O+'+NEILL+Shannon

The culture of Thailand incorporates a great deal of influence from India, China, Cambodia, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Thailand's national religion Theravada Buddhism is central to modern Thai identity and belief. In practice, Thai Buddhism has evolved over time to include many regional beliefs originating from Hinduism, animism as well as ancestor worship. In areas in the southernmost parts of Thailand, Islam is prevalent. Several different ethnic groups, many of which are marginalized, populate Thailand. Some of these groups overlap into Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia and have mediated change between their traditional local culture, national Thai and global cultural influences. Overseas Chinese also form a significant part of Thai society, particularly in and around Bangkok. Their successful integration into Thai society has allowed for this group to hold positions of economic and political power. After World War II, American missionaries sought to win Christian converts in Thailand. Harold Reeves, for instance, in 1952 became the first missionary to Thailand sent by the Southern Baptist Convention.
 * **__CULTURE:__**

**__LANGUA__****__GE:__** The official language of Thailand is the Thai language, a Kradai language closely related to Lao, Shan in Burma, and numerous smaller languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Yunnan south to the Malaysian border. It is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout the country. The standard is based on the dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida script that evolved from the Khmer script. Several other dialects exist, and coincide with the regional designations. Southern Thai is spoken in the southern provinces, and Northern Thai is spoken in the provinces that were formally part of the independent kingdom of Lannathai.

__**RELIGION:**__ According to the last census (2000) 94.7% of the total population are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Muslims are the second largest religious group in Thailand at 4.6% Thailand's southernmost provinces – Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of Songkhla Chumphon have dominant Muslim populations, consisting of both ethnic Thai and Malay. The southern tip of Thailand is mostly ethnically Malay, and most Malays are Sunni Muslims. Christians represent 0.5% of the population. A tiny but influential community of Sikhs in Thailand and some Hindus also live in the country's cities, and are heavily engaged in retail commerce. There is also a small Jewish community in Thailand, dating back to the 17th century. Since 2001, Muslim activists have rallied against the central government because of alleged corruption and ethnic bias among officials.


 * THAILAND WEATHER: ** ||~ Jan ||~ Feb ||~ Mar ||~ Apr ||~ May ||~ Jun ||~ Jul ||~ Aug ||~ Sep ||~ Oct ||~ Nov ||~ Dec ||~ Year ||
 * °C || 25.9 || 27.6 || 29.2 || 30.1 || 29.6 || 29.0 || 28.5 || 28.4 || 28.1 || 27.7 || 26.8 || 25.5 || 28.1 ||
 * °F || 78.6 || 81.7 || 84.6 || 86.2 || 85.3 || 84.2 || 83.3 || 83.1 || 82.6 || 81.9 || 80.2 || 77.9 || 82.6 ||  ||