27)

Speaking about the cosmology of Thai kingship, Tambiah, a Harvard
anthropologist, writes a book in which the term "galactic polity" is
used to typify the nature of Thai kingship. The king was concieved as
the reincarnation of Naa-raay- or Phra^raam- whose duty was to get rid
of the evils. The god stays at the top of phra^su'mee-ru". No wonder,
the roof of the palace halls often are in mountain-liked shape (with
its pointy top). The throns where the king sits is typically
characterized by legendary domains, namely oceans (naa-kaa-...big
snake), forest (singha...big lion) and sky (krut".. or garuda as
called by Indonesian...the half-man-half-bird being). The su'mee-ru"
is surrounded by seven oceans, the Himmapan, and high up in the sky.
These mythical animals also appears in the royal river procession
(kra'buan-pa"yu^ha'yaad^traa-).

Thai kingship is regarded as tham-ma^raa-chaa- as compared to
thee-wa^raa- chaa- of Khmer. However, architects of the kingship have
not been reluctant to add elements that draw the institution closer to
the thee-wa^raa-chaa-. For those who are not familiar with these
terms, please note that the former one is referred to the system that
the king is to balance between being the warrior and the religious
figure. The latter is closer to the Brahminism as the king belong to
ka'sat' caste and the Brahm belong the the Brahm caste.

The ambition to compromise between the warrior (who kills, and hungers
for power) and the religious being (who does not kill and less
attached to the worldly materials) is not an easy job. The attempt is
seen in symbolic form. The King could be regarded as
phra^buddha'chaaw"luang+ (King Rama V).

At the end of Sukhothai period, the kings leaned toward the notion of
tham-ma^raa-chaa-. One of the kings even had his named representing
the idea, e.g. phra^tham-ma^raa-chaa-li"thay-. Tambiah argues that
unlike thee-wa^raa-chaa-, the tham-ma^raa-chaa- tends to be weak and
will finally lost the interest in conquering the world.

------------------------------

C.3)  Buddhism and Thai culture

                  Orthodox Buddhism According to Me
                  ---------------------------------

Canonical Buddhism has often been explained in terms of the 4 Noble
Truths and the 8-fold Noble Path. It can also be explained in terms of
The Dependent Origination Theory or the Three Characteristics or other
unorthodox ways. I will now summarize basic Buddhism as I know it,
using the Three Characteristic approach.

Central to buddhism is the concept of Three Characteristics
(Trilaxana) which proposes that all composite things (matter or mind,
i.e. everything excluding Nirvana) are:

1. Impermanent (anicca)

2. Of suffering/unsatisfactory nature (Dukkha)

3. Without Self entity/Empty (Anatta/Sunyata)

(1) is by now almost universal in the scientific world. But sciences
only address the materialistic part of things whereas Buddhism claims
anicca in the mental world as well. Implicit in this is also that
there is no (permanent) soul in Buddhism.

(2) is a corollary of (1). If things are changing every moment then
they are not as they appear to be (permanent) , thus they are
unsatisfactory by nature. Both material and mental entities change
continually according to causes and conditions. This is buddhist's
objective way of looking at things as they are; it's not pessimistic
nor optimistic. If one doesn't see 'sufferings' in all these changing
conditions of things then one is not mentally suit to be a buddhist.
To see 'sufferings', however, does not mean that one has to feel
suffered for that. A true buddhist will enjoy life in a much more
objective way than others because s-he realizes that happiness itself
is the result of interplays of causes and conditions which are bound
to change over time. Suffering will definitely ensue if one does not
understand the ever changing nature of causes and conditions of
happiness.

(3) is unique to Buddhism and is very difficult to understand. There
are two types of Emptiness: Ontological and Psychological. Buddhism
claims that a thing cannot exist INHERENTLY by its own self. Its
existence depends on the existences of other things, ad infinitum. In
other words, there is no permanent, pure element as a basis for the
existence of anything. Things exist because of the inter-dependency on
one another. This is the basic argument behind 'ontological
Emptiness'. It should be clear now that Emptiness in Buddhism is not
'nothingness.' In fact, Emptiness means All and Everything being
co-dependent, co-arising. On the coarsest level, one can argue that
material thing exists only if mind exists first. Material is thus
dependent on mind. Mind is also dependent on its own self. Some
buddhists refer to the primordial Truth as 'the original mind.' This
is simply a mind devoid of all attachments, which is often regarded as
the 'core' of a living entity or 'Buddha nature'; but this is just a
way of language and should not be confused with Self or Atman in
Hinduism for even the Buddha nature is also Empty.

It should not be too hard to imagine that this core is interacting
with the outside world through the brain, and that it is partially
conditioned by the brain itself. To discover the state of the original
mind then (certain functions of) the brain must be bypassed initially
so that it will be able to correct itself (of wrong views) in the end.
Only when certain portions of the brain is bypassed can the mind
perform its task OBJECTIVELY to realize the Three Characteristics.
[Note: This paragraph is purely author's own speculation.]

The second type of Emptiness is psychological; this one is more
important than ontological Emptiness and is more relevant to Buddhism.
Psychological Emptiness is the state of the mind Empty of all
attachments to all dualistic thinkings. In fact, Buddhism asserts that
all human's sufferings are due to attachments to dualistic thinking.
After all, it is the discriminating mind that tell us that things are
impermanent and of suffering nature. An enlightened buddhist is said
to not attach even to the Ultimate Truth which s-he attained. To be
permanently Empty is to attain buddhist enlightenment (Nibbana,
Nirvana). Buddhist values wisdom so much that the pure form of which
is said to be the one that drives an enlightened buddhist. The wisdom
uses all the dualistic thinking to its advantage without being
attached to them in the same manner as the lotus plant deriving its
existence from the water in which it embeds , without being wetted by
it. To work with an Empty mind should be the most productive and
creative way to work.

It is the mind who attains Nirvana. Both the mind and Nirvana are
Empty. It cannot be said whether a enlightened person exist or
not-exist after the physical death, because that state transcends all
dualities. For the sake of discussion, Nirvana can be termed
'Cessation Element' (Nirodha Dhatu). Buddhadasa had explained the
state of Cessation Element and the rest very succinctly in terms of
controllability. He said that all things are uncontrollable because
they lack any 'Self' entity to be controlled. The mundane elements are
uncontrollable because they change along according to their causes and
conditions which also are uncontroll- able. The supreme element (i.e.
Cessation Element) is also uncontrollable because it is BEYOND causes
and conditions.

Some evolved schools of Hinduism (e.g. Vedanta) is now very similar to
Buddhism in both the practice and the philosophy; the only major
difference seems to lie on this final state. Hinduism claims that the
state of purified mind is the enlightenment and that the mind enjoy
eternal bliss by becoming one with the Ultimate Reality known by
various names such as Param-Atman and Brahman. Buddhism claims no
attachment even to this state of bliss. Buddhist does not claim to be
attached to the non-attachment state either. As Buddhadasa once said:
All the 84,000 discourses of the Buddha can be summarized into one
sentence: Do not attach in ANYTHING.

There has been a lot of confusions about Kamma (action) and rebirth in
Buddhism. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a noted Thai buddhist monk whom many
including myself believe to be a buddha, mentioned that Buddha Gotama
(the historical Buddha) never taught about physical rebirth. Rebirth
in Buddhism means instant mental rebirth due to craving and
attachment. The fruit of Kamma (Vibahk or reaction) in Buddhism is
also instantaneous , at the same moment as when the Kamma (action) is
done. Buddhist should do kammas that will end all kammas so that there
will be no 'rebirth' which is the basis for sufferings. We should not
be too obsessive with the long-range kammas (especially the
after-death ones) for they are at best uncertain and depend on other
interfering factors. Instantaneous kammas is exactly action = reaction
and is completely relevant to the Buddhist's Art of Living at the
present moment.

The buddhist way of attaining Nirvana is to 'observe mental
phenomena.' We should try to be objective with our own mind and
observe how do our mind interacts with the external world and with
itself internally to come up with attachment to dualistic thinkings.
Bit by bit we will learn to let go of attachments. This process can
often be enhanced by right-meditation techniques. Buddhist meditation
is nothing but the process of objective observation of the nature of
the mind. This process would be efficient only when the mind is calm
enough, but not too calm. A naturally calm person thus has no need to
go through all the formal technique of meditation. Meditative
observation should ideally be done at every opportunity, even when
answering the calls of nature. Logical reasoning alone is not good
enough but it is the initial kamma needed to develop trust so that
more insights can be gained through the practice.

Buddhism does not concern itself with metaphysics and cosmology. All
Buddhism cares about is how to live a life at the present moment as
free from sufferings as much as possible. As such, Buddhism can be
regarded as 'The Art of Living.'

Buddhism can also be viewed from a short statement by the Buddha: "To
avoid evil deeds, To perform good deeds, To purify the mind." To do
good deeds alone is not good enough. The mind should also be purified
so that it does not attach even to good deeds or whatever. In
practice, however, Buddhism is not as pure as it should be. People
often 'accumulate' meritorious deeds in a spiritualistically
materialistic fashion. This practice is implicitly tolerated so that
less spiritually advanced people will not go astray.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Hatred is possible only if there is love, and vice versa.
----------------------------------------------------------------tawit

------------------------------

C.4)  Thai buddhism information

Partial list of Buddhism monasteries in the United States is available
for anonymous FTP from:
  ftp.nectec.or.th:/soc.culture.thai/SCTinfo/buddhism
The list is maintained by Sorrayut Ratanapojnard (asia@minerva.cis.yale.edu).

List of meditation center in Thailand from the DharmaNet International
is available for anonymous ftp from:
     ftp.netcom.com:/pub/dharma/Buddhism/Theravada/thai_93.zip
 and ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/dharma/Buddhism/Theravada/thai_93.zip

------------------------------

C.5)  Traditional Thai Calendar System

PROLOGUE:

This writing came out of a need to understand Thai calendar to
explain to a foreigner. I must state that I am not an expert in
this matter but it turns out that many Thais that I asked did not
know much about their own traditional calendar system either. So 
this writing may be more beneficial to a Thai than to a foreigner.

This material is intended only to introduce the traditional Thai
calendar concept to readers. There are many other aspects
of temporal information used in Thai language. Many other time
keeping terms such as "Moang", "Yam", "Toom", "Tee", or short-
term time keeping such as "Yok" (based on coconut water clock)
are not covered here because I am not qualified to discuss them
in linguistics terms.

Please help correct any errors you find, especially in the
spellings of Thai and Pali/Sanskrit words.

Rom Hiranpruk
Department of Computer Science
Faculty of Science, Ramkhamhaeng University
August 1993

THAI CALENDAR SYSTEM
====================

Rom Hiranpruk compiled and translated from:

1.   Siam Almanac 2529, Siam Bann Ltd., Bangkok, 1986.
2.   Kloy Songbandhit, One Hundred Year Calendar, Silpabannakarn
     Publishing, 1960.
3.   So Sethaputra, New Model Thai-English Dictionary, So
     Sethaputra Press, 1965.
4.   Royal Academy, Thai Dictionary, Aksorncharoentasana Press,
     1988.


THAI NAGASATRA (Thai Year Names)

There are twelve Year Names in Thai: Chuad (Rat), Chalu (Bull),
Khal (Tiger), Toa (Hare), Maroang (Big Snake), Maseng (Little
Snake), Mamia (Horse), Mamaae (Goat), Wog (Monkey), Raga
(Rooster), Jau (Dog), Goon (Pig). 

These names cover twelve-year cycle but can be extended to cover
one-hundred-and-twenty-year cycle by adding a counter suffix
after the name: ek (one), to (two), tri (three), jatawa (four),
benja (five), cho (six), satawa (seven), attha (eight), noppa
(nine), samriti (ten). Then add the word Sok (year). For example,
Pi Chuad To Sok is the second Chuad year in the 120-year cycle.


THAI CHANTARAKATI CALENDAR (Lunar Calendar)

Chantarakati is the way to keep dates by using the Moon's orbital
cycle around the Earth. Each cycle is 29 days, 12 hours, 44
minutes. Chantarakati month is therefore 30 days or 29 days
alternately for the whole year. 

Each month begins on Wan Kuen Nueng Kham (first day of the waxing
moon). Wan Kuen Sib Ha Kham (day of the full moon) is the middle
of the month. Wan Dub is last day of the month which is either
Wan Ram 15 Kham or Wan Ram 14 Kham depending on whether that
month has 30 or 29 days.

Because each month is 30 or 29 days long, the Lunar-year days
will be shorter by about 12 days than the actual time the Earth
circles the Sun. To be synchronous with the seasonal changes,
every two or three years another month is added to Duen Pad (the
Eighth month) and called Duen Pad Lung (the latter Eighth month).
Such year with two Duen Pads is called ATHIKAMAS.

The Chantarakati months are named from one to twelve: ai (one),
yi (two), sam (three), si (four), ha (five), hok (six), jed
(seven), pad (eight), kao (nine), sib (ten), sib-ed (eleven),
sib-song (twelve). The first month on Prokatimas year (ordinary
year) falls in November but in Athikamas year (year with two Duen
Pad's) it falls in December.

