King Naresuan the Great was the 18th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom and 2nd monarch of the Sukhothai dynasty. He was the king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom from 1590 and overlord of Lan Na from 1602 until his death in 1605. Naresuan is one of Thailand's most revered monarchs as he is known for his campaigns to free Ayutthaya from the vassalage of the Taungoo Empire. During his reign, numerous wars were fought against Taungoo Burma. Naresuan also welcomed the Dutch.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, Apichatpong has directed several features and dozens of short films. Friends and fans sometimes refer to him as "Joe".
Nong Khai is a city in northeast Thailand. It is the capital of Nong Khai province. Nong Khai city is located in Mueang Nong Khai district.
Parinya Charoenphol, nicknamed Toom, also known by the stage name Parinya Kiatbusaba and the colloquial name Nong Toom or Nong Tum, is a Thai boxer, former muay Thai champion, model and actress. She is a kathoey, a Thai word referring to what is often considered a distinct gender in Thailand and elsewhere generally considered to be gender-nonconforming men or transgender women. At the age of 18, she underwent sex reassignment surgery.
Pen-ek Ratanaruang is a Thai film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his arthouse work, Last Life in the Universe, and is considered to be one of Thai cinema's leading "new wave" auteurs, alongside Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He goes by the nickname Tom and is sometimes credited as Tom Pannet.
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by François-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by the Thai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry was started and in the 1930s, the Thai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films.
Miss Suwanna of Siam, was a 1923 romance film written and directed by Henry MacRae, set in Thailand and starring Thai actors. It was one of the first feature films to be made in Thailand and was the first Hollywood co-production in Thailand.
Korphai Ensemble, Korphai or kor phai which literally means a 'bunch of bamboo', is an ensemble of traditional Thai percussion music.
Khan Kluay is a 2006 Thai computer-animated adventure film set in Ayutthaya-era Siam about a Thai elephant who wanders away from his mother and becomes the war elephant for King Naresuan. It is based on the story Chao Phraya Prap Hongsawadee by Ariya Jintapanichkarn. The film took three years to make, and was released on May 18, 2006 in Thailand. In 2007, the film was released as The Blue Elephant in the United States on September 2, and as Jumbo in India in December 25.
Tourism is an economic contributor to the Kingdom of Thailand. Estimates of tourism revenue directly contributing to the GDP of 12 trillion baht range from one trillion baht (2013) 2.53 trillion baht (2016), the equivalent of 9% to 17.7% of GDP. When including indirect travel and tourism receipts, the 2014 total is estimated to be the equivalent of 19.3% of Thailand's GDP. The actual contribution of tourism to GDP is lower than these percentages because GDP is measured in value added not revenue. The valued added of the Thailand's tourism industry is not known. According to the secretary-general of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council in 2019, the government projects that the tourism sector will account for 30% of GDP by 2030, up from 20% in 2019.
Mekhong Full Moon Party is a 2002 Thai comedy-drama about the Naga fireballs that arise from the Mekong at Nong Khai on the full moon in October. Written by Jira Maligool, the film was also Jira's directorial debut.
Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHV) or Elephantid betaherpesvirus 1 (ElHV-1) is a type of herpesvirus, which can cause a highly fatal hemorrhagic disease when transmitted to young Asian elephants. In African elephants, related forms of these viruses, which have been identified in wild populations, are generally benign, occasionally surfacing to cause small growths or lesions. However, some types of EEHV can cause a highly fatal disease in Asian elephants, which kills up to 80% of severely affected individuals. The disease can be treated with the rapid application of antiviral drugs, but this has only been effective in around a third of cases.
Wanna Buakaew is a retired Thai volleyball player, and currently coach. She has represented Thailand 44 times in international volleyball competitions.
World Elephant Day is an international annual event on August 12, dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world's elephants. Conceived in 2011 by Canadian filmmakers Patricia Sims and Michael Clark of Canazwest Pictures, and Sivaporn Dardarananda, Secretary-General of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation in Thailand, it was officially founded, supported and launched by Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation on August 12, 2012. Since that time, Patricia Sims continues to lead, support and direct World Elephant Day, which is now recognized and celebrated by over 100 wildlife organizations and many individuals in countries across the globe.
The elephant has been a contributor to Thai society and its icon for many centuries. The elephant has had a considerable impact on Thai culture. The Thai elephant is the official national animal of Thailand. The elephant found in Thailand is the Indian elephant, a subspecies of the Asian elephant. In the early-1900s there were an estimated 100,000 captive elephants in Thailand. In mid-2007 there were an estimated 3,456 captive elephants left in Thailand and roughly a thousand wild elephants. By 2017 the number of captive elephants had risen to an estimated 3,783. The elephant became an endangered species in Thailand in 1986.
Animal welfare in Thailand relates to the treatment of animals in fields such as agriculture, hunting, medical testing, tourism, and the domestic ownership of animals. It is distinct from animal conservation.
Minor Hotels is an international hotel owner, operator, and investor headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, with more than 530 hotels in over 55 countries across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe, and the Americas. Minor Hotels operates as a subsidiary of Minor International, one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia-Pacific region. The group operates hotels under the brands of Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, Avani Hotels & Resorts, Elewana Collection, Oaks Hotels, Resorts & Suites, NH Hotels, NH Collection, nhow Hotels, and Tivoli Hotels & Resorts.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bangkok:
Kirsten Tan is a Singaporean film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 2017 feature film debut, Pop Aye, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and was Singapore's official submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Borsos Competition is the main awards program for Canadian feature films screening at the annual Whistler Film Festival. Introduced for the first time in 2004, the juried competition presents six awards annually to honour films, actors, screenplays, directors, cinematographers and editors in Canadian cinema. Initially, only films that were having their world premieres at Whistler were eligible for the competition, although this requirement was soon dropped as the festival had difficulty attracting entrants who were willing to forego the major film festivals such as TIFF or the FNC, and thereafter films selected for competition only had to be a regional premiere within the Western Canada region.
