Theme Week Thailand – Chiang Mai

29 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Tinsulanonda Library © FreeGenius

Tinsulanonda Library © FreeGenius

Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand and the capital of Chiang Mai Province. It is 700 km (435 mi) north of Bangkok near the highest mountains in the country. The provincial capital is the economic and cultural center of the north. The city is also called the Rose of the North because of its scenic beauty. Chiang Mai is the center of Thai handicrafts. Wood processing, textile production and the processing of jade jewelry in particular are important branches of the economy. In addition, tourism is an important source of income for many people. Chiang Mai hosts many Thai festivals. In early December 2017, Chiang Mai was awarded the UNESCO title of Creative City. In 2015, Chiang Mai was on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage inscription. Chiang Mai was one of two tourist destinations in Thailand on TripAdvisor‘s 2014 list of “25 Best Destinations in the World”, where it stands at number 24.   read more…

Theme Week Thailand – Surat Thani

28 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Marinapark © panoramio.com - Ralf Schmidt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Marinapark © panoramio.com – Ralf Schmidt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Surat Thani is a city in Amphoe Mueang Surat Thani, Surat Thani Province, southern Thailand. It lies 651 km south of Bangkok. It is the capital of Surat Thani Province. The city has a population of 130,000, and an area of 68.97 square kilometers. The city’s population density is 1,858.47 inhabitants per km².   read more…

Theme Week Thailand – Nonthaburi

27 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Wat Chotikaram © Archy36/cc-by-sa-3.0

Wat Chotikaram © Archy36/cc-by-sa-3.0

Nonthaburi is the principal city of the district and province of the same name in Thailand. It has city municipality (thesaban nakhon) status and covers five subdistricts (tambon) of Mueang Nonthaburi District: Suan Yai, Talat Khwan, Bang Khen, Bang Kraso and Tha Sai. As of January 2012, it has a registered population of 259,000, making it the most populous city municipality in Thailand (excluding Bangkok). Due to its location close to Bangkok the city is considered a suburb of Bangkok, part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, or Greater Bangkok. Nonthaburi is served by public transport systems including the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority bus system, the Chao Phraya Express Boat, and the newly opened MRT Purple Line.   read more…

Theme Week Thailand – Hat Yai

26 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Klong Hae floating market © Fisher - viewology.net/cc-by-sa-3.0

Klong Hae floating market © Fisher – viewology.net/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. It is 946 km (588 mi) south of Bangkok, and has a population of 159,000 in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in the south, and the third largest metropolitan area of the country. It is often mistaken for being the provincial capital. In fact, Songkhla is the capital and the center of administration and culture while Hat Yai is the business center. The name “Hat Yai” is a short version of “mahat yai”, meaning big mahat tree, a relative of jackfruits in genus Artocarpus.   read more…

Theme Week Thailand – Udon Thani

25 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Chinese Shrine © Stefan Fussan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Chinese Shrine © Stefan Fussan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Udon Thani is one of the four major cities (Khorat, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen) of the Isan region, Thailand, (known as the “big four of Isan”). It is the capital of Udon Thani Province. Udon is approximately 560 km from Bangkok. Udon is a major official and commercial center in northern Isan, Thailand, and the gateway to Laos, northern Vietnam, and southern China. Some of the revenue from tourism is related to tourists going to and/or coming from the archaeological site Ban Chiang (forty-seven kilometres from the city).   read more…

Theme Week Thailand

24 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  12 minutes

Yaowarat Road, the centre of Bangkok's Chinatown © flickr.com - Ninara/cc-by-2.0

Yaowarat Road, the centre of Bangkok’s Chinatown © flickr.com – Ninara/cc-by-2.0

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Southeast Asian Indochinese Peninsula composed of 76 provinces. At 513,120 km² (198,120 sq mi) and over 68 million people, Thailand is the world’s 50th-largest country by total area and the 22nd-most-populous country. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area. Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. It is a unitary state. Although nominally the country is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the most recent coup, in 2014, established a de facto military dictatorship under a junta. Thailand is an emerging economy and is considered a newly industrialised country. Thailand functions as an anchor economy for the neighbouring developing economies of Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.   read more…

Theme Week Myanmar – Mawlamyine

25 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

© panoramio.com - mohigan/cc-by-sa-3.0

© panoramio.com – mohigan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing, formerly Moulmein, is the fourth largest city of Myanmar (Burma), 300 km south east of Yangon and 70 km south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. The city is the capital and largest city of Mon State and the main trading center and seaport in south eastern Myanmar. Mawlamyine is in the Salween River delta, where the mouth of the Salween is sheltered by Bilugyun Island as it enters the Gulf of Martaban and the Andaman Sea. It is flanked by low hills dotted with ancient pagodas to the east and west.   read more…

Theme Week Indonesia

20 May 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  15 minutes

Borobudur, the world's largest Buddist temple © Gunawan Kartapranata/cc-by-sa-3.0

Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddist temple © Gunawan Kartapranata/cc-by-sa-3.0

Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world’s largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands, and at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles), the 14th largest by land area and the 7th largest in combined sea and land area. With over 261 million people, it is the world’s 4th most populous country as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world’s most populous island, contains more than half of the country’s population.   read more…

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