Chantarakati date is stated by the moon-position/lunar-month-
name/year-name, for example: Kuen Sib Kham/Duen Sib-ed/Pi Mamia
Cho Sok which is 7th October B.E. 2497. If the day is not
provided, finding the day in this dating system requires a
calendar table.

Furthermore, to compensate for the still missing days, every 4 or
5 years another day is added to Duen Jed (the Seventh Month)
to make it a 30-day month. This added day is called ATHIKAWARA
and cannot occur on Athikamas year.


THAI CALENDAR TERMINOLOGY

SURIYAKATI: 
     The date system based on solar year which is currently the
     international date system based on Gregorian Calendar with
     January 1st as the first day of year. 
     Thailand adopted the solar calendar officially during the
     reign of King Rama V in B.E. 2431 using April 1 as the first
     day of year. In B.E. 2483 the government of Field Marshall
     Pibulsongkram changed the first day of year to January 1,
     therefore B.E. 2431 and B.E. 2483 are shorter than usual.

WAN DUB: 
     Last day of a lunar month which is Wan Ram Sib-ha (15) Kham,
     or Wan Ram Sib-si (14) kham depending on whether that lunar
     month has 30 or 29 days.

WAN PHEN: 
     Day of the full moon.

WAN PHRA: 
     Buddhist holy day which falls on the 8th, 15th, 23rd, and
     29th or 30th day of the lunar month. 
     This is a day of special observance of the Sela and
     contemplation of Dhamma for Buddhists. Wan Phra occurs 4
     times a month on: Wan Kuen Pad (8) Kham, Wan Kuen Sib-ha
     (15) Kham (Full moon), Wan Ram Pad Kham, and Wan Dub (last
     day of the lunar month). 
     
WAN GHONE: 
     Day that monks shave which is one day before each Wan Phra.

WAN UBOSOTH: 
     Day of the full moon and last day of the lunar month (Wan
     Phen and Wan Dub) when monks recite Phra Patimokha and 
     Buddhists laypeople observe Ubosoth Sela (the 8 precepts).

SONGKRAN: 
     The day when the sun enters Aries; reckoned according to the
     Old Indian Solar Calendar to fall on April 13 through 15.

WARA: 
     Day of the week named by counting Sunday as 1, Monday as 2,
     and so on.

KANG KUEN: (KUEN)
     The waxing moon; the period from new moon to full moon.

KANG RAM: (RAM)
     The waning moon; the period from full moon to new moon.

PROKATIMAS:
     Ordinary month, ie. not the extra month (second Duen Pad).
     Year with Prokatimas has just 12 months.

PROKATIWARA:
     Ordinary day, ie. not the extra day added to Duen Jed. Year
     with Prokatiwara has 29 days in Duen Jed.

PROKATISURATIN:
     Ordianary February with 28 days.

ATHIKAMAS:
     Extra lunar month added as the second Duen Pad to keep lunar
     year in synchrony with the solar year. Lunar year with
     Athikamas has 13 months and occur every 2 or 3 years.

ATHIKAWARA:
     Extra day added to Duen Jed to compensate for the missing
     hours each year. Lunar year with Athikawara has 30 days in
     Duen Jed and occur every 4 or 5 years (not in Athikamas
     year).

ATHIKASURATIN:
     February with 29 days to compensate for the missing hours
     each year in solar year. Year with Athikasuratin (leap year)
     occurs every 4 years, except in the last year of the A.D.
     century that is not divisible by 400, ie. A.D. 2000 would be
     an Athikasuratin year but A.D.2100 is not.

BUDDHIST ERA (B.E.):
     The year of the passing of Lord Buddha is counted as B.E. 1.
     Therefore the new year is Wan Ram nueng Kham, Duen hok, the
     day AFTER Visakapuja Day. King Rama V changed the new year
     day to April 1 starting after March 31, 2431. Later the new
     year was changed to January 1 starting after December 31,
     2483.

ANNO DOMINI (A.D.):
     The year of the birth of Jesus Christ is counted as A.D. 1.
     (A.D. is B.E. minus 543)

MAHASAKARAJ:
     A solar calendar that began in the victory year in the reign
     of an Indian king in the SAKA dynasty. The new year is the
     day the Sun enter Aries, called Songkran.
     (Mahasakaraj is B.E. minus 621)

JULASAKARAJ:
     A lunar calendar started by a Burmese king. The new year is
     on Kuen Nueng Kham, Duen Ha. But the year count is still at
     Songkran as in Mahasakaraj.
     (Julasakaraj is B.E. minus 1181)

RATANAKOSINSOK:
     A solar calendar decreed by King Rama V, counting the first
     year of establishing Bangkok as the Capital as R.S. 1. April
     1, is the new year day starting after March 31, 2431. This
     calendar was abolished by King Rama VI.
     (Ratanakosinsok is B.E. minus 2324)

WESTERN CALENDAR:
     A solar year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.68
     seconds. This is the time it takes for the Earth to circle
     the Sun. This calendar system keeps the season in step with
     the months. There are two major western calendar developments.

     JULIAN CALENDAR:

     Julius Caesar improved the older lunar calendar which has
     gone three months out of step with the actual season. Julius
     Caesar decreed a year with 365 days and every 4 years a day
     is added to February to make it 30 days. This system began
     in B.E. 497. The new year is on January 1. Each month has
     alternately 31 and 30 days except February with 29 days.

     Roman Emperor Augustus further adapted the Egyptian lunar
     calendar to the Julian calendar and reduce February to 28
     days. The removed day is added to the month now called
     "August" to make it 31 days instead of 30 days.

     Although Julian calendar is practical, it is not accurate
     enough with 365.2 days a year. The errors will accumulate to
     about 1 day every 128 years.

     GREGORIAN CALENDAR:

     In B.E. 2125, Pope Gregory 33rd of Rome improved upon the
     Julian calendar the rule to provide for leap year every four
     years except at the of the century A.D. that is not
     divisible by 400. This means that A.D. such as 1600, and
     2000 are leap years where 1700 and 2100 is not.

     This system is a lot more accurate with each year averaging
     365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds which is only
     about 23 seconds off per year. It takes 3,323 years to be
     off by 1 day.

     Gregorian calendar was used from October 5, B.E. 2125
     onward. The date was compensated for past errors to be
     October 15, B.E. 2125. It is the current internationally
     accepted calendar system.

------------------------------

C.6)  Use of "Khun"

From: Samart Srijumnong <ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>

[...]

To me, the word [Khun] could be used in both informal and formal discourse.
The term itself does not serve as a device to hint any gesture of attitude, 
positive or negative about the person addressed to, either. 

I used this honorific with you for at least one reason. I have not yet known
you in details. I don't know if you are older or younger than me. I don't 
know you social status, nor your education. I don't know what kind of job
you have and in what position. All these unknown conditions about you makes
it easy for me to use the honorific term. It is safe for me as a speaker.

If I am having a direct conversation with someone who I have known for some
time, e.g. Khun Tawit, I would not address him as Khun either. Now I am
using Khun with his name as a third person referring to by this very 
discussion. It also depends. If this discussion is of an academic one, I would
not need to have any honorific for him. I could simply go ahead referring to
him by just his name (first and last in Thai materials). 

The term Khun is originally a title given to anyone by the court. The person
with Khun title will be entitled to hoard land up to a certain rai (500?)
Later this usage has changed. It is now given to single woman who
is entitled by the court as in the level equivalent to that of Khun Ying+
(probably equivalent as that of Lady of the English Court) except that
Khun Ying+ is used with a woman who is married.

Khun is used with anybody but if the person is known to have other kind of
title, e.g. aa-jaan (a teacher), mOO+ (a doctor), aa-sia' (an affluent 
and powerful ethnic Chinese merchant), muad' (a police or military man of
captain level), such title could be used instead to show a bit specific
reference to the person. 

Many Thais like to use sibling term to call others, e.g. Phii (older brother
or sister). Strangely enough, however, nOOng^ (younger brother or sister) is
not often used except in the North, it is used with a waiter (or waitress).
When the context of kinship arises, to use Khun as an honorific seems to
give a hint that the speaker likes to keep distance between him and the 
intended hearer. I remember my sister, who normally called her husband
with phrase like phOO"ai"tung+ (father of Tung, their son), used Khun when
they began some fight. Hence, using Khun does not always suggests close 
relationship.

Please note that the above description is of my own interpretation. I have
not consulted any linguistic authority which might suggest different 
connotations for the word. Nonetheless, I believe my usage of the term
more or less shares with other Thais. I may be wrong. Anyone?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Acknowledgements

The original soc.culture.thai FAQ was proposed, put together and initially
maintained by Thanachart Numnonda (thanon@ccu1.auckland.ac.nz).

Sincere gratitudes for valuable contributions from:
  Joy Aswalap (joy@cc1.unt.edu) for passing on C.5;
  Rom Hirunpruk (rom@ipied.tu.ac.th) for C.5;
  Samart Srijumnong (ssg9328@ucx.cso.uiuc.edu) for C.1, C.2 and C.6;
  Tawit Chitsomboon (fstawit@marge.lerc.nasa.gov) for C.1 and C.3; and
  Trin Tantsetthi (trin@nwg.nectec.or.th) for C.4.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj    : soc.culture.thai Languag

Archive-name: thai/language
Soc-culture-thai-archive-name: language

The "soc.culture.thai Frequently Asked Questions" periodic postings are
divided into 6 parts plus an index. Requests for inclusion, correction
or update can be made by posting a public message or follow-up to this
FAQ.

The current release of these FAQs can be fetched by anonymous FTP from
rtfm.mit.edu (or its mirror sites) under directories:
   /pub/usenet/news.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.culture.thai
or accessed via World-wide Web at URL:
  http://www.nectec.or.th/soc.culture.thai/master.html

The working copy of this FAQ can be accessed by anonymous FTP from
ftp.nectec.or.th in directory /soc.culture.thai.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LANGUAGE FAQ
Language and linguistics information

 * Language
  L.1)  The de facto Thai transcription scheme for soc.culture.thai
  L.2)  Learning Thai abroad
  L.3)  Learning Thai in Thailand
  L.4)  Poetry
  L.5)  The word "farang"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

LANGUAGE FAQ

This part describes information on language and linguistics.

------------------------------

L.1)  The de facto transcription scheme for soc.culture.thai

The transcription scheme was put together by Khun Wirote Aroonmanakun
(waroonma@guvax.georgetown.edu) with great input from many SCT folks,
notably a consonant table from Khun Rob Reed (rreed@mtwire.es.com) and
a vowel table from Khun Parames Laosinchai (CHLBB@CUNYVM.BITNET).

44 CONSONANTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
k   kh  kh  kh  kh  kh  ng
j   ch  ch  s   ch  y
d   t   th  th  th  n
d   t   th  th  th  n
b   p   ph  f   ph  f   ph  m
y   r   l   w   s   s   s   h   l   ?   h

Final Sounds
~~~~~~~~~~~~
k   t   p  ng   n   m   y   w

Tone Markers
~~~~~~~~~~~~
-       for normal tone  / 0
'       for low tone     / 1
"       for falling tone / 2
^       for high tone    / 3
+       for rising tone  / 4

