What is Thailand?

I suppose the important question to ask first is "where is Thailand?" before trying to figure out what Thailand is. Well, this South East Asian country is located south of China and borders Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. The country almost has a heart-shaped top to it and has a long skinny part that goes south to Malaysia.


In case you are wondering, a flight from the U.S. takes about 24 hours to reach Bangkok, Thailand. I've taken 3 routes so far: 14 hours to Tokyo with a 3 hour layover then 7 hours to Bangkok, or 14 hours over the north pole to Beijing with a 3 hour layover then 7 hours to Bangkok, or 14 hours to Seoul, Korea with a 3 hour layover and 7 hours into Thailand.

Quick facts about Thailand:

• The former name of Thailand is Siam (hence, the famous Siamese twins were from Thailand)
• The king of Thailand is the world longest running monarch. He was crowned in 1950 and just turned 81 years old.
• Thailand is the world's 50th largest country in land mass - similar to France or California
• Thailand is the world's 20th largest country in population - similar to France or the UK
• The average yearly tempearture in central Thailand is 92F
• Bangkok’s official name contains 15 words and roughly translates to “Great City of Angels, Repository of Divine Gems, Great Land Unconquerable, Grand and Prominent Realm, Royal and Delightful Capital City Full of Nine Noble Gems, Highest Royal Dwelling and Grand Palace, Divine Shelter and Living Place of Reincarnated Spirits”
  

OK, so what is Thailand? Truthfully, I don't know. Before coming here, I associated Thailand with third-world poverty, elephants, government coups, Thai kick boxing, beautiful beaches and jungles like in the movies "The Beach" and "American Gangster", the tsunami, and wonderful food. In the few weeks that I've spent living here, I've learned that it will be no simple task describing the experience of living in this place to an outsider. Hence, the purpose of this blog, to chronicle and share my experiences of living in Bangkok and exploring the rest of the country so that I can answer my own question of "what is Thailand?".

First impressions so far - the city of Bangkok is unlike any other I've visited. It is a metropolis of contridiction - chaotic but happily content, ancient but modern, dirty but beautiful, obscene but fiercely traditional. It is also hot, rainy, spicy, and lazy. The Thai people are very nice and all the modern conveniences of the west are available.

I look forward to sharingthe new and exciting things to come and hope that my experiences will help anybody out there that will be visiting or living in Thailand.

View of Bangkok, Thailand from the condo