Myanmar first called Burma. In the second world war this area had become the arena of combat troops ally against the Japanese troops.
When you hear the word Vietnam will surely remind battle between U.S. troops with the Vietcong who gets influence in Vietnam. It is true we often saw it in the movies made by Hollywood. Now times have changed, the world is full of peace.
Thailand is always popular with the girls beautiful and sexy. Pattaya on the beach you will find thousands of beautiful woman who is ready for your sake.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Thailand

Thailand, formally the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia. To its east lie Laos and Cambodia; to its south, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia; and to its west, the Andaman Sea and Myanmar. Its capital and largest city is Bangkok.

Etymology

The country's official name was Siam (Thai: สยาม; IPA: [saˈjaːm], RTGS: Sayam origin unknown) until 24 June 1939.[1] It was again called Siam between 1945 and May 11, 1949, when it was once more changed by official proclamation. The word Thai (ไทย) is derived from the word Tai (ไท) meaning "freedom" in the Thai language and is also the name of the majority ethnic group.

History

Main article: History of Thailand

The region known today as Thailand has been inhabited by human beings since the paleolithic period (about 500,000 - 10,000 years ago). Due to its geographical location, Thai culture has always been greatly influenced by India and China as well as the neighboring cultures of Southeast Asia. However, the first Thai or Siamese state is traditionally considered to be the Buddhist kingdom of Sukhothai, which was founded in 1238, followed by the decline and fall of the Khmer empire in the 13th - 15th century AD.

A century later, Sukhothai's power was overshadowed by the larger Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya, established in the mid-14th century. After the sack of Angkor by the Siamese armies in 1431, much of the Khmer court and its Hindu customs were brought to Ayuthaya, and Khmer customs and rituals were adopted into the courtly culture of Siam.

After Ayuthaya fell in 1767 to the Burmese, Thonburi was the capital of Thailand for a brief period under King Taksin the Great. The current (Ratthanakosin) era of Thai history began in 1782 following the establishment of Bangkok as capital of the Chakri dynasty under King Rama I the Great.

European powers began travelling to Thailand in the 16th century. Despite European pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been colonised by a European power. The two main reasons for this is that Thailand had a long succession of very able rulers in the 1800s and that it was able to exploit the rivalry and tension between the French and the British. As a result, the country remained as a buffer state between parts of Southeast Asia that were colonised by the two European colonial powers. Despite this, Western influence led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions to British trading interests. This included the loss of the three predominantly ethnic Malay southern provinces, which later became Malaysia's three northern states. However, another ethnic Malay province named Pattani, now subdivided further into four smaller districts, has remained as Siamese territory to this day.

In 1932, a bloodless revolution resulted in a new constitutional monarchy. During the war, Thailand was allied with Japan. Yet after the war, it became an ally of the United States. Thailand then went through a series of coups d'état, but eventually progressed towards democracy in the 1980s.

In 1997, Thailand was hit with the Asian financial crisis and the Thai baht for a short time peaked at 56 baht to the U.S. dollar compared to about 25 baht to the dollar before 1997. Since then the baht has regained most of its strength and as of May, 2007, is valued at 33 baht to the US dollar.

The official calendar in Thailand is based on Eastern version of the Buddhist Era, which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian (western) calendar. For example, the year AD 2007 is called 2550 BE in Thailand.

Politics and government

Main article: Politics of Thailand
See also: Constitutions of Thailand

History

Since the overthrow of the absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has had 17 constitutions and charters.[2][3] Throughout this time, the form of government has ranged from military dictatorship to electoral democracy, but all governments have acknowledged a hereditary monarch as the head of state.[4][5]

1997 to 2006

See also: 1997 Constitution of Thailand

The 1997 Constitution was the first constitution to be drafted by popularly-elected Constitutional Drafting Assembly, and was popularly called the "People's Constitution".[6]

The 1997 Constitution created a bicameral legislature consisting of a 500-seat House of Representatives (สภาผู้แทนราษฎร, sapha phutan ratsadon) and a 200-seat Senate (วุฒิสภา, wuthisapha). For the first time in Thai history, both houses were directly elected. Many human rights are explicitly acknowledged, and measures were established to increase the stability of elected governments. The House was elected by the first-past-the-post system, where only one candidate with a simple majority could be elected in one constituency. The Senate was elected based on the province system, where one province can return more than one Senator depending on its population size. Members of the House of Representatives served four-year terms, while Senators served six-year terms.