Basic.Vowels
~~~~~~~~~~~~
a       as in ka' (estimate)
aa      as in kaa- (crow)
i       as in ti' (blame)
ii      as in tii- (hit)
U       as in ?U' (shit)
UU      as in mUU- (hand)
u       as in du' (scold)
uu      as in duu- (look)
e       as in te' (kick)
ee      as in thee- (pour)
A       as in lA^ (and)
AA      as in lAA- (look)
o       as in to^ (table)
oo      as in to- (big)
O       as in kO" (island)
OO      as in rOO- (wait)
E       as in lE^ (dirty)
EE      as in rEE- (Belch)

Compound Vowels
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ua      as in yua^ (angry)
uaa     as in tuaa- (body)
ia      as in pria^ (tight)
iaa     as in miaa- (wife)
Ua      (no example)
Uaa     as in rUaa- (ship)

Excess Vowels (sa'ra'kEEn-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ay or ai        as in nay- or nai- (in)
aw or au        as in daw- or dau- (guess)

------------------------------

L.2)  Learning Thai abroad

From: ttabtien@cs.uml.edu (Thinakorn Tabtieng)
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1993 16:45:30 -0500

   Apart from going to Thailand to study thai, you can also study it at
   University of Washington. I know someone who took an intensive program
   on Thai language called SEASSI (South East Asian Summer Studies
   Institute) which was held at U of Washington during the summer. I
   think the university also offers Thai courses during the regular
   semesters as well. Anyway, here is some basics about Thai language
   which you may find useful:

   The Thai language, or Phasa Thai, basically consists of monosyllable
   words, whose meanings are complete by themselves. Its alphabet was
   created by King Ramkhamhaeng the Great in 1283 by modelling it on the
   ancient Indian alphabets of Sanskrit and Pali through the medium of
   old Khmer characters. After a history of over 700 years, the Thai
   alphabet today comprises 44 letters (including 2 obsolete ones),
   representing 20 consonant phonemes, and 15 vowel signs, denoting 22
   vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs.

   As Thai is a tonal language with five different tones, it often
   confuses foreigners who are unused to this kind of language. For
   example, they have difficulty in distinguishing these 3 words from
   each other --

    * Suea (with rising tone) which means tiger in english
    * Suea (with low tone) which means mat in English
    * Suea (with falling tone) which means clothes in English

   Like most languages of the world, the Thai language is a complicated
   mixture of several sources. Many Thai words used today were derived
   from Pali, Sanskrit, Khmer, Malayan, English, and Chinese.


From: BMF50752@vax1.utulsa.edu (Matt Barney)
Date: 20 Dec 1993 17:47:10 -0600

   Suwasdee Krap

   I am going to be attending the South-East Asian Studies Summer
   (SEASSI) Institue's program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
   this summer.

   About SEASSI:

    * Fellowships are available for both tuition and stipend
    * Cost to non fellows: $1600.00 U.S. dollars
    * Dates Held: June 13, 1994 to August 12, 1994.

   This is intensive study for Thai, and many other S-E Asian languages
   that equivalealent to 2 full semesters of learning.

   Teive an application call or write: Center for Southeast Asian
   Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4115 Helen C. White Hall,
   600 N. Park St. , Madison, WI 53706; internet: seasian@macc.wisc.edu


From: aatzert@mail.sas.upenn.edu (Andrew Atzert)
Date: 16 Dec 1993 13:27:16 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts and Sciences

   There are Thai language tapes produced by the U.S. government (the
   Foreign Service Institute). They're old, use an outmoded methodology,
   and don't (I'm told) reflect many changes that have occurred with Thai
   since the 60's, when the tapes were produced. They also do not cover
   the Thai writing system, using transcription instead. Nonetheless, I
   and others have found them useful as a supplement to other means of
   study. There are two levels available, with about twenty tapes each;
   they sell for about $140.00 a set. They can be ordered from:

   The National AudioVisual Center
   8700 Edgeworth Drive
   Capitol Heights, MD 20743-3701
   Phone: 800-638-1300
   Fax:   301-763-6025

   As for the writing system, you might try getting hold of two volumes
   by William Kuo: "A Workbook for Writing Thai" and (if I remember
   correctly) "Teaching Grammar of Thai." They're available from:

   Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies
   University of California
   Berkeley, CA 94720


From: pbarber@eskimo.com (Putnam Barber)
Organization: Eskimo North (206) For-Ever
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1993 12:53:18 GMT

   The Seattle Public Library has two 20-cassette sets called "Basic
   Thai" and created by the Foreign Service Institute. Each comes with a
   text that reproduces and extends what's on the tapes.

   Mary Haas, "Thai Reader", is a progressive introduction to written
   Thai that can be used by a student working alone. It comes from Spoken
   Language Services, PO Box 783, Ithaca, NY 14850.

   She is also the author of "Thai-English Student's Dictionary",
   Stanford.

   After getting myself to the point where I could pretty much find
   things in Haas' dictionary (not always a straightforward task, as
   spelling is sometimes flexible), I got a lot out of struggling with a
   book on how to learn English that seems to be aimed at a non-academic
   reader. I won't try to transliterate the title. In English it's "How
   to Learn English in 75 Hours" by Manit Manitcharoen. An 'hour' turns
   out to be a chapter, and there are 75 of them.... Using the
   dictionary, it took me longer than an hour to read through a chapter,
   but it was useful and interesting to see how familiar quirks of the
   English language are explained in terms of Thai examples. I suspect it
   would be a 'challenge' to get this book in North America. It does have
   an ISBN in it, so you could try: 974 245 413 2. That's just about the
   only English outside of the examples.

   Speaking of transliteration, the FSI "Basic Thai" books do not use the
   Thai written language at all (!). Instead, they depend on a careful
   transliteration scheme that seems to be all their own and which I
   found as hard to learn as Thai writing (and +much+ less useful -- they
   don't publish any newspapers or magazines for the general reader :-)
   ).

   There are also numerous publications and tapes from AUA's language
   school in Bangkok. The copies at the Seattle Public Library were only
   intermittantly on the shelf, and vol. I was +never+ there for me to
   sample it to see if I wanted to launch myself on their self-study
   programs. I have listened to a couple of their tapes (courtesy of the
   Univ. of Washington language lab); they were very methodical and
   clear, even without the texts.

   There are probably many University Thai courses around. I know that UW
   has one, because there are texts in the bookstore at the start of
   every semester and lots of tapes available at the lab. I don't know
   anything about the program. Write for info to UW, Seattle, WA 98195.

   There are at least two non-profit language training centers in Seattle
   that offer lessons in Thai in their catalogs. I've never been to one,
   but it seems like a good idea (and now that I'm heading back to
   Thailand -- today! -- I wish I had).

------------------------------

L.3)  Learning Thai in Thailand

From: hopperl@ohsu.edu (Lee Hopper (Portland,OR))
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1993 14:38:03 GMT

   Lonely Planet Thailand Travel/Survival Kit 10/92:

   "Chulalongkorn U. in Bangkok, the most prestigious university in
   Thailand, offers an intensive Thai studies course called
   'Perspectives on Thailand'. The four-week program includes classes
   in Thai language, culture, history, politics and economics. Classes
   meet six hours a day, six days a week and are offered twice a year:
   January and July. Sutdents who have taken the course say they have
   found the quality of instructioin excellend. Tuition is US
   $1000..."

   Have any readers tried this? Any advice on learning Thai in
   Thailand?

   Thanks!

From: ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Samart Srijumnong)
Date: 2 Mar 1994 05:54:10 GMT

   [Chiangmai University] has at least two collaborated programs with
   the US institutions: one is U of Wisconsin via College Year in
   Thailand Program (CYIT), and, the St.Olaf College, Minnesota. The
   first one recruits students from any college in the US. The
   students will stay one year in Chiangmai studying Thai language,
   history, culture and people. They get some academic credits from
   that. The latter program takes only on semester. It is designed
   specially for the St.Olaf College students.

   In both program, [Chiangmai] faculty members have help them learn
   Thai via their facilities at the Humanities Faculty there. I don't
   have any independent source of evaluation to rate them.

   Faculty of Education, Division of Teaching Thai, had(s?) provided
   cooperation to a Korean university (....some kind of U of Foreign
   Affairs) whose Thai-studies students come to stay in Chiangmai for
   a semester and learn solely Thai language.

   As far as other provincial universities are concerned, my adviser
   was in the Thai language program at Kon Kaen University. I don't
   know much about it. My advisor said it was good.

   As for Chiangmai, would you want to contact a friend of mine, Khun
   Steve? He is Ajaan Sompong Witayasakpan, of Thai Department there
   at [Chiangmai U]. I have heard he helps carry out Thai language
   programs there. He was also at the East-West Center of U of Hawaii
   for some time. His email adress is: sompong@cmu.chiangmai.ac.th .
   In contacting with him tell him also that it's my suggestion. I
   believe he should provide you the needed information.

------------------------------

L.4)  Poetry

From: chomchal@baboon.ecn.purdue.edu (Jaray Chomchalao)
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 03:21:53 GMT

[...]

In fact, Thai poetry is nothing I've seen elsewhere. English poetry,
French, Chinese poetry seem trivial when compared to the rhyme and rhythm
that are required in Thai poetry. For example, most if not all English and
Chinese poetry required /sam+pas'nOOk"/, or rhymes between lines. And
that's it. Thai, on the other hand. reuires /sam+pas'nai-/ as well as
/sam+pas'nOOk"/. This may be because Thai language is richer in choice of
words. For example there are at least six ways to say a horse ie, /maa^/,
/?aa-cha-/, /?aa-cha-nai-/, /as'sa'dOOn-/, /sin+thop^/, /as'sa-wa^/. The
following is an extreme example that best demonstrates the richness of Thai
Language. It is a /klOOn 8/ that, when wriiten out in Thai, uses only one
syllable to make a meaningful, no-nonesene poem.

mUaa"mang"mii-maak"maai-mit^maai+mOOng-
mUaa"muaa-mOOng+mit^mOOng-MUaan+Muu+maa+
mUaa"mai"mii-mod'mit^muung"mOOng-maa-
mUaa"mOOd"Muuy^mAA^muu+maa+maai"maa-mOOng-

(Composed by Unknown)

[...]

There are five different styles in Thai poetry altogether. You might say
six, with the sixth being anything that arenot included in the follwing
five:

1) /kloong-/: /kloong-/ is probably one of the most difficult to
   appreciate, since the rhyme and rhythm are not obvious to beginners. But
   once you appreciate how difficult to write one, and learn their rhyme
   and rhythm, they are very beautiful indeed. They come in variety, but
   with one particular /kloong-/ the most emminent: /kloong-sii'su'paap"/
   ex:

saai+yud'yud'klin'fung^        yaam-saai+
   (/saai+yud'/ [flower] stops its fragance...in late morning)
saai+bOO'yud'sa'nee'haai+      haang' saw"
   ([But] your charm never stops..sad to leave it.)
tuk^khUUn-tuk'wan-waai-        waang-ta-weet' laa-mAA'
   ([I'm] Crying the whole night and day through)
ta'win+tuk^khuab'kam"chaaw^    yud'daai"chan+dai'
   ([I] Miss you in the evening, yet in the morning...How could I stop?)

(From Lilit Taleng Paai when Maha Upparat was smelling the flowers named
 /saai+yud'/ and saying that the flowers name means it will stop spreading
 its scent late in the morning, as opposed to him who never stop thinking
 of her no matter what time, day or night. He later died fighting against
 Phra Naresuan, a Thai King. But that's another story.)

2) /chan+/: /chan+/ or /kam-chan+/, or /sa-look'/, is probalby the hiest
   form of Thai poetry, since besides the common rhyme and rhythm required
   by all other styles, /chan+/ also requires that words used are in a
   particular order, such that the particular syllables are accented
   (/karu^/) and others are non-accented (/lahu'/). There are too many
   types of /chan+/ to enumerate, but probably the accepted two most
   beautiful /chan+/'s are /wa^san+ta'di'lok'chan+/ (/chan+/ as beautiful
   as the blooming season (Spring)) and /in-ta-ra^wi^chian-chan+/ (/chan+/
   as beautiful as the Intra's jem: Intra is the most powerful god in the
   second level of the six-level heaven, the /taaw-wa'ting-sa'/ or
   /daaw-wa-dUng-/). The following example is my own /chan+/ written in
   Intrawichian Chan style.

                        Silvery Moon

jEd'jan-na^wan-pen-             dam-ruu-den'wi^la-wan-
   (Bright moon on the full moon night...has unique beauty)
faa^ngaam-araam'pan'            pi^las"ras(sami)^jam-ras'sAAng+
   (The sky's suddently beautified...lightened up by the moon shine)
naam^khang^kOO"prang"praai-     pra^paai-chooy-mi^rooy-rAAng-
   (Dew dropped sparkingly...as the wind breezingly blew)
miang-maan"pra^chan-jAAng"      kra'jang'ut'ta^yaan-sruang+
   (Peeking face contested those lights in the heavenly park)
sak'suung+sa'wet'hong+          duj'ong-rat^cha'nii-duang-
   (Her sky-high grace...can easily upset the moon)
praai-mas"mi^aaj'luang"         sup'pa^lak^sa'naa-choom+
   (Highly valued gold beauty would not dare to compare hers)
yAAm^yim^lAA-prim^pak^          phi^las'lak^khUU-khAA+khoom-
   (When smiling, her face was brightened up easily matching the moon)
yol-yos^la^laan-loom-           ra^thuaay-thOOd"rU^thai-thOOn+
   (Looking at her beauty only made my body weak, my heart shrunk)
yOOb"wan-ta^naa-kaan-           wing-waan-rat^cha-nii-kOOn-
