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| Golden Buddha reclining into final nirvana, riverside Bangkok (Dennison Uy/flickr.com) |
[
Theravada] Buddhism is the key religion in Thailand. Thus, it is easy to spot Buddha statues all over the country and not only in Phuket [pronounced,
pooh-khet].
Its capital city, Bangkok [the full name of which is roughly the equivalent of the full name of Los Angeles, both meaning something akin to the City of Angels, and not in an ironic way, as decadent and hedonistic as the megalopolises are], has the famous four-faced Buddha. [This famous statue is not actually the Buddha at all, but a golden Brahma in an intersection.]
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| Bangkok, Hua-Lamphong train station, Thailand's main train station (Gift-of-Light/flickr) |
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| Heavenly temple, Chiang Mai (Swissrock/flickr) |
It attracts many tourists from all over the world. For history enthusiasts who are always looking for educational tours, Thailand is the perfect country to explore. [Not only is it tourist-friendly, one of the most welcoming places in the world, it is also ancient, vibrant, the third or fourth most vibrant economy in Asia behind China and Japan, and maybe Singapore, it is also very "Buddhist."]
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| Temple murals (fredMin/flickr) |
[It enjoys tropical coastlines and islands in the peninsular south, rainforests in the north, a forest meditation tradition in Isan (northeast Thailand) and elsewhere, as well as thickets of jungle and remaining old-world culture dotting the entire country, alongside skyscrapers, ancient temples,
viharas (monasteries), and Southeast Asian architecture influenced by India, China, neighboring Cambodia, and Vietnam.
It has many attractions of different natures -- water, land, and air. It is fun, relaxing, and everything happens under the sun. But the country never sleeps, and its nightlife has made it famous. The Pat Pong red light district, the curbside eateries, the warm communal sharing...
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| (Lagoon the_nomad_soul/flickr) |
With its many islands, tourists can hop from one adventure to another in no time.
It may not be the best country, but it certainly has to be one of the top three travel destinations.
The south has even more surprises with full moon beach parties, incredible water bound land masses (
kohs), remote beaches made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio, and secret lagoons like the one the castaways enjoyed on Gilligan's Island.
"The Beach" - Leo in search of adventures in Southeast Asia
Huge volumes of private emails, phone calls, and Internet chats are being intercepted by the National Security Agency (NSA) with the secret cooperation of more foreign governments than previously known, according to newly disclosed documents from heroic whistleblower Edward Snowden. The classified files, revealed today by the Danish newspaper Dagbladet Information in a reporting collaboration with The... More