The court system (ศาล, saan) included a constitutional court with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, royal decrees, and political matters.

The January 2001 general election, the first elections under the 1997 Constitution, were called the most open, corruption-free election in Thai history.[7] The subsequent government was the first in Thai history to complete a 4-year term. The 2005 election had the highest voter turnout in Thai history and was noted for a marked reduction in vote-buying compared to previous elections.[8][9][10]

In early 2006, significant pressure from corruption allegations led Thaksin Shinawatra to call for a snap election. The opposition boycotted the elections and Thaksin was re-elected. Pressure continued to build, leading to a military coup on 19 September 2006.

For detail information please visit : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand

Myanmar

Myanmar (pronounced /ˈmjɑnˌmɑː/[1]), officially the Union of Myanmar (Burmese: [pjìdàunzṵ mjəmà nàinŋàndɔ̀]) is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. It is also known as Burma. As the "Union of Burma," Myanmar achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948. It became the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" on 4 January 1974, before reverting to the "Union of Burma" on 23 September 1988. On 18 June 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council adopted the name "Union of Myanmar."

Burma is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. One-third of Myanmar's total perimeter, 1,930 kilometres (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.

Burma's diverse population has played a major role in defining its politics, history and demographics in modern times. Its political system remains under the tight control of the State Peace and Development Council, the military government led, since 1992, by Senior General Than Shwe. The Burmese military has dominated government since General Ne Win led a coup in 1962 that toppled the civilian government of U Nu. Part of the British Empire until 1948, Burma continues to struggle to mend its ethnic tensions. The country's culture, heavily influenced by neighbours, is based on Theravada Buddhism intertwined with local elements.

Etymology

The name "Myanmar" is derived from the local short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw.[2] This name was used as early as the 12th century, but its etymology remains unclear. A derivation from the Sanskrit "Brahmadesh," land of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, is accepted by some scholars, though not all. The adjectival form is "Myanma."

In 1989, the military junta officially changed the English version of its name from Burma to Myanmar, along with changes to the English versions of many place names in the country, such as its former capital city from Rangoon to Yangon. However, the official name of the country in the Burmese language, Myanma, did not change. Within the Burmese language, Myanma is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama (from which "Burma" derives) is the oral, colloquial name. In spoken Burmese, the distinction is less clean than the English transliteration suggests.

The renaming proved to be politically controversial.[3] Burmese opposition groups continue to use the name "Burma" since they do not recognize the legitimacy of the ruling military government nor its authority to rename the country. Some western governments, namely those of the United States, Australia, Ireland, and Britain, continue to use "Burma," while the European Union uses "Burma/Myanmar" as an alternative.[4] The United Nations uses "Myanmar."

Use of "Burma" and its adjective "Burmese" remains common in the United States and Britain. News organisations, such as the BBC, Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, still use these forms.[5][6] CNN, The Economist, and The New York Times use "Myanmar" as the country name and "Burmese" as the adjective.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Myanmar

The Mon people people are thought to be the earliest group to migrate into the lower Ayeyarwady valley, and by the mid-900s BC were dominant in southern Myanmar.[7]

The Pyu arrived later, in the 1st century BC, and established several city kingdoms which traded with India and China. The most powerful Pyu kingdom was Sri Ksetra, which was subsequently abandoned in 656 AD. The Pyu re-established themselves, but in the mid-800s were invaded by the Nanzhao kingdom.

The Burmans, or Bamar, began migrating to the Ayeyarwady valley from present-day Tibet sometime before the ninth century AD. By 849, they had established a powerful kingdom centred on Bagan. During the reign of Anawratha, Burman influence expanded throughout much of present-day Myanmar. By the 1100s, large portions of continental Southeast Asia were controlled by the Pagan Kingdom, commonly called the First Burmese Empire. In the late 1200s, Mongols under Kublai Khan invaded the Pagan Kingdom, but by 1364 the Burmans re-established their kingdom at Ava, where Burmese culture entered a golden age. However, in 1527, the Shan pillaged Ava. Meanwhile, the Mon re-established themselves at Pegu, which became a major commercial and religious centre.