   ([Or I] should knee down, begging this noble woman)
oo-phaas"pra'phaa-phOOn-        ru^jii-ras^sa'mii+saan+ (saan+=message)
   (To release her golden and silverly words)
saad'sOOng'na^hOOng"hOO+        mi^rang^rOO-hai"luaang"kaan-(time)
   (Extend to me, at the lonely love place, at this time)
jAAng"jaw"ma^tu^maan-           ma^na^nAAb"maai+AAb'ai-
   (....[?]......who had always wanted to be with you)
riam-lOOb"ram-luk^nak^          phi^laap"rak^lA'aa-lai-
   (I had made a lot of thinkings, a lot of sufferring as well)
jong-phEEy+pha^jii-khai+        hai"klaay-khOO"thii"khOOng"suaang-
   (Would you say a word to answer my heart's question?)
lUaam-rai^phra^phaai-luaang"    raa-trii-jan- ...kra'nan^rUU- ?
   (.......[?]........................................)

3) /kaab'/: One of the most popular. There are three of them:

3.1 /kaab' cha'bang- 16 (sip'hok')/ because there are 16 syllables in one
    verse. Ex:

khao+suung+phuung+hong+long-riang-         rEnag-roong^song^siang+
sam+niang-naa'fang-wang-weng-
klaang-pai-kai'khan+ban-leeng-             fang-siang+piang-pleeng-
sOO-jeng"jam'riang-wiang-wang-
yuung-tOOng-rOOng^ka'toong"hong'dang-      priang-prong^kloong-ra^khang-
trAA-sang+kang-sa'daan-khaan+siang+

(From /muul-la'bot'ban'pa^kit'/, the first Thai book for teaching by Phraya
 Sri Suntorn Woharn (Noy^ Ajarayangkool))

The rhymes in this example are extreme, since Phraya Noy really demontrated
his talent beyond that requires by the Kraab Chanabang structure.

3.2 /kaab' su'raang-ka^naang- 28/. The example I can think of is the one
    that describes how to compose Surangkanang itself:

                                        su'raang-ka^nang-
jet'wak^jak'waang-                      hai"thuuk'wi^thii-
wak^nUng'sii'kam-                       jong-jam-haii"dii-
bot'nUng'jUng-mii-                      yii"sip'pAAd'kam-

                                        haak'thang'thOO'pai-
sam+pad'throng-nai+                     jam-hai"mAAn"yam-
kam-thaai^wak^saam+                     tid'taam-pra'jam-
sam+pad'kab'kam-                        thaai^bot'thon"lAA-

3.3 /kaab yaanii 11 (sip'et')/: got the name from the fact that there are
    eleven syllables in one line. The structure, rhyme and rhythm are
    similar to Intrawichain Chan+ except that there's no
    accented/unaccented syllabes reuired. The one of the most beautiful
    Thai Poetry, IMO. Ex:

daaw-duaan-kO"luan"lab^                 saang+pa'yap^pa'yom-bon-
juaan-jAAng"phra^su'ri^yon-             ya^yiam"yOOd'yu^khuun-thOOn-
som+dej'ha'ri^ya^wong-                  put^ta^pong-ti^paa-kOOn-
sa-dej'long-song+saa+khOOn-             kab'phra^lak^a'nu^cha-
see+naa-prUd^tha-maat'                  taam-phra^baat'sdej'kraa-
juaan-klaai"ja'thUng+sa+                kha^rees"thii'tha^song+chon-
phra^leng-lAA-nEn-saai-                 thAAb"sUng^saai+cha'lee-yol-
Yaw-wa^ruup"a'su'ra^kol-                an-klaai-klAAng"pen-sii+daa-

....He further studied the faked Sida.

(From Rammakian: when Phra ram saw nang Benjakaai impersonating his wife
 Sida floating downstream as if drowned)

4) /klOOn-/: There are two major /klOOn-/s around Klon 6 (/klOOn-hok'/) and
   Klon 8 (/klOOn-pAAd'/) with Klon 8 the most popular form of poetry among
   all Thai poetry. Ex:

4.1 /klOOn- 6/: So named since there are six syllables in one (what the
    heck is it called in English) wak^: [....]

dAAd'OOn'din-un'krun'klob'      tha'la^lob'lom-pAAw'pAAw'naaw+
sod'chUUn"khUUn-wan-naan-yaaw-  mUaan+khaaw'kwaam-rak^jak'maa-

(By Nawarat Pongpaiboon)

4.2 /klOOn 8/: So named for the same reason: The following example is both
    beautiful in sound and structure, and elegant in meaning. The guiding
    light for me, and should be for you as well:

                The Ultimate Dream

kOO+fan+fai'nai-fan+an-lUaa+chUaa'
   (To dream the impossible dream)
kOO+suu"sUk'thuk^mUaa"mai"wan'wai+
   (To fight the unfightable foes)
kOO+thon-thuk^ruk^room-hoom+kaai-jai-
   (To bear the unbearable sorrow)
kOO+faa'fan-phong+phai-duaay"jai'tanong-
   (To reach the unreachable far)
ja'nAAw"nAA"kAA"khai+nai-sing'pid'
   (To right the unrightable wrong)
ja'rak^chaat"jon-chii-wit^pen-puuy+pong+
   (To defend the beloved land till the last breath)
ja'yOOm-taai-maai+hai"kiat'dam-rong-
   (To rather die than to loose dignity)
>ja-pid'thOOng-lang+ong-phra^pa'ti'maa-
   (To do things for others for nothing in return)

mai'thOO^thOOy+khOOy-saang"sing'thii"kuaan-
   (Will not be discouraged but do what should be done)
mai'ree-ruaan-pa^waa"pa'wang-khid^kang-kha+
   (Will not wasting time doubting)
mai'khUang-khAAn^nOOy^jai-nai-chok'cha^taa-
   (Will not blame anybody for {one's} poor fate)
mai'siaa+daai-chii-waa-thaa"sin"pai-
   (Will not feel bad if life ends)

nii'khUU-pa'ni^thaan-thii"haan+mung"
   (This is my quest)
maai+pa'dung-yu^ti'tan-an-sod'sai+
   (To establish justice)
thUng+thon-thuk^thOO-ra^maan-naan-taw"dai-
   (Despite on my suffering)
yang-man'jai-rak^chaat'ong-aat'khran-
   (I still persist with pride)

look'ma^nut^yOOm'ja'dee-kwaa'nii^nAA"
   (Then the world would be better than this)
prO^mii-puu"mai'yOOm-pAA^mAA^thuuk'yaan+
   (As many never give up though being doubted)
ja-yUUn-yad'suu"pai-fai'pra'jan'
   (They have determined to win)
yOOm-?a-san+kOO"prO^pOOng....tEd"pOOng+thai-.
   (And will devote their life for the benefit of other THAIS)

(phra^rat'cha^ni^phon- nai-pra^bat'som+dej-phra^ chaaw"yuu'huaa+
 phuu-mi'phon-a'dun-ya^dej, rat^cha^kaan-pat'ju'ban-)

(Composed by His Majesty The King, King Bhumibhol Adulyadej)

   Translator's Note: Some sentence above are the recollection of my
       memory of the song "The Impossible Dream." I have noticed the
       similarity between the Thai words and those in the song and
       have come to concluded that though the King composed the song,
       the person who filled the melody with words was inpired by if
       not plagiarizing it. I didn't have the whole text of words of
       the song in hand while attempting this translation. I could
       only recall some while created my own sentences, the lengthy
       ones, for the others.

5. /raai"/: Is probably the least structured of all Thai poetry. But don't
   take that for easy, it's not. I for one never can compose a /raai"/. Too
   difficult since you have to be a master of Pali and Sanskrit to write
   one as beautiful as those poets before us did. So maybe this is least
   structured but the most difficult nonetheless. They come in some
   variety, with probably the most prominent being /raai"yaaw-/ used to
   praise the King or a new Capital. One of such well known example is the
   name of Krung Rattanakosin or Bangkok that many of us got it wrong
   recently. I'll present another /raai"yaaw-/ praising Ayudthaya, the
   former Capital of Siam.

srii+a'yud^tha'ya-rom-ma'yees-          pi^ses'suk'bam-thEEng-
sam+rEEng-rat'cha^sa'than+              sam+raan-rat'cha^sa'thit'
pi^pit^pok'kha^som+bat'                 pi^pat^pok'ka^som+buun-
phuun-phi^phop^dab'khen+                yen-phi^phop^dab'yuk^
sa'nuk'khan+ta^see+maa-                 sam'see+naa-nOOb"klaaw"
sam'snom+faw"faai'nai-                  sam'phon-krai-krEEk'haan+
sam'phon-saan+sin+thop-                 sop'sat'traa-sOOn+plEEng-
tha'kEEng-phra^kiat'fung'faa^           rUU-ta'la^lob'lAAng'laa"
look'luaan^sdu'dii-

------------------------------

L.5)  The word "farang"

From: gwyn@ipied.tu.ac.TH (Gwyn Williams)
Date: 29 Mar 1994 04:24:21 +1000

                ORIGIN OF THE WORD "FARANG"

  A wide-spread belief in Thailand is that the word "farang" (Caucasian) 
is derived from the French word "francais". This derivation is implausible 
on phonetic and historical grounds. It is in fact a popular misconception. 
It is true, however, that these words have the same ultimate source. 

  The word is attested in various forms in languages in Europe, Africa, 
the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. It is clear that the 
word orginated as "Frank" in Europe and spread eastwards along Muslim 
trade routes. 

  Thai most likely borrowed the word from influential Muslim Persian or
Indian traders in the 17th century or even earlier. The Persian word was 
"farangg". The term probably was used to refer to early Portuguese 
traders and subsequently to all Europeans (ie., non-Muslims). 

  It is possible that the Thai word "farangset" ("French") is a blend 
of the word "farang" and the French word "francais", ie., "farangset" is
actually derived from "farang", not vice versa. Certainly, the word 
"farang" existed prior to, and independently of, "farangset".

  The following is an edited collection of discussions on the origin of 
the Thai word "farang". PART 1 includes the initial discussion on 
soc.culture.thai (PART 1). I forwarded the topic to LINGUIST LIST for 
information on the word in other languages (PART 2).

[Editor's note: Both articles are available for anonymous FTP as files
    the-word-farang-1.txt and the-word-farang-2.txt from ftp.nectec.or.th
    from directory /soc.culture.thai/SCTinfo/languages.]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Acknowledgements

The original soc.culture.thai FAQ was proposed, put together and initially
maintained by Thanachart Numnonda (thanon@ccu1.auckland.ac.nz).

Sincere appreciations for valuable contributions from:
  Andrew Atzert (aatzert@mail.sas.upenn.edu) for L.2;
  Gwyn Williams (gwyn@ipied.tu.ac.th) for L.5;
  Jaray Chomchalao (chomchal@baboon.ecn.purdue.edu) for L.4;
  Jessada Jongsukvarakul (jj2k+@andrew.cmu.edu) for correction to L.4;
  Lee Hopper (hopperl@ohsu.edu) for L.3;
  Matt Barney (BMF50752@vax1.utulsa.edu) for L.2;
  Parames Laosinchai (CHLBB@CUNYVM.BITNET) for input to L.1;
  Putnam Barber (pbarber@eskimo.com) for L.2;
  Rob Reed (rreed@mtwire.es.com) for input to L.1;
  Samart Srijumnong (ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu) for L.3 and translations of
    poems in L.4;
  Thinakorn Tabtieng (ttabtien@cs.uml.edu) for L.2; 
  Unalome Techamuanvivit (cslac2209@bestsd.sdsu.edu) for passing on L.1 and;
  Wirote Aroonmanakun (waroonma@guvax.georgetown.edu) for L.1.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj    : soc.culture.thai Travel

Archive-name: thai/travel

The "soc.culture.thai Frequently Asked Questions" periodic postings are
divided into 6 parts plus an index. Requests for inclusion, correction
or update can be made by posting a public message or follow-up to this
FAQ.

The current release of these FAQs can be fetched by anonymous FTP from
rtfm.mit.edu (or its mirror sites) under directories:
   /pub/usenet/news.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.culture.thai
or accessed via World-wide Web at URL:
  http://www.nectec.or.th/soc.culture.thai/master.html

The working copy of this FAQ can be accessed by anonymous FTP from
ftp.nectec.or.th in directory /soc.culture.thai.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TRAVEL FAQ
Tourism and Travel information

 * Travel information
  T.1)  Royal Thai Embassies
  T.2)  Visa information
  T.3)  Where to get tourist and travel information?
  T.4)  Which credit cards are accepted in Thailand?
  T.5)  Car rental
  T.6)  General observations and recommendations
  T.7)  North
  T.8)  Northeast/Isan
  T.9)  East/Southeast
  T.10) Alternative accommodation: Bangkok International Airport

----------------------------------------------------------------------

TOURISM AND TRAVEL INFORMATION

This part of the soc.culture.thai FAQ outlines information and
possible sources of further information pertaining to Thailand
tourism and travel information.

------------------------------

T.1)  Royal Thai Embassies

Below is a list of the Royal Thai Embassies in various countries:

Australia
   11 Empire Circuit Yarraluma          Royal Thai Consulate General
   Canberra, ACT 2600                   3rd Floor, 75-77 Pitt st,
   Tel (071) 731149                     Sydney, NSW 2000
                                        Tel. (071)(02) 241 2542-3

Austria                            Belgium
  Weimarer Strasse 68                   Square Du Val De La Cambre 2
  Vienna 1180,                          Bruxelles 1050,
  Tel. (047)(0222) 348361               Tel. (046) 6406810

Canada                             China
  180 Island Park Drive,                40 Guang Hua Lu,
  Ottawa, Ontario, K1y OA2,             Beijing,
  Tel. (021)(013) 722444                Tel. (085) 5321903

Egypt                              France
  2 E1 Male El Aldal St,                8 Rue Greaze,
  Zumalet, Cairo, A.R.E.                Paris 75116,
  Tel. (091) 3408356                    Tel. (042) 47278079

Germany                           
  Botschaft des Koenigreichs            Generalkonsulat des Koenigreichs
  Thailand - Kanzlei                    Thailand
  Ubierstr. 65                          Podbielskiallee 1
  D-53173 Bonn                          D-14195 Berlin
  Tel. (0228) 355065/8, 351085          Tel. (030) 8312715, 8314574

  Honorargeneralkonsulat des            Honorargeneralkonsulat des
  Koenigreichs Thailand                 Koenigreichs Thailand
  Koenigsallee 27                       Rossmarkt 14
  D-40212 Duesseldorf                   D-60311 Frankfurt
  Tel. (0211) 8382247                   Tel. (069) 20110

  Honorargeneralkonsulat des            Honorargeneralkonsulat des
  Koenigreichs Thailand                 Koenigreichs Thailand
  An der ALster 85                      Prinzenstr. 13
  D-20099 Hamburg                       D-80639 Muenchen
  Tel. (040) 24839118                   Tel. (089) 1689788

Hongkong                           India
  8 Cotton Tree Dr.,                    56-N Nyaya Marg,
  8th Floor, Fairmont House,            Chanakyapuri,
  Central Hong Kong,                    New Delhi 110021,
  Tel. (0802) (5) 216481-5              Tel (081) 605679

Indonesia                          Japan
  74 Jalan Imam Bonjal,                 14-6 kami-Osaki, 3-choem,
  Jarkarta,                             Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141,
  Tel. (073) 343762                     Tel (072) 44-1386

Malaysia                           New Zealand
  206 Jalan Ampany,                     2 cook st., Karori,
  KL 50450,                             P.O.Box 17-226, Wellington,
  Tel. (0804)(03)2488222                Tel (074) 768618-9

Netherlands
  Buitenrustweg 1,                      Royal Thai Consulate General
