When it comes to Thailand, I believe that many friends will not be sleepy immediately. As a world-famous peach-colored area, it has long been a favorite place for many men. Especially Pattaya, known as the "Hawaii of the East", not only has sun, sand and the famous shemale performance, many Westerners fly here specially to watch the performance, and then fly away immediately after watching it. These former men exude enchantment and charm, even more than many women. The more famous ones are Poy, who played the daughter of the eight-faced Buddha in "Sweeping Drugs", and Rose, who briefly appeared in the elevator in "Thai". Here's a brief introduction to Thailand and other interesting things.
Where is Thailand?
Thailand, full name of the Kingdom of Thailand, is a constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia, located in the central part of the Indochina Peninsula, bordering Myanmar to the west, Laos and Cambodia to the east, Malaysia to the south, and the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean to the southeast and southwest. With a total area of 513,000 square kilometers and a population of 66.19 million, the capital is Bangkok. It is the only country in Southeast Asia that has not been subjected to colonial rule.
Early history
There are many opinions about the early history of Thailand, and the Thai people previously said that the Tai people and the Dai people of China are the same ethnic group, which established the Nanzhao state in the Tang Dynasty after the origin of China, and Kublai Khan entered Thailand after the southern expedition, but this statement was later refuted by mainland scholars. The earliest recorded kingdom in Thailand is the Lanna Thai Kingdom in northern Thailand, known in Chinese history books as the "State of Eight Hundred Daughters-in-law", and the Sukhothai Dynasty in central Thailand. Among them, the Sukhothai dynasty invented the language and established religious beliefs and continues to this day, so the current Thai textbooks and books take the development of the Sukhothai dynasty as the main history of Thailand.
In 1238, the Tai revolted to break free from Cambodian rule and established the Sukhothai dynasty in the city of Sukhothai. The first of the 7 great emperors in Thai history, Langkhamhaeng the Great, invented the Thai script, welcomed Theravada Buddhism and completely eliminated the influence of the Khmers, expanded his territory to most of present-day Thailand, and established ties with the Song Dynasty. Over the next hundred years, Sukhothai gradually established some important features of Siamese culture, politics and art. After that, the Sukhothai dynasty was replaced by the Ayutthaya dynasty.
After the Ayutthaya dynasty destroyed Sukhothai in 1438, he was crowned King of Siam by the Ming Dynasty. Subsequently, a feudal land division system "Sadinea system" began to be implemented, which divided the society into five classes, namely king-royalty-bureaucracy-commoners-slaves. This system, which lasted for more than 400 years until the collapse of the Bangkok Dynasty V, had a huge political and economic impact on Thailand, and played a large role in the rise of the Chinese in Thailand.
The first King of Siam
After that, Siam and Burma to the west began a 229-year war, but the results were disastrous. Siam won only 7 of the 24 battles fought between the two sides, and was twice destroyed. In 1767, Burma captured the city of Ayuta and the kingdom of Ayuta collapsed. Zheng Xin, the son of the Chinese Zheng Yong, fled with his troops, and seven months later Zheng Xin counterattacked the city of Ayuta and defeated the Burmese army, establishing a new kingdom in the city of Thonburi near the sea. During the Zheng Xin period, Siam was reunified and thus became the fourth of the seven emperors, and his enthronement day became a national holiday in Thailand on December 18 every year.
Zheng Xin
After the assassination of Tak Shin, General Kuchari became king, and for Rama I, he moved the capital to Bangkok, the beginning of the Bangkok dynasty, and he built the Grand Palace. By the time of Rama IV, the weakness and corruption of the Qing Dynasty and the scene of being bullied by Western powers made him decide to abandon Eastern culture and learn from Western countries, and began a series of Western-style reforms. He also signed treaties with Western countries to balance the relationship between Britain and France to avoid becoming colonies, establishing the prototype of modern Thailand, thus becoming the sixth of the 7 emperors.
Rama I
After Rama V came to power, he continued large-scale reforms, known as the "Chulalongkorn reforms". The reform abolished slavery, redistributed land, improved the judicial, educational, financial and other systems, and initially established the foundation of a modern state, thus becoming the last of the 7 emperors. Rama V cleverly took advantage of the conflict of interest between Britain and France in Siam, ceding part of the territory but avoiding total colonization. In 1939, Siam changed its name to Thailand, which means "Land of Freedom".
Rama V
The origin of the Asian Red Light District
During World War II, Thailand joined the Axis after the Japanese-Thai Offensive and Defensive Alliance Treaty in 1941, and declared war on Britain and the United States after the outbreak of Pearl Harbor. After Japan's surrender in August 1945, Thailand declared its previous declaration of war against Britain and the United States invalid the next day and was recognized by Britain and the United States, transforming from a defeated country to a victorious country, receiving tens of billions of yen in war reparations, and in return, the United States obtained a military base, and since then a large number of American troops have been stationed in Thailand, which has become the beginning of Thailand's peach culture.
After the beginning of the Cold War, Thailand's position became prominent, and the arrival of the US military made the Thai government, whose economy was very sluggish, think of a new way to get rich. As a port of call for the US military, Pattaya has many low-class women who have dedicated themselves to American soldiers in order to support their families, and the Thai government has simply built a large number of entertainment venues to carry forward this line.