Pagodas and temples continue to exist in present-day Bagan, which was capital of the Pagan Kingdom.
Pagodas and temples continue to exist in present-day Bagan, which was capital of the Pagan Kingdom.
A British 1825 lithograph of Shwedagon Pagoda reveals early British occupation in Burma during the First Anglo-Burmese War.
A British 1825 lithograph of Shwedagon Pagoda reveals early British occupation in Burma during the First Anglo-Burmese War.

Burmans who had fled from Ava established the Toungoo Kingdom in 1531 at Taungoo, under Tabinshwehti, who re-unified Burma and founded the Second Burmese Empire. Because of growing European influence in Southeast Asia, the Toungoo Kingdom became a major trading centre. Bayinnaung expanded the empire by conquering the states of Manipur, Chiang Mai, and Ayutthaya. But internal rebellion and lack of resources to control the acquisitions led to the downfall of the Toungoo Kingdom. Anaukpetlun, who had expelled Portuguese invaders, founded a new dynasty at Ava in 1613. Internal rebellion by the Mon, aided by France, led to the kingdom's downfall in 1752.

Alaungpaya established the Konbaung Dynasty and founded the Third Burmese Empire in the 1700s.[8] In 1767, King Hsinbyushin conquered the Ayutthaya kingdom. The Qing Dynasty of China, fearful of growing Burman power, invaded four times from 1766 to 1769 without success. Later monarchs lost control of Ayutthaya, but acquired Arakan and Tenasserim.

During the reign of King Bagyidaw, in 1824, Burmese general Mahabandoola captured Assam, adjacent to British occupied territory in India, leading to the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Treaty of Yandabo in 1826 lost control of the coastal territories of Rakhine (Arakan) and Tanintharyi to British interests. In 1851, King Bagan imprisoned some British officials for murder, which the British used as an excuse for the Second Anglo-Burmese War. This time, the British invaded the remaining coastal provinces — Ayeyarwady, Yangon and Bago, naming the territories they now occupied as Lower Burma. Under King Mindon Min, Upper Burma skilfully negotiated the growing threats posed by the competing interests of Britain and France. His successor, King Thibaw Min, was not so effective and a series of crises might have led to war but for the moderating hand of Lord Ripon, Gladstone's Viceroy of occupied India (1880-1884) and an arch-Midlothianist determined to halt imperial expansion. In 1885, however, Burmese tax collectors, acting for the King, discovered that the Bombay-Burma Trading Company had been illegally logging and hiding teak in the hope of evading taxes. King Thibaw Min fined the company. This was seen by the new Secretary of State for India, Lord Randolph Churchill, as an insult and direct provocation. Influenced by the commercial lobby which had long pressed for a British invasion of the upper Irrawaddy to open access for British chambers of commerce to the markets of China (and deny them to advancing French colonial power in the region), Churchill used the squabble over timber duties as a pretext to occupy what still remained of independent Burma. In November 1885, the Third Anglo-Burmese War was launched with a rapid advance up the River Irrawaddy by the Burma Field Force under the command of Major General Harry Prendergast VC. Mandalay was quickly occupied and the royal family were exiled to India, first to Madras and then to Ratnagiri.

Upper Burma was occupied by Churchill as a New Year present to Queen Victoria on 1 January 1886 and reunited with Lower Burma in a single province within British India. The capital may have been captured and the king exiled to India, but Burma had not been defeated and occupation unleashed widespread resistance that proved very hard to control, let alone crush. Not until 1896 was the war finally over, making the Third Burmese War the largest and longest of the "small wars" fought by the British during the 19th century. To stimulate trade and facilitate changes, the British brought in Indians and Chinese who quickly displaced the Burmese in urban areas. To this day Yangon and Mandalay have large ethnic Indian populations. Railroads and schools were built, as well as a large number of prisons including the infamous Insein Jail, then as now used for political prisoners. Burmese resentment was strong and was vented in violent riots that paralyzed Yangon on occasion all the way until the 1930s.[9] Much of the discontent was caused by a perceived disrespect for Burman culture and traditions, for example, what the British termed the Shoe Question: the colonisers’ refusal to remove their shoes upon entering Buddhist temples or other holy places. In October 1919, Eindawya Pagoda in Mandalay was the scene of violence when tempers flared after scandalised Buddhist monks attempted to physically expel a group of shoe-wearing British visitors. The leader of the monks was later sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder. Such incidents inspired the Burmese resistance to use Buddhism as a rallying point for their cause. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of the independence movement, and many died while protesting. One monk-turned-martyr was U Wisara, who died in prison after a 163-day hunger strike to protest a rule that forbade him from wearing his Buddhist robes while imprisoned.[10] Kipling's poem 'Mandalay' is now all that most people in Britain remember of Myanmar's difficult and often brutal colonisation.