  2517 KD Den Haag,                     Emmastraat 40,
  Tel. (070) 345 2088                   1075 HW Amsterdam,
                                        Tel (020) 6799916

Norway                             Saudi Arabia
  Munkedamsveien 5913,                  A1 Maa'ther St.,
  0270 Oslo 2,                          P.O. Box 94359, Riyadh 11693,
                                        Tel. (0495)(01) 4826002

Singapore                          Sweden
  370 Orchard Rd.,                      5th Floor Sandhamnsgatan 36,
  Singapore 0923,                       P.O.Box27065, Stockholm 10251,
  Tel. (087) 7372158                    Tel. (054)(08) 672160

Switzerland                        UK
  3rd Floor, Eigerstrasse 60,           29-30 Queen's Gate,
  Bern 3007,                            London, SW 7 5JB,
  Tel. (045)(031) 462281-2              Tel. (051)(01) 5890173

Switzerland (for french speaking)       (for german speaking)
Consulat de Thailande                   Thailaendisches Konsulat
  R. Jean-Senebier 20                   St. Alban-Graben 8
  1205 Geneve                           4051 Basel
  Tel. (022) 781 33 66                  Tel. (061) 271 68 67

USA
  2300 Kalorama Rd, N.W.,               Royal Thai Consulate General
  Washington, D.C. 20008,               35 East Wacker Drive,
  Tel. (0230)(202) 4837200              Suite 1834, Chicago,
                                        Tel.(0230)(312) 2362447-8

  Royal Thai Consulate General          Royal Thai Consulate General
  801 N.La Brea Ave.,                   53 Park Place,
  Los Angeles, CA 90038,                New York, NY 10007,
  Tel. (0230)(213) 971834-9             Tel. (0230)(212) 7328166-8

  Royal Thai Consulate
  205 SE Spokane Ave., Suite 350,
  Portland. OR 97228-5516
  Tel. (503) 232-7079

------------------------------

T.2)  Visa information

1. Requirements to obtain visas

   1.1 Valid passport.
   1.2 One visa application form (duly filled in and signed by applicant).
   1.3 Two passport size photographs (color or b&w), 2"X2", front view.
   1.4 Visa fees (for each entry) are payable in cash or money order only:
        Non-Immigrant Visa...................US$ 20, Maximum stay 90 day.
        Tourist Visa.........................US$ 15, Maximum stay 60 day.
        Transit Visa.........................US$ 10, Maximum stay 30 day and
                                             for transfer to third country
                                             only, a photocopy of confirmed
                                             onward air ticket must be
                                             submitted when applying.
   1.5 The following applicants should call the Thai Embassy for additional
       requirements:
        a) Holders of US passport or Re-Entry Permits and were born in
           Cambodia, Vietnam or Loas
        b) Holders of passport: -People of Republic of China
                                -Middle East Countries
                                -New Zealand and Sweden
                                -Other communist countries

2. Validity of visa for entering Thailand

   2.1 Visa will be utilized upon arrival at port of entry
   2.2 Visa must be utilized within 90 days from the date of issuance;
       6 months in case of 2 or more entries.

   Note: Do not apply for visa more than 3 months before your visit.

3. Long stay: more than 90 days

   Applicant must obtain an approval from the Immigration Division in
   Bangkok, Thailand. Procedures for such a visa can be carried out in 2
   ways:
   a) Applicant may submit the applications through the Royal Thai Embassy
      or consulate abroad.
   b) Company and firm in Thailand where alien wishes to work may represent
      an alien by applying directly to the Immigration Division in Bangkok,
      Thailand.

4. Exchange control

   a) To take out foreign notes or coins exceeding US $10,000 in value is
      permissible provided that the exceeding amount has been declared in
      writing to the Custom Officer at the time of entry.
   b) To bring more than Baht 2,000 in Thai currency into the country 
      and to take more than Baht 500 out of the country requires prior
      approval from the Bank of Thailand.

5. Citizens of the following countries are exempt from paying visa fees

   Denmark, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, Singapore and
   Tunisia

6. Entering Thailand without a visa; no extension will be granted

   Holder of valid passports from 41 countries listed below with a proof of
   confirmed onward ticket may enter and stay in Thailand within 15 days
   without visa

   Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, Brunei, Canada,
   Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Hellenic
   Republic, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea,
   Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
   Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Senegal, Singapore, Spain,
   Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, U.K., U.S.A., Vanuatu, Western Samoa,
   Yugoslavia.

------------------------------

T.3)  Where to get tourist and travel information?

Two Gopher servers are now offering travel information.

Gopher.chiangmai.ac.th offers travel information related to northern
provinces as well as recent weather forecasts. Gopher.kku.ac.th offers
travel information for northeastern (Isan) provinces.

In the USA, write to:

Thailand (USA,CA)
  Tourism Authority of Thailand
  3440 Wilshire Blvd #1101
  Los Angeles, CA 90010
  213-382-2353;; FAX 213-389-7544
Thailand (USA,IL)
  Tourism Authority of Thailand
  303 E. Wacker Dr #400
  Chicago, IL 60601
  312-819-3990;; FAX 312-565-0355
Thailand (USA,NY)
  Tourism Authority of Thailand
  5 World Trade Center #3443
  New York, NY 10048
  212-432-0433;; FAX 212-912-0920
 
------------------------------

T.4)  Which credit cards are accepted in Thailand?

Here's brief information about the system in Thailand

    ATM
        Plus, Star and Cirrus system cards work. It is also possible to get
        money from Visa, MC, AmEx, JCB, Diners at exchange booths and banks
        with a fee.

    Credit Cards
        Visa, MC, AmEx, JCB, DC at most of the large retail establishments,
        restaurants, hotels and travel agents. A surcharge of between 3 and
        5 percent (sometimes more) is almost universally applied.

    Traveler's Cheques
        There is a fee (7 Baht per cheque) and a tax (3 Baht per cheque).
        Money exchange booths with competitive rates are open at all
        hours, everywhere.

    Change money
        Money exchange booths with competitive rates are open at all
        hours, everywhere. Every major currency is accepted. Most will
        not exchange Baht for other currencies.  Banks will, but only
        during regular banking hours. Some banks have an exchange window
        that is open at other hours.

    POSTCHEQUES
       (This info. is kindly provided by Khun Ralf Von Gunten)
       With POSTCHEQUES one can get money in every post office. With one
       POSTCHEQUE, one can get up to 5,000 Baths, which is much enough for a
       while. I used successfully POSTCHEQUES (February 92 and July 92)
       in small places like Khun Yuam (near Mae Hong Son) and Si Chiang Mai
       (near Vientiane, Laos). All the small banks there didn't accept my
       VISA Card or something else. What's better, with POSTCHEQUES: It's
       free of any charge and the exchange rate is often more favourable.
       People who wants to use POSTCHEQUES should ask the closest post
       office.

------------------------------

T.5)  Car rental

From: goletz@netcom.com (Eddie Goletz)
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1994 03:15:06 GMT

I rented a car when I went to Thailand last September and I used it to
drive around the provinces.  Car rental is a little expensive, but it is
fun and it gives you a great deal of freedom.  I think having a car also
impressed some of the people I met there.
 
I don't think there were any rental places at the Bangkok airport.  I
rented through Hertz, and they delivered the car to the airport for me,
for a 400 Baht charge.  Avis was another company that rents cars there.
I made my reservations through their toll free number while in the US.
 
I checked the prices with both Hertz and Avis, and found their prices to be
comparable.  Rates from the Hertz brochure are:
 
                                       +----------------------------------+
                                       |  Self Drive       | Self Drive   |
                                       |  Economy Rates    | Unlimited Km |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Car Group      | Make & Model          |  Daily |  Plus    | Daily        |
               |                       |        |  per Km  |              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Super Economy  | Mitsubishi Champ 1.3  |  800   |  4       | 1200         |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Economy        | Toyota Corolla 1.3    | 1000   |  4       | 1400         |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Luxury Economy | Mitsubishi Lancer 1.5 | 1100   |  4       | 1500         |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Medium         | Toyota Corona 1.6     | 1200   |  5       | 1600         |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Luxury Medium  | Toyota Corona 2.0     | 1500   |  6       | 2000         |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 
There are also Executive, Super Luxury, Touring and Truck Car Groups and
Chauffeur rates as well. [........]
Collision Damage Waiver insurance is 150 Baht/day and Personal Accident
Insurance is 100 Baht/day.
 
A friend read in a guide book about some rental places that were very cheap,
around 500 Baht/day, but that the cars are so old that you spend all your
time worrying about the car breaking down.
 
My Hertz brochure states that drivers must be between ages 23 and 60 and
have at least one years driving experience, hold a valid driving licence
and an international driving permit if the licence is not in English.
I read in some guide books that the international driving permit is always
required.
 
I don't know if any insurance is required, but I highly recommend it.  I
found out that the automatic insurance that goes with those gold credit
cards is not valid in Thailand.
 
I haven't visited the places you mentioned.  I know from experience that
in general Thai drivers are comfortable with, shall we say, a lower margin
of safety in driving that people in America are used to.  I was involved in
or close to what looked to me like some close calls.  However, I never saw
any collisions or even cars with dents in them.
 
I don't remember the rates, but I recall [gasoline rates] were very
reasonable, on par with US prices.
 
Manual transmission are the norm.  If you want an automatic, be sure to state
that this is a requirement when you make your reservation.
 
No maps came with my car, and the airport shop did not have any road maps.
I did purchase a road map at a museum on my second day.  It was a road map
atlas of all of Thailand, written in both English and Thai, published by
the Roads Association of Thailand.  It cost 150 Baht.  The ISBN is
974-7653-31-1.  This map was very helpful to me.  It also made asking
directions much easier because the maps were bilingual.  Perhaps you could
buy one of these maps by mail before you go.  The address and phone number is:
 
Roads Association of Thailand
Department of Highways HQ.
Si Ayutthaya Rd., Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400
Tel.(02) 246-1971, (02) 246-1122 Ext. 2276
 
Many of the road signs are in Thai only.  Also, the roads are not marked as
as well as I am used to here in the US.  Highway driving, however, is
generally pretty easy.  You just can't go very fast. 
 
------------------------------

T.6)  General observations and recommendations

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 1994 08:59:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Putnam Barber <pbarber@eskimo.com>

> What's the local currency converted to US dollars?

Thai baht are stable at a little over 25 to the US$.

> What's the normal price to pay for a room?

In Thailand, rooms can range from 60 baht to several thousand. 
The key variables are (1) air-con or not, (2) bathroom (and style thereof)
or not.  We have had the best luck staying in 20+ year-old poured concrete
hotels near the centers of towns and taking the non-air-con room with a
private bath. These usually cost 150 to 250 baht per night (outside of
Bangkok) with one bottle of water, two towels (thin) and a roll of toilet
paper, maybe the tiniest bar of soap you ever saw.  You sometimes need to
ask for one or another of these 'amenities'.  The "Lonely Planet Travel
Survival Guide - Thailand" lists one or more of this style hotel in nearly
every city. 

> How's the food? Good/bad, expensive/cheap?

There's every imaginable choice.  Sold from carts.  Sold from 
open-air storefronts.  Sold in outdoor garden restaurants.  Sold in 
air-con restaurants with menus in English, Chinese and Thai.  When you 
feel brave, go to the open-storefront restaurant where police, 
military or bank people are eating.  When you feel cautious, look for a 
food court in a department store -- they serve basically the same food,
but in a place with much more visible surface sanitation and (usually) 
air conditioning.  The food courts I saw worked with coupons.  You buy 
them at the door and pay the food vendor (there are usually several).  
Any unused coupons can be redeemed where you bought them (I 
think).  Air-con restaurants are cold, and usually quite expensive, and a 
nice break from the hustle of the street.

    The street vendors specialize.  Noodles _or_ rice, seldom both.  One 
kind of meat or fish, sometimes two.  You make your selection by choosing 
which cart to go to depending on the food you prefer.  I recommend chicken 
with noodles in a thin soup and banana fritters.  

    Most things to eat in Thailand are quite inexpensive.  A signal 
exception is beer, which costs 45 baht a (large) bottle in small stores 
and can be up to 100 baht ($4) in restaurants.  I'm amused to say that in 
my notes from our recent trip there are many days where beer is nearly 
