"Western Influence" Top 5 Page for this destination Thailand Favorite Tip by SLLiew

Favorite thing: Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that was not colonized by a Western power.

Malaysia, Singapore, Brune and Myanmar by the English. Philippines by the Spanish and then the Americans. Indonesia by Dutch. East Timor by Portuguese. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia by the French.

As popularized by the movie the "King and I", the modern forward thinking King Mongkut invited western diplomats to his court and maintained a balance of neutrality and independence. Royal princes and scholars were sent to Europe and America for schools.

Boromabiman Building is built by King Rama VI - one of the royal buildings constructed under Western influence in the royal grounds. By keeping her doors open to the West, Thailand has kept her independence path in modern history while all her neighbors felled into Western rule.