Word: thais
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Among the most valuable national resources of the kingdom of Thailand are its innumerable statues of Buddha; foreign collectors dote on them. A major source of Buddhas is pillage. Every Thai jungle is dotted with temples that are lined with stone Buddhas; robbers knock off the heads-which are the most highly prized parts of the statues-and smuggle them to Bangkok, where the government tolerantly permitted many of them to be exported. Only last month the Bangkok police launched a giant raid on the city's antique shops that showed how far things have gone: 3,500 stolen...
...temporarily suspended all licenses for the export of religious images. Will the measure do any good? There are nearly 21,000 monasteries in Thailand, and 200 known temples that have not yet even been excavated. With such a store of Buddhas still to be tapped, heads will roll in Thai temples for quite a time to come...
Forward base for Southeast Asia defense is Thailand. It is through Bangkok that the U.S. has funneled millions of dollars' worth of aid for Laos, and it is from Bangkok that the U.S. would operate its defense of that chaotic country. The Thai forces are shaky but improving rapidly. This year Thailand's air force got its first North American F-86s (graduating from ancient F-84s). The 90,000-man army is weak in communications and plagued by spare-parts shortages, but its intrepid front-line troops are equipped with M-1 rifles. Five good airfields stand...
...Riviera. Despite the U.S.'s best efforts, the main highway out of Vientiane is still paved only as far as the tennis court of a former defense minister, eight miles out of town. There is one railroad station but no railroad. Many of the primitive Meo and Black Thai tribesmen in the back country are not even aware that a nation called Laos exists...
Thailand's ex-Premier P. Pibulsonggram, 63, onetime dictatorial Thai field marshal who was booted from power in 1957, was ordained as a Buddhist monk in Bodh Gaya, India. Father of six grown children, Pibulsonggram took an oath of celibacy before a golden image of Buddha. In keeping with Buddhist doctrine, he was not required to divorce his devoted wife, Mme. La-iad, a renowned feminist...