half of our total day's expenses -- :-)  .

> Any nice places to stop by on the way? 

Lots.  There are too many wonderful places to have much fun trying to
cover 'all' the territory in a short time.  It depends what you like.  I
suggest the "Lonely Planet" (or another detailed) guide as a good pre-trip
read.  And best is choosing one or two places to stay for 2-3 nights and
days before moving on if you have to.  I love wandering the streets and
markets of Thai cities -- each has a different character which takes a
while to see under the bustle, the 'coke' signs, and the crowds of
minibikes and pickups.  The countryside is harder, there aren't very many
places to stay, transport takes flexibility and creativity (sometimes
something close to courage, too).  The distances can be quite surprisingly
long.  There are though lots and lots of buses and wonderful helpful
people.  Plus taxis are surprisingly cheap and people sometimes use them
for very long trips (I saw one from Bangkok with a couple in the back a
few kilos outside Buriram, nearly 500 K from 'home'!). 

Of course, some people go to Thailand to spend time on beautiful beaches 
at relatively low prices.  That's a very sensible thing to to do.  The 
beaches are beautiful.  The prices are relatively low.  After some time 
there, though, I've come to enjoy the communities more and more.  I guess 
I'd encourage everyone to save a little time for exploring one of the 
cities outside of Bangkok.

From: Alan Cooper (alan@care.ac.lk)
Date: Unknown

 South:
     I recommend avoiding resort/tourist areas during holidays. We visited
     Phuket, Phi Phi, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan last month during the New
     Year holiday. It was *very* crowded and difficult to find lodging,
     transportation (plane, train, bus or boat). Prices (especially in
     Phuket) were inflated 2-3X. At the dock in Surat tourists were being
     warned not to go to the islands (Koh Samui & Phangan) if they didn't
     have prearranged lodging.

     On the other hand, holidays are a good time to tour Bangkok. Fewer
     people and less traffic.

     Something I've seen no mention of on SCT is drug use in resort areas.
     I realize that this is part of the attraction for some but others are
     looking for places to take families. They should be advised that this
     sort of thing goes on.

     At the resort where we stayed on Koh Phangan an employee was openly
     selling marijuana to mostly young foreign guests. These guests would
     then smoke it every chance they got including in the restaurant during
     breakfast, lunch and dinner. Other Thai and foreign families staying
     there agreed that this made it a not very desirable place for a family
     holiday and would not come back. The owner was aware that there was
     more profit to be had from vacationing families vs. young foreigners,
     but apparently did not see the connection between their promotion of
     marijuana use and discouraging family vacations. I wish they would have
     at least advised discretion and not allowed marijiuana smoking in the
     restaurant.

     Only once did I see someone suggest to a tourist that they put out
     their joint. A waiter at a dockside restaurant on Koh Phangan pointed
     out to a table of tourists that a policeman was nearby and smoking
     marijuana was inadvisable. The tourists got the message.

  Isan:
     Towns along he Mekong river between Ubon and Nong Khai have always been
     favorites of mine. Mukdahan has a thriving riverfront tourist market
     with lots of goods from from Laos, China and Vietnam. The (rebuilt)
     temple at That Phanom has a well organized museum with many signs in
     English as well as Thai. I don't remember there being any museum when I
     first visited That in 1973. Nakhon Phanom remains relatively untouched
     by tourism. There is a new tourist-class hotel, the Mae Nam Kong Grand
     View which may mark the beginning of change, but Nakhon Phanom remains
     a great place to sit and watch the river.

------------------------------

T.7)  North

General travel information on Thailand northern provinces is available
on a Gopher server at gopher.chiangmai.ac.th. The URL
  http://www.nectec.or.th/nectec.html
consolidates all known references to information related to Thailand
including the above gopher.

From: ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Samart Srijumnong)
Date: 12 Jan 1994 01:47:13 GMT

First of all, one weekend would not be enough for hill tribe village tour. 
The shortest trek tour takes four days. Chiangmai and other areas close
by along should comfortably fill the whole two-day/two-night trip. As MBA
students, they may want to look for some "selling points" from the things
they see, e.g. local arts, tourist attractions, people's attitude and tastes.
If this is the case, it would not matter much where they go anyway.

Concerning the place to stay, here are the places listed by Joe Cummings,
in his tourist guide...THAILAND, (1990), under "top end" category. 

Chiang Inn Hotel, downtown, from 920B
Chiang Mai Hill, 18 Huay Kaew Rd., from 726B
Chiang Mai Orchid, 100 Huay Kaew Rd., from 1210B
Chiang Mai Plaza, 92 Si Donchai Rd., from 950B
Chiang Mai President, 226 Vitchyanon Rd., from 847B
Dusit Inn, downtown, from 1000B
Poy Luang, 146 Superhighway, from 886
Rincome Hotel, 301 Huay Kaew, from 1331B
Suriwong Hotel, downtown, from 1089B

The followings have some rooms with airconditioning (middle class?)

Anodart Hotel, Ratchamankha Rd.,  280-480B
Bualuang Hotel, 16 Huay Kaew Rd., from 350B
Chang Phuak Hotel, 133 Chotana Rd., 250-400B
Chiang COme Hotel, 7/35 Suthep Rd., 300-500B
CHiang Mai Phucome, 21 Huay Kaew Rd., 550-880B
Diamond Hotel, 33/10 Charoen Prathed Rd., 400-930B
Iyara Hotel, 126 Chotana Rd., 450-550B
Little Duck Hotel, 99/9 Huay Kaew Rd., 400-500B
Muang Mai Hotel, 502 Huay Kaew Rd, from 420-480B
Nantana Pension, 72/76 Tipanet Rd., 250-350B
New Asia Hotel, 55 Rachwong Rd., 220-1200B

I also mentioned YMCA in other posting. The price is quite reasonable there.
I have not given the phone as you may only want to use the number to estimate
the trip cost. When you are in Bangkok, you can acquire their number and
contact them. To book room for big group like this should get some discount
which sometime up to 50%. 

------------------------------

T.8)  Northeast/Isan

General travel information on Thailand northeastern provinces are available
on a Gopher server at gopher.kku.ac.th. The URL
  http://www.nectec.or.th/nectec.html
consolidate all known references to information related to Thailand
including the above gopher.

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 1994 09:04:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Putnam Barber <pbarber@eskimo.com>

Northeast Thailand (Isan)

The roads to northeast Thailand climb through spectacular scenery
on their way to the plateau.  Often the unusual geological
features on these steep climbs have been the focus of temples and
parks -- Wat Thep Pitak Punnaram on route 2 east of Saraburi is
one example, the mountain with a hole through it at Khao Chagan
on route 317 south of Sra Kaeo is another.

Issan itself is largely flat, with an occasional isolated
mountain rising through the plain.  At Prasat Hin Khao Phanom
Rung, southwest of Buriram off route 24, a spectacular 1000+ year
old temple complex has been extensively restored on the top of
one of these mountains, with views across the flat rice-growing
plain in every direction for great distances.  It's a
spectacular, fascinating and beautiful place.

Many Thai people visit Phanom Rung.  There is a large parking lot
with many vendors offering food and souvenirs near the entrance
to the temple complex, which is managed by the Department of Fine
Arts.  There is also a hotel complex with nice looking units
across the road from the entrance, but I have no information on
how to book rooms or what the rates are.  

The Lonely Planet guide has a good introduction to the features
of the temple and recommends buying "The Sanctuary Phanomrung" by
Dr. Sorajet Woragamvijya from one of the vendors outside the gate
(20 baht?).  The museum 'shop' inside the complex has a
disappointing selection of books about other Thai landmarks;
there is very limited signage, almost none in English.  This
ancient and fascinating place is well worth the journey to its
out-of-the way location.

Northeast of Nakorn Ratchasima (Korat) is Prasat Hin Phi Mai,
much more accessible than Phanom Rung but not on top of a
mountain.  The new museum nearby has good exhibits and
informative labels that place the temple complex in the context
of what is known about the history of Issan and the construction
of these Khmer monuments.  There is also a beautiful book of
color photos (240 baht) available from the museum book counter;
its text is in Thai but there are captions in English that are
very helpful.  Prasat Hin Phi Mai is an easy day-trip by public
bus from Korat; the 'ordinary' bus leaves every half hour from
the bus terminal -- it and the one to Bangkok are both labeled in
English.  It stops for a long time at a small market east of the
north city gate -- just south of the city moat.  It's certainly
more efficient to catch it there than to make your way to the bus
station only to be driven back to town to wait while vendors
offer all sorts of goodies and the local people fill the rest of
the seats.

Korat has several fascinating (newer) temple complexes right in
the city, plus the active Thao Suranari Memorial near the east
city gate (which is actually near the center of the present-day
town).  Khun Ying Mo is seen as a patron by many Thais,
especially women, and people with special requests bring them to
her all day and well into the night.  Plus, when these requests
are successful, people hire groups of singers to perform near the
statue as a token of appreciation, which makes for a lively scene
for other on-lookers as well.

They make several distinctive snack foods in this area that are
not easily available (as far as I could tell) in Bangkok.  One,
Khao Deng ('red rice') is a tasty cracker-like food originally
made from rice that stuck to the pan while making other dishes. 
It comes in a square celo bag about the size of a brick, is
yellow-orange in color and quite delicious.  Another is a flat
cake of 'puffed' rice, sesame seeds, and sugar-syrup -- vaguely
reminiscent of cracker-jacks but no-where near as overwhelmingly
sweet.  Both are sold, along with many other treats, by roadside
vendors and small shops near the busstops and elsewhere.

------------------------------

T.9)  East/Southeast

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 1994 09:03:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Putnam Barber <pbarber@eskimo.com>

Southeast Thailand

The main route to everywhere south of Pattya -- route 3 -- is
under construction for much of the way to Chantaburi.  It's a
strong argument for taking the air-con bus if any part of the
journey will be on that road.

Offshore from Sri Rachaa is the fascinating island Koh Si Chang. 
The town on the island, where the ferry docks, has accomodations
of all sorts, including a new luxury hotel.  We stayed in Benz
Bungalows, closest accomodations to the site of the former palace
at the south end of town, and particularly enjoyed the food at
Wichaira Seafood, just a short walk up the main road.  (Dispite
what the Lonely Planet Guide says, there is no "ring road" on the
island -- many town streets, a single route north and south on
the east side, through town, and an unpaved road across to the
beaches on the west.)  

The tuk tuk drivers will offer a tour of the island, with time to
visit all the attractions, for 150 baht.  We didn't take it,
preferring to walk.  But there are definitely a lot of
interesting places to go, and the swimming from Hat Sai on the
west side is wonderful -- take the dirt road to the right heading
south from town just after an auto repair business and before the
entrance to the research station at the palace site, go up the
steep hill to the second right turn, and across the island
through the mango plantation.  When the road turns to the north
(after passing a sharp turn to the left) watch for paths to the
left that lead down to the beach.  Exploring the fields and rock
formations at the end of the road is also fun -- especially
before a swim.  

Still on Koh Si Chang, there are monkeys that live in the
pavillion housing the Buddha footprint at the top of the Chinese-
style temple at the north end of town -- another reason, in
addition to the spectacular view, for climbing the long flights
of concrete steps leading to it.  And be sure to save energy for
exploring the many shrines in caves throughout the temple
grounds.  Lastly, the newly created gardens in honor of Princess
Sirikit's birthday (just a little way west of this temple, at the
top of a saddle through which a path leads to the sea on the
west, but not beach) are peaceful and very beautiful.

Both Rayong and Chantaburi have streets of wonderful older urban
buildings, lively markets, and lots of good food from street
vendors and noodle shops.  Chantaburi also offers the "largest
Christian church in Thailand" -- an imposing building at the end
of a footbridge across from the heart of town -- and the glamour
of being surrounded by an active trade in sapphires and rubies. 
If you know what you're doing, you can probably do some wonderful
trading yourself -- everyone in town is ready to deal!  

There's a little antique store, with a great collection of
Victorian clocks from all around the world, on Tessaban 3 Road
near the intersection with Sroisuwan[sp?] Road (three blocks from the
market).  I mention it because it's the only antique store I saw
anywhere in Thailand outside of Bangkok.  

Downhill from the antique store on Tessaban 3 Road a couple of
blocks are two or three airconditioned restaurants that aren't
mentioned in the Lonely Planet Guide.  They obviously have
broader menus than the streetside vendors can provide.

Further south, offshore from Trat in the Gulf of Thailand is Koh
Chang which is well worth the difficulty of getting to it.  There
is direct mini-bus service from Bangkok, which we didn't use (and
which is described in guidebooks).  Otherwise, the route is bus
to Trat, song thaew to Laem Ngop, and ferry to your beach of
