Thailand+by+Ruby

 How Would You Like to Eat Rice Instead of Potato Chips?   There are a couple of staple foods in Thailand, but the most popular one is rice. Rice is grown in wet or moist environments. Thailand is a very moist place and it gets extremely humid there, which produces perfect growing conditions for rice. When rice is growing it looks like wheat; grass like with what almost seems like seeds on the tips. When rice is harvested it is white and looks like big grains of salt. Rice is made into many Thai dishes and can be sweet, salty, or spicy. There's plain rice (khoa joa) and then there's sticky rice (khoa nieow). Sticky rice is packed into bite-sized balls, and then the Thai eat them like we eat potato chips. Rice is eaten with every meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). I know that Thai people love rice but do you? If so would you want to eat it every day? 

**RICE**

[|Click here for a recipe for Pad Thai, a popular Thai dish] [|Click here for a Thai iced tea recipe]
 * RECIPES **

**FACTS** Population: 65,068,000 ( About the size of Arizona, California, Illinois, and Florida combined.)

Land Area: 198,457 sq. mi. ( Slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming.)

Major Languages: Thai and English

Major Ethnic Groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, Other 11%.

Major Industries: Agriculture ( Rice, sugarcane, and corn.), Tourism, and Clothing ( Sport wear and jeans/ denim.)

Popular Girls Names: Ying, Sunisa, Mali, and Sumalee.

Popular Boys Names: Not, Tada, and Aroon.

**FUN FACTS** 1.In Thailand some people take two pieces of bread and put a scoop of ice cream in between them for a dessert.

2.In Thailand one cup of Starbucks coffee is 100 Baht. Some people in Thailand only make 160 in a day.

3.Thailand's year is based on how many years ago Buddha passed away. So 2009 in Thailand is really 2552.

4.It's not rude in Thailand to ask some one their age or salary.

5.Thais use fish sause instead of salt.

6.The full name of Bangkok is the longest place name in the world and recorded in the Guinness book of records, 163 letters.

The type of government that Thailand has is called a Constitutional Monarchy. This means that Thailand has a king and a prime minister. The prime minister, who is the head of the government and apointed by the king, can not serve for more than eight years. The government doesn't rule people's lives. In other words people can do what they want to do. For example the Thai people can eat what they want and dress in the kind of clothes that they want to wear. The Thai people have no problem with their government.
 * TYPE OF GOVERNMENT **

 [| Click here for more information on Thailand's government.] [|Or here]


 * MAPS **

**FLAG**

**THAILAND'S CURRENCY**