CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 04/2015

LE MONDE THAILAND
THE AGRICULTURAL THAILAND
Even as Thailand has developed its
economy since the 80s into an industrial
powerhouse, agriculture is still a major
source of national income and employment
(and its superb kitchen). As a matter of
fact, Thailand is the world‘s largest
exporter of rice and rubber and the 7th
largest exporter of sea food.
PHOTOS: PETER LECHNER
PHOTOS: TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND, FOTOLIA (3)
trians each year. As a result, the tourism industry
contributes around 15 percent to Thailand’s GDP,
which last year was around 373 billion US-dollars
(nominal) or some 5.420 dollars per capita.
So once a farang puts foot on the soil of Siam, the
name by which the country was known to the world
until 1939 and again between 1945 and 1949, there is
no way not to be charmed by the seven gems. First, of
course, there is Thai food, known for its fiery rich
flavour combinations, unique cooking styles and
age-old methods of preserving foods and offering
nutrition. Thai food, such as best loved dishes like
Phat Thai, Tom Yam Gung, and the fiery Som Tam
salad, can be enjoyed at local street stalls, filled with
scents and atmosphere.
Which directly leads to gem Nr. 2 – the Thai way
of life. Thai people’s hospitable personality is what
contributes to the unique and distant feature of a local
community, which is shaped by its members’ livelihood,
house building and designing techniques,
production of household and farming articles, and
adherence to a religion and beliefs inherited by their
ancestors. ”When it comes to religion, Thailand is
fundamentally liberal“, says Gresser. A feature seems
to be essentially a result of the third gem – Thai wisdom.
As Buddhism is embraced by more than 90
percent of Thai (some five percent are Muslims, a few
are Hindu and Christians) the country and its people
are like a storehouse of knowledge and wisdom, given
the country’s long history of religion, philosophy,
folk wisdom and traditions of oral teaching
passed down in families and in the temples.
At this point, it is interesting to remark that there
are conflicting opinions as to the origins of the Thais.
Three decades ago, it could be said with presumed
certainty that the Thais originated in Northwestern
Szechuan in China about 4.500 years ago and later
migrated down to their present homeland. However,
this theory was altered by the discovery of remarkable
prehistoric artifacts in the village of Ban Chiang in
the Nong Han District of Udon Thani Province in
the Northeast. These include evidence of bronze metallurgy
going back 3.500 years, as well as other indications
of a far more sophisticated culture than any
previously suspected by archaeologists. It now appears
that the Thais might have originated in Thai
territory and later scattered to various parts of Asia,
including some parts of China.
Maybe the fourth gem – Thai arts – represents the
best expression of modern Thailand, which was pro-
King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, better
known as Rama IX,
the 9th monarch of
the Chakri Dynasty.
38 Cercle Diplomatique 4/2015