choice from the pier.  We stayed at Hat Sai Khao (White Sand
Beach) in the Sun-Sai Bungalows -- very well kept and friendly. 
They have bungalows on the beach and across the road on a
hilside.  We paid 200 baht for one with a hong nam but away from
the beach.  There are many other accomodations at widely varying
prices on that beach and others.  People who had been there
before complimented the resorts along Hat Sai Khao for their
daily diligence in clearing away any trash and it certainly
showed.  Less developed beaches, ironically, had more plastic
bags and pop cans drifting around because there's no-one to take
responsibility for policing the area.  

Phlu waterfall, down the road a piece and up the river by a track
and jungle trail, is a wonderful excursion and a great place to
swim in fresh water.  Just outside the gates to the national park
there is the Waterfall Resort, an unlikely place with bungalows
far from any other attraction, and the Waterfall Restaurant,
where I had a very nice meal in short order when I was the only
customer in sight.  No need to carry a picnic.  

The island itself is so beautiful and exotic that's it's hard not
to see it as the set for a movie, instead of what it really is --
the place the set designers study in the faint hope of catching
its special quality.  But a really, really long trip from
Bangkok!

From: chomchal@baboon.ecn.purdue.edu (Jaray Chomchalao)
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 1994 21:59:13 GMT

The transportation to the East Coast is provided by "BOO- KhOO+
SOO+ at Ekamai. The fare six yrs ago from BKK to Chantaburi 
(about 300 kilometers (200 mi) was B40. You can also take an
airconded-bus costing B150 six yrs agao. There are at least four
air-conded bus lines to choose from. Pick the one with the best
looking hostess and you won't regret it:=) K. Putnam said Chantaburi
and Trat are too far from BKK. Well, 4 hrs to Chantaburi, 6 hrs to Trat,
provided that you take the air conded bus which travels by the "Saai+
mai' road (the new route), or the BKS buses that use the new route.
Make sure that you get on the BKS bus that use "Saai+ mai'" road if
you don't want to spend another two hours detouring to Sattahip. 

Chantaburi and Trat:

Watch out when dealing jewelry in Chantaburi. Take my words for
it (I'm from Chantaburi and Trat and Chonburi, my three homes),
even professionals who deal with ruby every day sometimes fail
to distinghish natural from man-made ruby! Ruby is very expensive.
If you buy a cheap ruby, you are "tuun+"ed definitely. Buying
them at the jewelry stores in Chantaburi is safer. Don't ever
buy from a jewelry market!

Chantaburi is best visited around April-July. In April, mangoes
are very abundant and in variety. Ripe mangoes and cooked
sticky rice with coconut milk is what a taster must not miss.
After April, mangoes are gone. Then in Mid June a variety of 
NgO' (rambutans) and Durians are ripe and appear in the markets
everywhere. Those who can stand the strong smell of durians will
enjoy the fruit, eaten with or without sweet-coconuted milked
sticky rice. Chantaburi is famous for its rambutans and durians.
Especially, during that time, many orchads will offer a "all
you can eat" walk thru event, where you pay a small sum and are
allowed to walk thru the orchads, picking the best rambutans
from the tree and eat all you like, provided that you take none
with you when you leave. The roadside view during that time is
also very pleasant since the trees are full of colorful fruits,
and the fruit trades are everywhere on the roadsides.

The Phlu waterfall is in Chantaburi, about 30 kilometers from the
City along the way to Trat. The description above could very well
fit the attribues of Chantaburi's Phlu waterfall, but I think Put
nam meant to say Thanmayom waterfall on Ko Chang since he's
talking about the island.

------------------------------

T.10) Alternative accommodation: Bangkok International Airport

From: gwyn@ipied.tu.ac.th (Gwyn Williams)
Date: 2 Feb 1994 02:17:39 +1100

   Anyone wanting a hotel near Bangkok's airport, but not wanting to
   be gouged at the Airport Hotel, then a friend has recommended
   TK PALACE on Chaeng Wattana. Cost 800 baht a night. Tel: 574-1588

From: johpa@aol.com (Johpa)
Date: 14 Mar 1994 02:34:10 -0500

   A brief update on [...] the Airport Hotel: Thai/Chinese price is 1,900
   baht, white price is 4,000 baht and the food in the coffee shop is
   expensive and lousy. [...] The Comfort Inn near the airport can be
   booked thru the 800 number in the USA.

   [Email update on Mon, 14 Mar 94 10:59:57 EST]

   There are also suggestions for alternatives: the Golden Dragon Hotel,
   great for kids with a McDonalds and shopping center across the street
   but heavy traffic during the day; and my old standby, the Cadena Palace,
   now the Nice Palace off of Sutthisan Rd with easy access to Don Muang
   but don't reccommend any of the bars on Sutthisan if travelling alone!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Acknowledgements

The original soc.culture.thai FAQ was proposed, put together and initially
maintained by Thanachart Numnonda (thanon@ccu1.auckland.ac.nz).

This part of the soc.culture.thai FAQ cannot be completed without
information from the following contributors:
  Alan Cooper (alan@care.ac.lk) for T.6;
  Eddie Goletz (goletz@netcom.com) for T.5;
  Ekkehard Uthke (euthke@siam.muc.de) for T.1 update;
  Gwyn Williams (gwyn@ipied.tu.ac.th) for T.10;
  Jaray Chomchalao (chomchal@baboon.ecn.purdue.edu) for T.9;
  johpa@aol.com for T.10;
  Putnam Barber (pbarber@eskimo.com) for T.6, T.8 and T.9;
  Ralf Von Gunten (VONGUNTENR@EZINFO.vmsmail.ethz.ch) for the postcheques
    part of T.4;
  Samart Srijumnong (ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu) for T.7;
  Thinakorn Tabtieng (tabtiength@woods.ulowell.edu) for T.2; and
Sincere thanks also go to those who contributed to T.1, T.3 and T.4
whose names were not recorded in the previous versions of the FAQ.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive-name: thai/technical

The "soc.culture.thai Frequently Asked Questions" periodic postings are
divided into 6 parts plus an index. Requests for inclusion, correction
or update can be made by posting a public message or follow-up to this
FAQ.

The current release of these FAQs can be fetched by anonymous FTP from
rtfm.mit.edu (or its mirror sites) under directories:
   /pub/usenet/news.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.answers/thai
   /pub/usenet/soc.culture.thai
or accessed via World-wide Web at URL:
  http://www.nectec.or.th/soc.culture.thai/master.html

The working copy of this FAQ can be accessed by anonymous FTP from
ftp.nectec.or.th in directory /soc.culture.thai.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TECHNICAL FAQ
Networking and Software

 * Networking
  N.1)  Network map
  N.2)  Domestic host count
  N.3)  NSFnet network statistics
  N.4)  Network resources (revised)
  N.5)  Commercial network access
 * Thai software
  S.1)  Microsoft Windows 3.1 Thai Edition
 * Business
  B.1)  Domestic computer market

----------------------------------------------------------------------

TECHNICAL INFOTMATION

This part describes technical aspects of Thailand particularly Information
Technology and Science and Technology Development activities.

------------------------------

N.1)  Network map

                 Domestic IP network topology

                               NIDA
                TU-----TU        |       KKU
              Rangsit   `\       | SUT   /     STOU
                     TIAC `\ MOPH| |   /' RU  /'
                         `\_`\ | | | /'_/'__/'
  UUNET/Alternet------------N E C T E C---------KMITNB
                             |   | |`\`\`------MUA
                      AIT  KMITL | `\ `\`-----KMITT
                       |         |  PSU `\
       UUNET---------Chula-------+    `\  `---KU
                    /' | `\            PSU
            Chiangmai  |   `Mahidol   Pattani
                      AU

Legends

-------         IP link

AIT             Asian Institute of Technology {Pathumthani}
AU              Assumption Univiersity, formerly known as Assumption
                Business Administration College -- ABAC
Chiangmai       Chiangmai University {Chiangmai}
Chula           Chulalongkorn University
KKU             Khon Kaen University {Khon Kaen}
KMITL           King Mongkut Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang Campus
KMITNB          King Mongkut Institute of Technology, North Bangkok Campus
                {Nonthaburi}
KMITT           King Mongkut Institute of Technology, Thonburi Campus
KU              Kasetsart University, Bangkhen Campus
Mahidol         Mahidol University, Ramathibodi Campus
MOPH            Ministry of Public Health
MUA             Ministry of University Affairs
NECTEC          National Electronics and Computer Technology Center,
                National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA),
                Ministry of Science Technology and Environment (MoSTE)
NIDA            National Institute for Development Administration
PSU             Prince of Songkhla University, Haad Yai Campus {Songkhla}
PSU Pattani     Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani Campus {Pattani}
RU              Ramkhamhaeng University, Huamark Campus
STOU            Sokhothai Thammathirat Open University {Nonthaburi}
SUT             Suranaree University of Technology {Nakornratchasima}
TIAC            Technical Information Access Center, NSTDA, MoSTE
TU              Thammasat University, Thaprachan Campus
TU Rangsit      Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus {Pathumthani}

------------------------------

N.2)  Domestic host count

As of May 6 1994, Thailand has:

Found 0 hosts within th
Found 0 hosts within or.th
Found 41 hosts within nectec.or.th
Found 3 gateway hosts within nectec.or.th
Found 0 hosts within go.th
Found 1 host within moph.go.th
Found 1 host within mua.go.th
Found 0 hosts within ac.th
Found 1 host within ru.ac.th
Found 3 hosts within nida.ac.th
Found 7 hosts within kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within arch.kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within grad.kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within sci.kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within rector.kmitl.ac.th
Found 16 hosts within crsc.kmitl.ac.th
Found 2 gateway hosts within crsc.kmitl.ac.th
Found 31 hosts within lcad.crsc.kmitl.ac.th
Found 58 hosts within ce.kmitl.ac.th
Found 2 gateway hosts within ce.kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within inded.kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within lib.kmitl.ac.th
Found 43 hosts within net.kmitl.ac.th
Found 12 gateway hosts within net.kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within it.kmitl.ac.th
Found 0 hosts within agri.kmitl.ac.th
Found 2 hosts within eng.kmitl.ac.th
Found 13 hosts within ait.ac.th
Found 3 hosts within gridbkk.ait.ac.th
Found 17 hosts within cs.ait.ac.th
Found 1 host within staff_lan.ait.ac.th
Found 8 hosts within chiangmai.ac.th
Found 1 host within kmitnb.ac.th
Found 5 hosts within tu.ac.th
Found 13 hosts within chula.ac.th
Found 2 extrazone hosts within chula.ac.th
Found 5 hosts within acc.chula.ac.th
Found 5 hosts within cuuc.chula.ac.th
Found 5 hosts within csc.chula.ac.th
Found 4 hosts within car.chula.ac.th
Found 1 host within md.chula.ac.th
Found 2 hosts within atccu.chula.ac.th
Found 2 hosts within eng.chula.ac.th
Found 5 hosts within mahidol.ac.th
Found 2 hosts within stou.ac.th
Found 13 hosts within au.ac.th
Found 1 host within sut.ac.th
Found 1 host within kmitt.ac.th
Found 6 hosts within psu.ac.th
Found 6 hosts within kku.ac.th
Found 6 hosts within ku.ac.th
Found 1 gateway host within ku.ac.th
Found 30 hosts within cpc.ku.ac.th
Found 2 duplicate hosts within cpc.ku.ac.th
Found 5 hosts within rdi.ku.ac.th
Found 2 duplicate hosts within rdi.ku.ac.th
Found 3 hosts within lib.ku.ac.th
Found 54 hosts within cpe.ku.ac.th
Found 1 gateway host within cpe.ku.ac.th
Encountered 421 hosts in 50 domains within th
Encountered 4 duplicate hosts in 50 domains within th

------------------------------

N.3)  NSFnet traffic

NSF Backbone Service Traffic from/to Thailand.

                        Bytes               Bytes       Percentages
           No.          In To               Out From    In       Out
           Nets         Backbone            Backbone   (%all traffic)
=====================================================================
93  Jan      3         110086100           291218500     0.00    0.01
    Feb     11         153774900           450993850     0.00    0.01
    Mar     12         232535800           637034800     0.00    0.01
    Apr     11         157441200           596281150     0.00    0.01
    May     13         173862850           724595250     0.00    0.01
    Jun     13         258465250           883010950     0.00    0.01
    Jul     15         275098400          1433567400     0.00    0.02
    Aug     16         378205950          2042966200     0.01    0.03
    Sep     16         441728700          2253084200     0.01    0.03
    Oct     17        473182400          2694364850     0.00    0.03
    Nov     17         596610450          4087475000     0.01    0.04
    Dec     18         610994800          4037458900     0.01    0.04
94  Jan     21         972252150          4711328550     0.01    0.05
    Feb     25        2244173700          4127016300     0.02    0.04
---------------------------------------------------------------------
   Source:  derived from data at nic.merit.edu

------------------------------

N.4)  Network resources

FTP servers

   ftp.cs.washington.edu
     /pub/thaisys/BBS          Selected files from BBSes in Thailand.
              .../info         Files from NECTEC /pub/info/...
              .../software     Files from NECTEC /pub/pc/... and
                               Kent State's /pub/Thai/Software.
              .../thainews     Decoded daily news from Thai News Agency
                               available at NECTEC /pub/news. Updated
                               regularly.

   zadar.cca.vu.nl
     /pub/pics/Thailand        GIF and JPEG pictures of Thailand.

   asia.lcs.mit.edu
     /pub/thai/gif             GIF pictures.

   chulkn.chula.ac.th
     /pub/cuword               Home of cuword

