There are various traditions with regard to Thai weddings, as there are in the majority of countries. The two most predominant religions are Islam (in a couple of provinces near to Malaysia) and Buddhism in the overwhelming majority of Thailand.

However, despite the fact that the vast majority of Thais are Buddhist, there are regional differences in the process of getting wed. I live in northern Thailand in Uttaradit, around 25 km from the first Thai capital of Sri Satchenalai, which implies that the ceremonies from this area are the oldest in Thailand.

The process of getting wed in Thailand begins with a young man and a young woman. That seems obvious, but Thais do not usually undergo arranged marriages. Traditionally, if the couple move in together, they are betrothed, but this tradition is breaking down.

If the young couple are sure that they want to get wed, then they ask their parents to arrange the details. The first thing to arrange is the dowry. In Europe, the dowry was traditionally paid by the bride’s parents, however in Thailand, it is given by the groom’s.

Until 1932, it was quite common for men to have mistresses known as ‘Little Wives’. The practice is officially frowned upon, but it still goes on. After all, there is no social security and if a woman is left by her husband, voluntarily or because of an early death, she has to find a method of taking care of herself and her children.

This is the origin of the reason why the groom pays the dowry. If the man fails to take care of his ‘First Wife’, she is able to leave him and she has her dowry to sell so that she and the children are not destitute. It gives her a breathing space to find a job or a new husband.

Most women choose a dowry of pure gold. Thai women prefer less, but purer gold than the average European. Thai gold is usually 98%-100% pure and is normally 24 carat.

So, the parents of the loving couple meet and they discuss ‘a cost’ - we prefer the term dowry. The dowry comes in two parts: gold and cash. As in English we have a pound sterling and a pound avoir-du-pois, Thais have a Baht as their currency and a Baht as a weight (of gold).

One Baht of gold is 15.2 grammes. Internationally, a Troy ounce of gold is 31.10 grammes. So, one Baht of gold is just less than half-an-ounce. The Thai Baht in currency varies as do all currencies, but is now , fairly stable at 30 Baht = $1.

A standard dowry may be two Baht in gold and 50,000 Baht in cash. The two Baht in gold goes to the bride as an advanced divorce payment and the 50,000 Baht goes to the mother-in-law. She can do what she likes with this money.

She would normally spend most of it on the wedding party and the remainder, she would normally give to the newly-weds. Honeymoons are not normal in the rural north, but as the economy is growing, young people do increasingly like to take a honeymoon.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on numerous topics, but is now involved with Khao Phansa - The Candle Festival. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Package Holidays to Thailand.

Tags: Asia, buddhism, dating, Destinations, enlightenment, festivals, marriage, other, relationships, thailand, Travel, trips, unclassified, vacation

The day before a Western wedding is the ‘Stag Night’ and the ‘Hen Night’. In northern Thailand it is not really the same. As soon as the groom-to-be can get off work, the full-on party starts. It is more sedate with the bride-to-be who will spend more time with her parents.

The son will often just spend most of his time with his mates, mostly sleeping ‘under the table’, if you know what I mean. The day before the wedding is reserved for spending with parents for both parties.

The day before the eve of the wedding is also a special day as the parents of both parties set up their parties with the help of friends and family. This is an all-day concern and people drink, sing and even dance as they are making the preparations.

On the eve of the wedding, people, especially women, will meet at the dwellings of the bride and groom in order to cook. If the wedding is a big one, this could begin at 4-5 AM, but it normally begins at 8 AM.

Guests are welcome at any time after this, but non-cooks or non-helpers will normally stay away until at least 9 AM. The laggards may not arrive there until midday.

The whole day is a party of cooking, eating, dancing and drinking, normally to the accompaniment of live music or a disk jockey. It is not at all strange to have skimpily-clad dancing girls putting on a show as well.

The music will get loud enough to be heard a block or two away and no-one would dare complain about the noise from such a joyous event. However, not everybody is invited to most weddings as they are usually held in the garden.

Bigger weddings might be held in the Temple. I have never been to a village in Thailand that does not have its own Temple. Some small villages of only 500 residents have two Temples. A Temple used to hold numerous monks, but these days 9-12 is normal.

It is quite cheap to hold a wedding or a wedding party in a Temple, but most families do not because Temples are ‘open ground’ and you may get more ‘guests’ than you catered for. Gate-crashing is not unheard of.