Since then, a large influx of investment has turned Pattaya into one of the world's four famous windy moon fields, and Pattaya has been promoted by the US military around the world. Later, in order to cater to the "taste" of tourists from all over the world, shemale performances and "renting a wife" and other projects gradually emerged, and Pattaya became a place that many men yearned for. By 2012, there were about 400,000 shemales aged 20-40 in Thailand, but among them, there were very few who could really make a lot of money, and ordinary young actors could only earn less than 5,000 baht per month, but the price was to reduce their lives to more than 40 years old.
Although Thailand passed the Prostitution Prevention Act in 1960 and the tougher Prostitution Suppression and Punishment Act in 1996, it had little effect, and in 2015, there were about 200,000-300,000 sex workers in Thailand, contributing at least 270 billion baht to Thailand, so Thailand is in a dilemma for the development of the sex industry. In 2017, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered the complete eradication of Pattaya's erotic industry, but with it a large number of unemployment, the Thai government had to slow down the implementation efforts. In fact, behind this is not only the economy and employment issues, because the royal family and the military have a deep interest in it, even if the government wants to manage, it will be afraid of external pressure.
Unreliable king
The Thai royal family is no less wealthy than Arab, Monaco, Brunei and other royal families, with a wealth of 43 billion US dollars. Although the king has been the symbolic head of state since 1932, he still has considerable power, separated from the democratically elected government, with the military loyal to the king rather than the government. The former king, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), reigned for 70 years from his accession to the throne in 1946 until his death in 2016, making him the longest-reigning king in Thai history. During his reign, Rama IX greatly increased the influence of the royal family through ultra-high political means and regained power from the military junta. Since then, Thailand has actively participated in state affairs, revitalized the economy, and transformed Thailand from a poor and backward agricultural country into a country with modern industry and agriculture, and is known as the "King of Rejuvenation" and is famous at home and abroad.
Rama IX
Compared to him, his son Rama X Maha Vajiralongkorn is very unreliable. This new Thai king was criticized by the world for his unruly manners when he was crown prince, and after ascending the throne, he began a series of tumultuous operations. The first thing Maha did when he took office was to take back oversight of the royal family's assets from the government, and chartered a luxury hotel at the foot of the Alps all year round, where he took more than 20 of his concubines to drunken and dream-dead, controlling Thai politics. In 2019, a coronation ceremony for Maha cost more than 1 billion baht.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, Thailand's tourism and service industries were hit hard, and he not only ignored it, but continued to spend time in Germany, causing great indignation at home. There are also so-called "King Thai" vests, pet dogs, and tattoo stickers that have become cynics for Thais. In October 2020, tens of thousands of people held anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok to demand reform of the royal family. This is a long time seen in Thailand, which regards the royal family as a half-god, and Maha's approach is simple, fearing that he will be scrapped, he directly airlifted more than ten tons of jewelry to Germany to continue to be happy. When Rama I assassinated Zheng Xin to usurp the throne, Zheng Xin once said a curse of "those who take my throne, ten lifetimes will die", I wonder if it will really be fulfilled?
Dramatic conscription
Another interesting anecdote in Thailand is conscription. Thailand is not compulsory or compulsory conscription, but a unique lottery conscription. Recruitment events are held throughout Thailand in April and Thai men are required by law to draw lots once in their lives before the age of 30. Boys, pseudonyms, monks, etc. gathered here, and those who won the red lot were so distressed that they even fainted on the spot, while those who won the black draw cheered and excited. If someone dares to avoid becoming a soldier, the government will confiscate 20-80% of the family's assets and imprison for 1-3 years. So every draw is a few joys and a few sorrows.
In order to evade military service, people crossed the sea to show their talents. For example, it is stipulated that monks who have escaped into the empty door for more than ten years can be exempted from military service, so many people would rather cut their hair and become monks than become soldiers. For example, it is stipulated that the maximum weight of conscription is 300 pounds, so many people desperately eat themselves into a fat person of more than 300 pounds after drawing red signs. There is also an overdose of hormones that make the chest bigger, and you can avoid the lottery with "deformed chest". There are also those who have completely turned into shemales, and they can also be exempted from military service after examination, but few people have the courage to do this. So why are Thais so afraid of becoming soldiers?
Although there is no war in Thailand, demonstrations are frequent in the country, and hundreds of people died in 2010 in clashes between the Red Shirts and the government. Now that Rama X is not doing anything and the economy is in the doldrums, the Thais are already angry, and it is only a matter of time before they demonstrate again. Not only that, there are frequent coups in Thailand's history, and drug dealers are active in the surrounding areas, the army is often killed in attacks, and the pension is pitiful, only about tens of thousands of RMB and a medal.
And the Thai navy, land and air force, the worst treatment is the army, the monthly salary is only 5,000 baht, is 1/10 of the pilot, and the food is extremely poor, each meal standard is only about two yuan RMB, pet dogs and they are considered to eat and drink spicy. In addition, the atmosphere of the army is extremely bad, veterans will spread their grievances on the heads of recruits, and breaking the blood on their heads is a trivial matter, and it is a big trouble to encounter a wrong orientation. With the lowest salary, eating the worst food, and doing the most dangerous things, it is no wonder that the Thai recruitment scene every year is like a variety show. But it is everyone's responsibility to protect one's home and defend one's country. Thailand only treats it as a joke, and must not belittle the military, let alone evade military service.