   ftp.nectec.or.th
     /pub/info/...             Information -- Text files.
           .../gna             Global Network Academy -- list of courses/
                               degrees of which class attendance is not
                               required and the Internet and its facilities
                               can be used to stimulate classroom
                               environment.
           .../netinfo         Forms/procedures related to Internet
                               registration
           .../royal-speeches  Transcriptions of Royal Speeches on various
                               occations. Thai. TIS 620-2533 character set.
           .../soc.culture.thai-faq  Working copy of soc.culture.thai FAQ.
           .../thai-language         Thai word list, Thai word parser, etc.
           .../thailand-education    Information on local education.
           .../thailand-figures      Economic indicators and forecasts.
           .../thailand-gis+maps     GIS data and maps.
           .../thailand-networking   Domestic networking.
           .../thailand-travel       Travel.
     /pub/mirrors/...                Mirror archives of various software and
                                     specifications. Update automatically.
              .../dharma             DharmaNet Electronic File Archive (DEFA).
              .../games              U Mass Lowell's games archive.
              .../internet-drafts    Internet drafts.
              .../gnu                GNU archive from MIT.
              .../lpf                Leagues for Programming Freedom archive.
              .../microsoft          MS technical specifications.
              .../msdos              Simtel/Oak Repository archive.
              .../rfc                Internet RFC's.
              .../win3               Indiana CICA's Win3 archive.
     /pub/news                 Daily news from Thai News Agency. Thai.
                               TIS 620-2533 character set. Updated daily.
     /pub/pc/cu-writer         The renowned CU-Writer (a.k.a. CU Word).
                               Developed at Chulalongkorn. Thai.
         .../lao               Lao software -- now only the Lao version
                               of CU Writer 1.5. Developed by the
                               International Relations of Chulalongkorn
                               and the Lao PDR's Ministry of Science and
                               Technology.
         .../mm-may92          MS Windows multimedia application of
                               the 'middle-class uprising' May 1992
                               chronicle. Developed at AIT. Thai.
         .../thai-lib          C programming library to facilitate the
                               development of Thai language applications.
                               Developed at KMIT-T. Thai.
     /soc.culture.thai         Shortcut to /pub/info/soc.culture.thai-faq/.
         .../Index             Current soc.culture.thai Index.
         .../general           Current soc.culture.thai General FAQ.
         .../culture           Current soc.culture.thai Culture FAQ.
         .../language          Current soc.culture.thai Language FAQ.
         .../travel            Current soc.culture.thai Travel FAQ.
         .../technical         Current soc.culture.thai Technical FAQ.
         .../numerical         Current soc.culture.thai Numerical FAQ.
         .../Archives          Soc.culture.thai archives.
         .../Posted            Old releases of soc.culture.thai FAQs.
         .../SCTinfo           Supplemental information to soc.culture.thai.
     /thailand-info            Shortcut to /pub/info/

   ftp2.nectec.or.th
     /pub/mirrors/...                Mirror archives of various software.
                                     Update on a daily basis.
              .../faq                USENET Frequently Asked Questions
              .../mac                Macintosh archive from Stanford.

Telnet server

   md1.md.chula.ac.th
                               Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn.
                               Index of Thai Medical Journals.
                               Login as CUML; no password. OpenVMS.
                               microCDS/ISIS package.

   rccvax.ait.ac.th
                               Regional Computing Center, AIT. Online
                               library catalogue. Login as LIBRARY;
                               no password. OpenVMS. microCDS/ISIS pkg.

Gopher servers

   emailhost.ait.ac.th
                               Regional and domestic information from
                               ESCAP, UNESCO, University of Maryland
                               and many others. Great source of info.

   chulkn.chula.ac.th          ** Experimental server **
                               Internet Service Office.

   gopher.chiangmai.ac.th      ** Experimental server **
                               Information center for Northern Thailand.
                               Travel information. Recent country-wide
                               weather forecast.

   gopher.kku.ac.th            ** Experimental server **
                               Information center for Northeastern Thailand.

   gopher.mahidol.ac.th        ** Experimental server **
                               Computer Center, Mahidol.

WWW servers

  emailhost.ait.ac.th          Offers similar sets as AIT gopher plus
                               the richness of the global web. Home page:
                                 http://emailhost.ait.ac.th/

  www.nectec.or.th             A world-wide web server to access all known
                               domestic information mentioned above. Access
                               to NECTEC mirror archives (RFCs, draft RFCs,
                               GNU, SimTel/Oak MSDOS, UML Games, D.E.F.A.
                               Buddhism online files, CICA Win3, Microsoft
                               technical specs, League for programming
                               freedom, Linux and Macintosh). Various
                               collections of handy network utilities. Global
                               Network Navigator. Global Network Academy.
                               Australia/Thailand Higher Education Information
                               Exchange. ANU Coombs archives Thai-Yunnan
                               Project Newsletters. soc.culture.thai FAQs.
                               Home page is URL:
                                 http://www.nectec.or.th/

  www.cs.rochester.edu         A variant of consolidated Thailand network
                               resources. Home page at URL:
                     http://www.cs.rochester.edu/users/grads/edyamp/thai.html

Updated on 1994-05-06.

------------------------------

N.5)  Commercial network access

From: mbarnes@finally.East.Sun.COM (Mike Barnes)
Date: 14 Feb 1994 20:42:08 GMT

  Contacts for Compuserve in Thailand:
  PTT CONTACT INFORMATION IN THAILAND

      Commercial Service:
      Director, Commercial Division
      Communications Authority of Thailand
      Bangkok 10501
      Thailand

      Telephone:  (662) 234-7242 or 233-1050, ext. 2217 or 2521
      Telex:      (788) 70021 or 80013

      Administrative Matters:
      Dr. Kittin Udomkiat
      Telex:  (788) 80006

      Technical Matters:
      Mr. Manit Saikeaw
      Telex:  (788) 70046

From: fyta@chula.ac.th (Yunyong Teng-amnuay)
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 08:45:16 +0700 (BKK)

   THAIPAK is the X.25 service offered by CAT (Communications Authority of
   Thailand).  It allows connection to other X.25 node (server) via simple
   RS232 async port (?9600? bps).  There are minimum charge and traffic
   charge by the byte.

   At the moment there is no "commercial Internet service" in Thailand.
   So people can't just walk in with money to get an account for Internet
   access.  The current connections (started by Chulalongkorn University
   since September 1992 and later on by NECTEC) are under constraints by
   the CAT to be used only for education and research purposes.  That is
   by such organizations or their members.  If you can find some
   justification (such as affiliation with Chulalongkorn) then you should
   be entitled to a temporary account.

   [...] Commercial service for the Internet access may come in a year
   or so but even then it will still be expensive.  I would say 1,000 baht
   a month at the minimum.

------------------------------

S.1)  Microsoft Windows 3.1 Thai Edition

From: PANU@vm.acs.unt.edu (Panu Sittiwong)
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 94 12:32:26 CST

  Since my previous post on Windows 3.1 Thai Edition, I have received
  several info. about the product.  So I decide to post it in SCT to
  everyone.  Here is the info.
  22 Soi Somkid, Ploenchit Rd.
  Bangkok 10330
 
  Tel. 66-2-254-7088
  Fax. 66-2-256-0310
 
  I don't know that you can get it in the U.S.  I got my copy in
  Bangkok by trading in my English version of Windows 3.1.  The
  upgrade price is 1250 Bath plus 7% VAT.  You will need to bring
  all the diskettes of the English version for the upgrade.  The
  software comes in 8 diskettes and a Thai manual.  I have been using
  it since last August without any problem and the Thai characters
  look real nice.

From: Randall Jones (rjones@igc.apc.org)
Date: 24 Jan 94 12:24 PST

  I've just ordered the Thai version of Windows 3.1.  I ordered the full
  package, not the upgrade.  It cost $190.00.  (I haven't received it yet
  but I'm looking forward to trying it out.)

  I ordered from THE IDEA in California (Los Angeles, I think).  Their
  phone number is (213) 628-2801.  This was the only vendor MicroSoft
  Help could suggest for the Thai Windows in the U.S.

------------------------------

B.1)  Domestic computer market

Data compiled from Prachachart Thurakit, Siam Post and Bangkok Post.
October 1993.

Market size

=========================================================================
                1990         1991             1992           1993
             --------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
               Value     Value  Growth    Value  Growth    Value  Growth
              M Baht    M Baht     %     M Baht     %     M Baht     %
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mainframe     1,675.0   2,000.0  19.40   4,624.0 131.20   3,788.0 (18.08)
  Hardware                               2,312.0          1,994.0
  SW/Svcs                                2,312.0          1,794.0
Minicomputer  2,300.0   2,500.0   8.70   2,883.0  15.32   5,629.4  92.26
  Hardware                               1,730.0          2,786.6
  SW/Svcs                                1,153.0          2,842.8
Workstation      70.0     180.0 157.40     504.0 180.00   1,110.1  39.19
  Hardware                                 252.0            385.1
  SW/Svcs                                  252.0            725.0
PC            4,855.3   5,914.3  21.81   8,302.0  40.37  11,472.6  38.19
  Hardware                               7,728.0         10,236.4
  SW/Svcs                                  564.0          1,236.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total         8,900.3  10,594.3  19.03  16,313.0  53.98  22,000.1  34.86
  Hardware                              12,032.0         15,402.1
  SW/Svcs                                4,281.0          6,598.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources: Computer Association of Thailand -- Vendor Group (CATVG) and
         Association of Thai Computer Industry (ATCI)


Random predictions

ATCI: 1993 market breakdown
                                 Unit     Value
                                 Sold    M Baht

       Mainframe                   35     1,533
       Minicomputer               778     2,537.6
       Workstation                517       377.41
       PC                                 6,384
         Brand (imported)       81000     4,008
         No brand (local made)  69000     2,376
           486dx      50.8 %
           486sx      35.0 %
           386dx       7.6 %
           386sx       6.7 %
       Hard disk               120000     1,230
       Monitor                  70000       552
         B&W          18.6 %
         Color        81.4 %
       Software and Services              6,598
         Software            59.7 %
         Network              8.1 %
         Installation/MIS    31.5 %
         DP/Service Bureau    0.7 %

       Total market                      22,000.11
         Mainframe & Info Services        3,788
         Minicomputer & Info Services     5,629.4
         Workstation                      1,110.11
         PC                              11,472.6

IBM Thailand: 1993 market breakdown

   - Total market: 22,000 million Baht
   - Growth over 1992: 35%
   - 46% of total market is minicomputer
      x  Enjoys 47% growth rate
      x  Average prices: 1992    1.7 million Baht
                         1993H1  1.4 million Baht
                         1993H2  2.3 million Baht
   - PC and peripherals: 11,000 million Baht

Datamat: 1993 software and services market

   - Software and services (S&S) has 30% share from the total market
   - Anticipated at 54% share by the year 2000
   - S&S sales will jump from 6 billion Baht this year to 23 billion by
     2000 A.D.
   - Software alone is 2.6 billion now and 16 billion in the year 2000
   - S&S : Hardware ratio is 30:70
   - In the year 2000, the ratio will be 40:60

Microsoft Thailand: PC market

   - Predict more offerings on services, training and after-sales support
   - Regional market size
       Singapore    89,000 units
       Hong Kong   105,000
       Thailand    150,000
       Taiwan      570,000
       Korea       860,000

==============================================================================

Acknowledgements

Thanks for contributions from:
  John. A. Brubaker (staff@emailhost.ait.ac.th) for N.3;
  Mike Barnes (mbarnes@finally.East.Sun.COM) for N.5;
  Panu Sittiwong (PANU@vm.acs.unt.edu) for S.1;
  Randall Jones (rjones@igc.apc.org) for S.1;
  Trin Tantsetthi (trin@nwg.nectec.or.th) for N.1, N.2, N.3, N.4 and B.1;
  Yunyong Teng-amnuay (fyta@chula.ac.th) for N.5



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