People

Throughout her long history, Thailand has absorbed immigrants. Many were skilled as writers, painters, sculptors, dancers, musicians, and architects. These immigrants helped to enrich Thailand's indigenous culture.

Minorities of Thailand include the Chinese, Thai Malays, and the Laotian. Anything between 9% - 15% of Thailand's population is thought to be Sino-Thai (depending on how Chinese is defined). In the early 19th and 20th Century, Chinese immigrants came and settled down here. They married Thai women, took Thai names, most of them adopted Buddhism (although they were not required to renounce their ancestor worship) and learnt Thai. As elsewhere in the region, these Chinese immigrants proved to be remarkably adept at money making and today control a disproportionate slice of businesses.

The Thai Malays are found mostly in the southern region. They speak Malay rather than Thai and the majority are Muslims instead of Buddhists. The Laotian of the northeastern region, though constituting nearly one-third of the nation's population, are the least visible. Known better as the "Isan", they are often regarded by the central Thais as being equivalent to "country bumpkins".

Today, the people of Thailand share a rich ethic diversity - mainly of Mon, Khmer, Tai, Chinese, Malay, Laotian, and Indian stock - with the result that there is no typically Thai physiognomy or physique. There are petite Thais, statuesque Thai, round faced Thais, dark-skinned Thais, and light-skinned Thais.

About 80% of all Thais are connected in some way with agriculture, which (in varying degrees) influences and is influenced by the religious ceremonies and festivals that help make Thailand such a distinctive country.

Farmers in Thailand have a very hard life. They really work from dawn till dusk the whole year long .Only when the harvests are complete the farmers do the farmers celebrate the harvests and ready the new rice plantings for the next season. Other things raised in Thailand include cattle , fish, and ducks . Fish are easier for the farmers to grow because they live and breed in the same area where the rice is produced. Thus, at the and of the rice season, the farmers will have both rice and fish to feed their families during the coming dry season .If one travels throughout the countryside in this period, they will see the farmers dry there fish on the roof of their homes . When one passes these homes, they will be asked “Where do you go ?” A traditional friendly greeting. Next they will likely be asked “did you eat rice and fish?". This is because the Thai farmers have viewed rice and fish as the primary food for a very long time . Significant amounts of Thailand land is devoted to rice production, especially in the geographic center of Thailand. Most Thai farmers have raised rice their entire life. For most of them, their parents and grandparents and great grandparents did the same. Rice farming is one of the oldest trades in Asia because the land and the water are well suited to this crop. Over the past few years this occupation is waning because of the low market prices for this crop and the long growing cycles. If farmers can yield only one harvest of rice, they have nothing for the dry season and have to sell all there rice to get money to live. Also, Thailand is currently building many houses in or near the areas that were traditionally rice growing areas. The farmers cannot grow rice here anymore. Factories are expanding into the agricultural lands, bringing pollution to the land . The new generation of the Thai farmers is not likely going to work in the fields as much as seek work in the factories or in the cities to find a better lifestyle.. Something must be done soon to help the farmers gain a better lifestyle in the countryside or soon Thailand will lose the nick-name “rice bowl of Asia” .

In the bigger Thai cities of Bangkok, Chang Mai, and Phuket, businesses are open around the clock. People are constantly hurrying to work or back home .These big cities never sleep .

The majority of the people in the big city go to work in the morning. Hundred of thousands of people are commuting each morning. There is air pollution created by exhausts of cars, motorcycles, and factories. In Bangkok there are major traffic jams that can persist most off the day. Such traffic jams in further increase the level of pollution. Ten million people live and work in Bangkok . Big busses deliver people to there jobs. These people sit or sleep while the buses wait in the traffic jams. Those who have to stand in the bus for hours become quite unhappy. They may well arrive at work or home long after they were expected to arrive, frustrating employers or families. The country loses great amounts in terms of productivity and revenue because of the traffic issue.

Bangkok has a problem with a significant number of people living in slum conditions, including families with children. There are also children struggling to survive this hard life without parents. These poor slum-dwellers have to work very hard to barely make a living while watching others with seemingly everything fitting comfortably together ….. nicer jobs , access to educational institutions, use of business centers, etc.