Wat Pho

Next to the Royal Grand Palace, the 17th century Wat Pho, or Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimolmangklaram as it is officially known, is an old Bangkok temple famed for its amazing 46-meter long reclining Buddha and traditional Thai massage school. The sixty 200-year old medical inscriptions on the walls are used as the base for treatment.

Many of the towers are inlaid with Chinese porcelain in beautiful patterns and there are many Chinese statues from the time that Thai ships delivering rice to China used them as ballast on their return trip with empty ships. map

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ABOUT THAILAND
Thailand in Brief Archeological evidence shows that the area that is now known as Thailand was inhabited as long as 500,000 years ago. The majority of Thai originates from the Tai peoples that migrated from south-west China. Originally living in tribes, later in city states, sometimes ruled by the Burmese or Khmer, sometimes subduing them, the states eventually joined forces in kingdoms.

The Sukhothai Kingdom (1238-1438) initiated the first contacts with the Portuguese who were stationed in Melaka, now Malaysia, at that time. Sukhothai later merged with the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350-1767), during which time the capital Ayutthaya became very cosmopolitan with Portuguese, Dutch, French, Chinese and Japanese traders settling. After suffering defeat by the Burmese, King Taksin founded the Thonburi Kingdom (1768-1782), but because of ill health he was quickly replaced by his general Chakri who started the Rattanakosin Kingdom in 1782 on Rattanakosin Island in Bangkok. Thailand's current King Rama X is the 10th King of this dynasty.

Until WW II the country was called "Siam", Sanskrit for "dark brown", but the country was renamed "Prathet Thai", land of the Tai, after the major tribe in the country, in 1939.

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Wat Pho

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