On 1 April 1937, Myanmar became a separately administered territory, independent of the Indian administration. The vote for keeping Myanmar in India, or as a separate colony "khwe-yay-twe-yay" divided the populace, and laid the ground work for the insurgencies to come after independence. In the 1940s, the Thirty Comrades, commanded by Aung San, founded the Burma Independence Army.[11] The Thirty Comrades received training in Japan.[11]

During World War II, Burma became a major frontline in the Southeast Asian Theatre. The British administration collapsed ahead of the advancing Japanese troops, jails and asylums were opened and Rangoon was deserted except for the many Anglo-Burmese and Indians who remained at their posts. A stream of some 300,000 refugees fled across the jungles into India; known as 'The Trek', all but 30,000 of those 300,000 arrived in India. Initially the Japanese-led Burma Campaign succeeded and the British were expelled from most of Myanmar, but the invaders counter-attacked. By July 1945, the invaders had retaken the country. Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese, some Burmese also served in the British Burma Army. In 1943, the Chin Levies and Kachin Levies were formed in the border districts of Burma still under British occupation. The Burma Rifles fought as part of the Chindits under General Orde Wingate from 1943-1945. Later in the war, the Americans created American-Kachin Rangers who also fought for the occupiers. Many other Burmese fought with the invading British Special Operations Executive. The Burma Independence Army under the command of Aung San and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942-1944, but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945.

In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Burma, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members.[11] On 4 January 1948, the nation became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. Unlike most other former British occupied territories, it did not become a member of the Commonwealth. A bicameral parliament was formed, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities.[12] The geographical area Myanmar encompasses today can be traced to the Panglong Agreement, which combined Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been administered separately by the British.[13]

In 1961, U Thant, then Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Secretary to the Prime Minister, was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations; he was the first non-Westerner to head any international organization and would serve as UN Secretary-General for ten years.[14] Among the Burmese to work at the UN when he was Secretary-General was a young Aung San Suu Kyi.

Democratic rule ended in 1962 when General Ne Win led a military coup d'état. He ruled for nearly 26 years and pursued policies under the rubric of the Burmese Way to Socialism. In 1974, the military violently suppressed anti-government protests at the funeral of U Thant.

In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the 8888 Uprising. In response, General Saw Maung staged a coup d'état and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalized plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989.[15]

In May 1990, the government held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years. The National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won 392 out of a total 489 seats, but the election results were annulled by SLORC, which refused to step down.[16] SLORC renamed Burma 'Myanmar' in the English language in 1989. Led by Than Shwe since 1992, the military regime has made cease-fire agreements with most ethnic guerrilla groups. In 1992, SLORC unveiled plans to create a new constitution through the National Convention, which began 9 January 1993. To date, this military-organized National Convention has not produced a new constitution despite well over ten years of operation.[17] In 1997, the State Law and Order Restoration Council was renamed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

On 23 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The National Convention continues to convene and adjourn. Many major political parties, particularly the NLD, have been absent or excluded, and little progress has been made.[17] On 27 March 2006, the military junta, which had moved the national capital from Yangon to a site near Pyinmana, officially named it Naypyidaw, meaning "city of the kings."[18] In September of 2006, the U.S. led effort to include Burma on the United Nations Security Council Agenda finally passed allowing the U.N.S.C. to discuss officially how it will deal with the human rights situation in Burma.[19] In January of 2007, Russia and China vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have urged Burma to ease repression and release political prisoners.[20] In November of 2006, the International Labor Organization announced it will be seeking charges against Myanmar over the continuous forced labour of its citizens by the military at the International Court of Justice.[21]

