The Land of Happiness and Freedom

There is one southern Asian country whose nicknames and those of its cities and capital are more than poetic. It is a Kingdom occupying an area of 513 000 square km, with a population of 63 million inhabitants, 75% being thai people. The country is religiously tolerant but nevertheless, 90% of the residents belong to Buddhism. Its border shape amazingly resembles a head of an elephant (the animal is greatly worshipped in the country and in Indo-China as a whole, by the way). And its history dates back to the 13^th century.

This is the century when the separated and spread-out thai cities were united and the independent country was founded. Sukhothai, as it was called in 1238, had a very poetical Sanskrit name which meant “The Rise of Happiness”. Later, in 1350, Ayutthaya became the capital of the established Kingdom. In the 19^th century Siam, as it was known at that time, managed to remain an independent country unlike the other countries in the region. It was not colonized due to the skillful diplomacy towards the world leaders and leading countries. The country was renamed after the World War II and nowadays it bears the magnificent name of Thailand or if translated, it is “The land of the Free”.