Thai History

A preacher must have common sense, knowing how to turn everyday life experience into Dharma lessons, and assess an audience to maximize communications with them. Sons of the Buddha shows how three boys evolved into remarkable exponents of this ideal. Filled with lively anecdotes and illustrations, and brimming with local color, the book shows how each worked successfully to change moral attitudes and Dharma practices, restore Buddhism’s social dimension, bridge the divide between laypeople and monastics, and champion tolerance toward other religions.

Sounding the Center is an in-depth look at the power behind classical music and dance in Bangkok, the capital and sacred center of Buddhist Thailand. Focusing on the ritual honoring teachers of music and dance, Deborah Wong reveals a complex network of connections among kings, teachers, knowledge, and performance that underlies the classical court arts.

Drawing on her extensive fieldwork, Wong lays out the ritual in detail: the way it is enacted, the foods and objects involved, and the people who perform it, emphasizing the way the performers themselves discuss and construct aspects of the ceremony.

That special style that defines a culture is born of many elements. Thai style, so vividly revealed in its architecture and interiors, is the product of a distinctive landscape, a skillful use of varied influences, and a history unique among the peoples of Southeast Asia. It is a style that can be found in rustic country homes or chic Bangkok residences elegantly furnished with antiques and family heirlooms. It may be reflected in a number of unique and historic houses which preserve the best of the past, in unmistakably contemporary interiors where old and new sit comfortably side by side, in traditional structures revamped for modern living, and in lush tropical garden settings and seaside resorts.

The over 370 color photographs by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni present a luminous vision of this distinctive style. A concise introduction by author William Warren places Thai design in context and adds another dimension to our understanding of Thai culture. It is followed by a photographic essay which isolates elements of Thai style, from traditional objects and art forms to handicrafts and street art.

Architecture and interiors are treated in four chapters--Traditions, Traditions Adapted, Foreign Influences and Tropical Modern. Useful measured drawings are featured in the Architectural Notebook, a final section.