List of historical capitals of Myanmar
  • Bago (The ancient Capital where King Bayintnaung, founder of the 3rd Myanmar Empire, resided. The remains of his palace of KanBawZa Thadi still exist there today.)
  • Bagan
  • Sagaing
  • Ava
  • Shwebo
  • Rangoon (Yangon)
  • Amarapura
  • Mingun
  • Mandalay

    For more information please visit : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar


Vietnam

Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost nation on the Indochina Peninsula. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, and Cambodia to the southwest. On the country's east coast lies the South China Sea. With a population of over 85 million, Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world. The country is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies; according to government figures GDP, growth was 8.17% in 2006, the second fastest growth rate among countries in East Asia and the fastest in Southeast Asia.

Pre-Dynastic era

The area now known as Vietnam has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, and some archaeological sites in Thanh Hoa Province reportedly date back several thousand years. Archaeologists link the beginnings of Vietnamese civilization to the late Neolithic, early Bronze Age, Phung-nguyen culture, which was centered in Vinh Phu Province of contemporary Vietnam from about 2000 to 1400 BCE. By about 1200 BCE/ [[Media:]], the development of wet-rice cultivation and bronze casting in the Ma River and Red River plains led to the development of the Dong Son culture, notable for its elaborate bronze drums. The bronze weapons, tools, and drums of Dongsonian sites show a Southeast Asian influence that indicates an indigenous origin for the bronze-casting technology. Many small, ancient copper mine sites have been found in northern Vietnam. Some of the similarities between the Dong Sonian sites and other Southeast Asian sites include the presence of boat-shaped coffins and burial jars, stilt dwellings, and evidence of the customs of betel-nut-chewing and teeth-blackening.

The legendary Hồng Bàng Dynasty of the Hùng kings is considered by many Vietnamese as the first Vietnamese state, known as Văn Lang. In 257 BCE, Thục Phán defeated the last Hùng king and consolidated the Lạc Việt tribes with his Âu Việt tribes, forming Âu Lạc and proclaiming himself An Dương Vương. In 207 BCE, a Chinese general named Zhao Tuo defeated An Dương Vương and consolidated Âu Lạc into Nanyue. In 111 BCE, the Chinese Han Dynasty consolidated Nanyue into their empire.

For the next thousand years, Vietnam was mostly under Chinese rule. Early independence movements such as those of the Trưng Sisters and of Lady Triệu were only briefly successful. It was independent as Vạn Xuân under the Anterior Ly Dynasty between 544 and 602. By the early 10th century, Vietnam had gained autonomy, but not independence, under the Khúc family.

Dynastic era

Battle of Bach Dang river. Silk painting by Năng Hiển.
Battle of Bach Dang river. Silk painting by Năng Hiển.

In 938 CE, a Vietnamese lord named Ngô Quyền defeated Chinese forces at the Bạch Đằng River and gained independence after 10 centuries under Chinese control. Renamed as Đại Việt, the nation went through a golden era during the Lý and Trần Dynasties. During the rule of the Trần Dynasty, Đại Việt repelled three Mongol invasions of Vietnam. Following the brief Hồ Dynasty, Vietnamese independence was momentarily interrupted by the Chinese Ming Dynasty, but was restored by Lê Lợi, the founder of the Lê Dynasty. Feudalism in Vietnam reached its zenith in the Lê Dynasty of the 15th century, especially during the reign of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông. Between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese expanded southward in a process known as nam tiến (southward expansion). They eventually conquered the kingdom of Champa and part of the Khmer Empire.

Towards the end of the Lê Dynasty, civil strife engulfed much of Vietnam. First, the Chinese-supported Mạc Dynasty challenged the Lê Dynasty's power. After the Mạc Dynasty was defeated, the Lê Dynasty was reinstalled, but with no actual power. Power was divided between the Trịnh Lords in the North and the Nguyễn Lords in the South, who engaged in a civil war for more than a hundred years. The civil war ended when the Tây Sơn brothers defeated both and established their new dynasty. However, their rule did not last long and they were defeated by the remnants of the Nguyễn Lords with the help of the French, who established the Nguyễn Dynasty.

For more details please visit : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam