Wanderlust Series -- Thailand

Author: Rose Jing / Compiled by the Chinese Cartographic Society
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This series of books presents a completely self-guided tour format, recommending travel routes in the order of events, guiding you through visa and entry/exit preparations, providing background knowledge about travel and destinations, offering multi-dimensional introductions to tourist attractions including addresses, transportation, admission fees, opening hours, and maps. It also provides comprehensive consulting services for food, accommodation, transportation, shopping, and entertainment. Additionally, the series showcases the characteristics of countries and regions from historical, cultural, and local customs perspectives. For convenience, the countries are divided into several travel regions based on location and transportation factors for introduction. We hope this series can help readers travel the world conveniently, independently design and arrange itineraries and activities, and add a carefree and free-spirited mood to your journey! During the compilation process, the series received strong support from tourism authorities of relevant countries and regions.
Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a combination of the ancient states of Sukhothai and Lanna. In 1939, the country was renamed Thailand, meaning "Land of the Free Thai" or "Land of the Free." Among Southeast Asian countries, Thailand is the only one that was never colonized by Europeans. The Thai ethnic group is one of the oldest in the world. Around the 7th century AD, they gradually migrated from the Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi regions of China to the Indochinese Peninsula, establishing several small kingdoms. Those who settled in the Mekong River basin were known as the "Little Thais," who are the ancestors of modern Thai people. To this day, Thailand has primarily gone through four major dynasties in its history: the Sukhothai Dynasty (1238–1350), the Ayutthaya Dynasty (1350–1767), the Thonburi Dynasty (1767–1782), and the Rattanakosin Dynasty (the current Bangkok Dynasty). These are the four great dynasties in Thai history.