Thai names are euphonious and often very long
All Thais have an official first and last name and a nickname. My landlady is called Wandee Phornsirichaiwatana, former prime minister Yingluck is nicknamed poe. What do all those names mean?
The eventful history of the VOC outpost near Phuket
Phuket, the largest Thai island, undoubtedly exerts a great attraction on the Dutch. This is not only the case today, but it was also the case in the seventeenth century.
At the birth or rather creation of Ganesh he had no elephant head. He only got this later.
The Mekong increasingly threatened by boundless ambition
Earlier on Thailand blog I pointed out the exceptional importance of the Mekong, one of the most famous and notorious rivers in Asia. However, it is not just a river, but a waterway loaded with myths and history.
Jit Phumisak, poet, intellectual and revolutionary
Jit Phumisak (Thai: จิตร ภูมิศักดิ์, pronounced chit phoe:míesàk, also known as Chit Phumisak) graduated from the Faculty of Art, Chulalongkorn University and soon joined the Communist Party. He was a writer and poet who, like many, fled to the jungle to escape persecution. On May 5, 1966, he was arrested in Ban Nong Kung, near Sakon Nakhorn, and immediately executed.
It is often said that Buddhism and politics are inextricably linked in Thailand. But is that really so? In a number of contributions for Thailand blog I look for how both have related to each other over time and what the current power relations are and how they should be interpreted.
At the end of the nineteenth century Siam was, politically speaking, a patchwork of semi-autonomous states and city-states that was in one way or another subservient to the central authority in Bangkok. This state of dependence also applied to the Sangha, the Buddhist community.
The 'Revolution That Never Happened'
The 1932 Revolution was a coup that ended the absolutist monarchy in Siam. Without doubt a benchmark in the modern historiography of the country. In my view, the palace revolt of 1912, which is often described as the 'revolt that never took place', was at least as important but now even more hidden between the folds of history. Perhaps partly due to the fact that there are many parallels to be drawn between these historical events and the present…
'Au Siam', the fascinating travelogue of the Jottrands
Regular readers of Thailandblog know that I occasionally reflect on a striking publication from my well-stocked Asian work library. Today I would like to reflect on a booklet that rolled off the presses in Paris in 1905: 'Au Siam', written by the Walloon couple Jottrand.
Eating ice cream in Thailand
Ice cream parlors have been popping up like mushrooms in Thailand in recent years. In those salons large display cases containing trays with all kinds of flavors of ice cream.
The House of Bunnag: Persian Influence in Siam
Tino Kuis also pointed out on Thailandblog the important role the Chinese played in the creation of today's Thai nation. The story of the Bunnag family proves that it was not always Farang, Western adventurers, merchants and diplomats who exerted influence at the Siamese court.
Dutch embassy or consulate? What is the difference?
With 150 embassies, consulates and other posts, the Netherlands is represented in almost all countries in the world. Some embassies are very large, such as the one in Washington where about 150 people work, but there are also smaller ones. What does an embassy actually do? And how does that differ from the work of a consulate? We explain.
The VOC Factory in Ayutthaya
In my rather extensive collection of historical maps, plans and engravings of Southeast Asia, there is a nice map 'Plan de la Ville de Siam, Capitale du Royaume de ce nom. Leve par un ingénieur françois en 1687.' In the corner of this fairly accurate Lamare map, at the bottom right of the harbour, is the Isle Hollandoise - the Dutch Island. It is the place where 'Baan Hollanda', the Dutch House in Ayutthaya, is now located.
Few have exerted such an influence on civic and social life in Siam in the last quarter of the nineteenth century as Tienwan or Thianwan Wannapho. This was not obvious because he did not belong to the elite, the so-called Hi So who ruled the kingdom.
The map rank in Thailand
Having lived in Thailand for many years, I thought I knew most of the fruits available in this country. But suddenly I come across the name maprang (English: Marian plum, Dutch: mangopruim).
Election related agencies need to be reviewed
In 1997 Thailand got a new Constitution that is still seen as the best ever. A number of organizations were set up to supervise the proper functioning of the democratic process. In an op-ed in the Bangkok Post, Thitinan Pongsudhirak describes how the coups d'état of 2006 and 2014 with new Constitutions also placed other individuals in these organizations, individuals loyal only to the powers that be the ruling authorities, thus damaging democracy .
Leo George Marie Alting von Geusau was born on April 4, 1925 in The Hague into a family that belonged to the old nobility of the German Free State of Thuringia. The Dutch branch of this family consisted of many senior officials and officers. For example, his grandfather Lieutenant General George August Alting von Geusau was the Dutch Minister of War from 1918 to 1920.