Thai customs

The Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: The old name was Siam. On May 11, 1949, the Thais used the name of their own nation to change "Siam" to "Thai", mainly to mean "freedom". It is located in the middle of the Indochina Peninsula, bordering Myanmar and the Andaman Sea in the north, Laos in the northeast, Cambodia in the southeast, and a narrow peninsula in the south is connected to Malaysia.

Thailand is known as the "Country of Buddhism" and the "Country of White Elephants" and is also one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world. The capital Bangkok is also known as the "Venice of the Orient". In Thai, Bangkok means "City of Angels", but this is just an abbreviation. If its full name is translated into Latin, it has a total of 142 letters and is the world's longest named capital.

Thailand's total population is about 64.5 million (statistics as of March 2014). There are more than 30 ethnic groups in the country. The Thai are the main ethnic group, accounting for 40% of the total population. The rest are Lao, Chinese, Malay, Khmer, as well as Miao, Yao, Gui, Wen, Karen, Shan, Semang, Shagai and other mountain ethnic groups. Thai is the national language. Buddhism is the main belief in Thailand, with 90% of Thai people believing in Buddhism.

For hundreds of years, almost all aspects such as customs, literature, art and architecture have been closely related to Buddhism. Its Thai calendar is also the Buddhist calendar year, also known as the Thai calendar year, based on the year of Sakyamuni's death. 2012 is called the Buddhist calendar year 2555 years. Since it is 543 years earlier than the birth of Jesus, take 2555 - 543 years =2012. For ease of use, Ji Yue's law is the same. The conversion method expresses: Thailand's national calendar-543 = AD.

and in Thailand, all Buddhist boys will have to cut their hair and become monks at a certain age, even the royal family and aristocrats are no exception. On the streets of Thailand, monks dressed in yellow kasaya and magnificent temples can be seen everywhere. Therefore, Thailand has the reputation of the "Yellow-robed Buddhist Kingdom". Buddhism has shaped moral standards for Thais and formed a spiritual style that advocates tolerance, tranquility and peace-loving.

Thai people are accustomed to calling elders they don't know by uncle, uncle, aunt, grandfather or grandma. Passes are also called brothers, or sisters. They have been educated at home since childhood and must respect their parents and elders at home. The school cultivates students to respect teachers and be polite to senior classmates, and teaches students to respect teachers as if they respect their parents. During the annual Songkan Festival, people are accustomed to spraying holy water to their respected elders and superiors.

On the day of respecting teachers, students should pay homage to their teachers. The trend of respecting elders and teachers is related to society's promotion of education that rewards kindness. Thais do not have a trend of favoring boys over girls. Many families are more happy to have a girl than to have a boy. Thai women have achieved equal status with men in all aspects, such as the right to education, vote and stand for election.

Thais generally do not shake hands when meeting, but make a namaste and say to each other "Sawadika"(Thai transliteration, meaning "happy happiness"). The higher you raise your folded hands, the more respect you show for the other party. When saluting, put your hands together, put your fingers together, and place them in front of your chest, with the tip of your palms facing the tip of your nose, and bow your head slightly. When the younger generation meets the elders, they raise their hands to their eyes, and when they meet as equals, they raise their hands to their noses. The elders return the salute to the younger generation to their chest. Those with lower status or younger age should salute first. When one party salutes, the recipient should return the Namaste. Thais also exchanged namaste when they bid farewell. Nowadays, Thai government officials and intellectuals often shake hands and say hello when they meet. But don't point your feet at anything casually when communicating. Whether you are standing or sitting, don't let your feet attract attention or see the soles of your shoes.

Thailand's food is internationally renowned. Whether it is spicy or light, harmony is the guiding principle that follows in every dish. Thai cuisine is essentially an organic combination of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences to form a unique Thai diet. The characteristics of Thai cuisine depend on the chef, diner, occasion and cooking location to satisfy everyone's appetite. Thai cuisine initially reflected the characteristics of the aquatic lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs are the main ingredients. Avoid using large pieces of meat. Subsequent influences led to the use of relatively large pieces of meat in the Thai diet.

Because of the Buddhist background of the

, Thais avoid using large animal meat. Large pieces of meat are chopped and mixed with herbs and spices. Traditional Thai cooking methods are steaming, baking or grilling. Due to the influence of China, frying, frying and frying methods were introduced. Since the 17th century, cooking methods have been influenced by Portugal, the Netherlands, France and Japan. In the late 17th century, Portugal missionaries became accustomed to the taste of red peppers in South America and introduced red peppers into Thai cuisine. Therefore, they like to eat spicy and tender food, like curry rice and Dong Yum Kung soup; they don't like too salty and too sweet things, and they don't eat braised dishes.

Thai people are also accustomed to sitting on their knees around a low round table and grabbing food with their right hands. You can use a straw when drinking water and drinks. Whether you are girls or boys in Thailand, you can use a straw when drinking water and drinks. They think drinking water through a straw looks more polite and refined. It is rare among Thais to drink water with their heads up or directly drink from their mouths.

Thailand is also an exotic country, and the Thai people themselves are relatively hospitable. However, it should be noted that in Thailand, remember not to step on the threshold. According to Thai customs, that is the place where gods live; if a Venerable or elderly person is present, no matter whether others are sitting or kneeling, their heads must not exceed the head of the Venerable or elderly person. Otherwise, it would be a great discourtesy. Thais also the most taboo for others to touch their own head (even children) because they believe that the head is the place of wisdom and is precious and sacred.

Thai people usually wear shirts, trousers, and skirts. On formal occasions, they are accustomed to wearing dark suits or skirts. They also like bright colors, but avoid brown, signing with red pens and using dog patterns; because in Thailand, people use red pens to write the names of the deceased on the coffin. So I think red is unlucky. They also used different colors to represent different dates, Monday: yellow; Tuesday: pink; Wednesday: green; Thursday: orange; Friday: light blue; Saturday: purple; Sunday: red.

Thais also very fond of elephants and peacocks, while cranes and turtles are taboo

The patterns of cranes and turtles are unpopular in Thailand, and Thais are taboo about these two animals and objects bearing their images. Cranes are regarded as "pornographic" birds; turtles are regarded as symbols of male "sex". They like the number "9" because "9" in Thai means progress. Moreover, local people hold out their little finger upwards to indicate reconciliation, their thumbs down to indicate failure, and their curved index finger indicates death. They also believed that the Buddha and the King were supreme, so they could not discuss the Buddha and the King with them.

Muay Thai is a traditional Thai national art and fighting technique. Muay Thai, as a legendary fighting technique, is a sport famous for its strength and agility. It mainly uses the human body's fist, legs, knees, elbows and limbs to attack. It punches and sends legs, so that the knees and elbows can exert force smoothly and smoothly. The strength is extremely abundant and the attack power is fierce. The muay Thai thing that people talk about generally refers to modern muay Thai, not ancient muay Thai.

As a national art, Muay Thai is closely related to traditional Thai culture and has a strong religious color. For example, entrance apprenticeship, competitive etiquette, boxing and dance rituals, etc., all have religious artistic backgrounds. As for Thailand's classical poetry, drama and dance art, many movements and details are integrated into boxing. For example, a variety of boxing moves and boxing dances, tracing the roots and origins are definitely the art of drama and dance. From this point of view, Muay Thai is by no means far-fetched to be regarded as a national art of Thailand. It is indeed a very representative art.

Thailand now has more than 6000 registered boxing gyms, with nearly 65760 registered professional boxers. Together with other non-professional boxers, the number of employees has reached hundreds of thousands, including more than 30,000 Boy Scouts. The government rules that no Thai boxer can compete under 15 years old, but few people will enforce it. It is also a long-standing tradition for teenagers to practice Muay Thai and participate in for-profit competitions in rural Thailand. Playing Muay Thai has become a way for the poor to change their destiny. Many six or seven-year-old children have to fight black market boxing in exchange for a meager income. There are many scenes in their lives where their hands and legs are broken. Despite this, they still dream of relying on their own fists to change their destiny. However, after a bloody childhood, few people actually realize their dreams.