As the evening develops, people will be expected to sing a song and there will be dancing. This will go on until around midnight, which makes it a long day and the wedding day for real begins at around 7 AM the next day.

The parents of the groom are expected to help prepare the food at the bride’s home the next morning. This means meeting all the best friends of the bride’s parents and is a good manner of bonding. it normally results in both families and all their closest friends becoming quite close for many years to come.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is now involved with Khao Phansa - The Candle Festival. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Package Holidays to Thailand.

Tags: Asia, buddhism, dating, Destinations, enlightenment, festivals, marriage, other, relationships, thailand, Travel, trips, unclassified, vacation

Games resembling chess have been around for at least a thousand years, but there are also board games that could be called chess’ ancestors that go back a further 500 years or so.

North-east India appears to have been the place of origin of a game called ‘caturanga’, which was played on a board with squares although they were not black and white. The name of the originator is also lost in the mists of history.

Caturanga was played by monks and the nobility in north-east India in the Sixth Century. Buddha came from Nepal a thousand years before that and it is considered that the priests took caturanga on their pilgrimages to the East. China has a game of chess called xiangqi, but it is unclear which came first.

Japan has a game called shogi, which is also played on a grid or uncheckeded squares. It appears that traders also took the game to northern Africa where the Persians took it up with passion.

The kings of Persia were known as Shahs and this became the basis of the word for chess in many European countries.

‘Shaxmati’ in Russian, had reached northern Europe by 1000 AD at the latest, but the path into the countries of Europe came from the north and the south. Vikings were playing a form of chess in Britain in the Eighth Century called ‘Taefl’ or ‘Hnefatafl’.

The game was known as ’shatranj’ in Persian and this entered Portugal and Spain with the Arab armies. However, by 1200 AD, the rules were being changed and by 1475, the game was approximately like the game we know and play today.

Chess became part of a knight’s formal education in tactics. Books and pamphlets on how to play chess began to be published in the late 15th Century.

By the 18th Century, the home of European chess had moved from Spain to France, but by the early 19th Century northern Europe was starting to figure significantly in the beginnings of European Chess Championships.

Chess clubs began to spring up all over Europe in the mid-19th Century. Britain and Ireland were beginning to figure highly in the tournaments. Individuals began buying books on chess and famous chess matches were printed so that they could be analyzed by aficionados.

Newspapers were publishing chess games and correspondence games were being played between the London and Edinburgh chess clubs in 1824. However, it took until 1851 before the first modern ‘all comers’ chess championship was staged. It was won by a German called Adolf Anderssen. Anderssen’s aggressive style became the manner of the day.

German players dominated the world chess scene until a Cuban, Capablanca, ruined it for them by holding sway as World Grand Master between 1921 and 1927. Capablanca did not lose a game for three years.

Alekhine, a Russian French player took the title from Capablanca and held it until his demise in 1946, although he lost it for two years to the Dutchman, Euwe.

No alterations to the rules of chess have been brought in for hundreds of years.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of subjects, but is now concerned with the Gyro Helicopter S107. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Smart Toys for Kids.

Tags: buddhism, chess, entertainment, family, games, gifts, History, hobbies, kids, leisure, other, recreation, sports, toys, uncategorized

After Buddha’s death in 483 BC, his nearest followers (his disciple monks) took time off their preaching to write down his sermons (sutras) and his rules (vinayas). In the old tradition of Buddha, monks initially walked the countryside preaching and teaching for nine months of the year and went to sit out the monsoon season in a retreat for three months.

These retreats became monasteries and temples. This withdrawal into monasteries was important in the development of various interpretations of Buddha’s doctrines and in due course led to the formation of different sects which gained popularity in different parts of Asia.

There are three foremost Buddhist sects: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana or Tantric Buddism.

Theravada Buddhism is the principal sect in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand and is the sect that stays most loyal to Buddha’s original doctrines. Theravada Buddhism teaches that the path to the achievement of personal Nirvana is the goal of life. It is a very personal religion in that everybody is alone on their own route to enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddism became the largest sect and spread along the Silk Road from India through China to east Asia starting in around 200 BC. Mahayana Buddhists worship Buddha and the Buddhist saints (bodhisattvas - literally ‘wisdom beings’).

Bodhisattvas are beings that restrain themselves from attaining Nirvana (and therefore leaving the wheel of life or cycle of birth, death and reincarnation) so that they may help others achieve Nirvana, which is a major difference between it and Theravada Buddhism.

Mahayana Buddhism is more readily absorbed by different cultures than the other forms which accounts for it having spread so far. The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (272-232 BC) gave Mahayana a huge boost in popularity by despatching missionaries to Sri Lanka, south-east Asia and China from where it was taken to Korea and Japan in the Sixth Century anno domini.

Zen Buddhism grew in popularity in Japan and China in the Seventh Century. Zen Buddhism is a variant of Mahayana Buddhism and teaches that Nirvana can be achieved through mental conditioning and meditation.

Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism arose in the Seventh Century as well and is most common in Tibet and Mongolia. Vajrayana Buddhism tries to identify the initiate with a visualized deity. Tantric cannon includes esoteric writings, teaching that meditation can engage the mind by the use of mantras (chants), mudras (hand gestures) and mandalas (visible icons). The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal head of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists.

Buddhism reached its height of popularity in China during the T’ang dynasty in the Ninth Century, when it was partially suppressed by royal command. Similarly Zen attained its height of popularity in the Nineteen Century when the Japanese royal family switched to Shintoism taking numerous royal hangers-on with it. Buddhism declined in India too in the Eighth Century because lots of its principles were absorbed into Hinduism. Buddism was virtually extinct in India by the Thirteenth Century.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on many subjects but is at present involved with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our web site entitled Celebrating Easter

Tags: buddhism, happiness, History, holidays, india, knowledge, other, philosophy, religion, sects, society, spirituality, thailand

Buddhism was started by the followers of Siddhartha Gautama (circa 563-483 BC). He was born into a Hindu family of the kshatriya caste in what is now known as Nepal. At the age of 29, he abandoned his wife and young son and went in search of enlightenment.

He gained enlightenment some time later when sitting under a bodhi tree near Patna. After 49 days of rapture and resisting temptations (Mara), He, now known as Buddha, formed a group of monks and went forth to teach the word. After 45 years of teaching their philosophy of enlightenment Buddha passed away and reached Nirvana, the state in which ‘ideas and consciousness cease to exist’.

One of the most important concepts to Buddhists is the Tipitaka (the ‘Three Baskets’), which is a record of the Buddha’s doctrines as set down by His early followers after his death. The writings in these ‘three baskets’ tell the story of Buddha’s life (Buddha); record his laws (Dharma); and his guidelines for establishing and maintaining a monastic order (Sangha).

Buddhists believe in reincarnation and the wheel of life in a comparable fashion to Hindus. They also believe that this cycle of life, death and rebirth can be broken by attaining enlightenment. Enlightenment can be achieved by adherence to the Four Noble Truths.

Life is impermanent despite the cycle of life, death and rebirth and can only create suffering (dukka) because of the pursuit of earthly desires. Suffering and desire can just be overcome by attaining Nirvana, which can be gained by following the Eightfold Path, otherwise known as the ‘Middle Way’.

The Middle Way consists of: correct belief, thought, speech, action, livelihood, work, mindfulness and concentration. These make up the nucleus of Buddhist ethics.

A hallmark of Buddhism is the monastic order. Men can become monks for a few years or for life. There is also a female monastic order. In some sects, boys go into a monastery for a period of between a couple of weeks and a couple of months as part of their passage into adulthood. Boys in Thailand are expected to become monks for a number of weeks before they eventually get married.

Monks live an ascetic life in monasteries or temples. Each village has a temple in much the same way as western villages have a church, but each temple tries to uphold a population of at least nine monks, which is considered the ideal number for some of their duties like blessing a house or performing a wedding ceremony.

Buddhist monks live on charity donated by the local villagers. In Thailand the young monks walk the streets in the early morning collecting donations of food, which has to be consumed before noon, after which they might not eat. Monks are not permitted any contact with women at all. They may not even sit next to them on a bus or give the fare to a female bus conductress.

Buddhist temples are primarily for personal contemplation and meditation. They are open to anyone twenty-four hours a day and people use them to gain respite from the hustle and bustle of every day life. Group prayer meetings are far less common a characteristic of Buddhism than they are in Judaism, Christianity, Islam or even Hinduism.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on many topics but is at present involved with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our website entitled Celebrating Easter

Tags: buddhism, happiness, History, holidays, india, knowledge, mahabarata, other, philosophy, religion, society, spirituality, thailand, vishnu

Archeology all over the planet confirms that hunting tools, that is, weapons, were some of the first items that we made in the ancient history of mankind. Flint arrow heads and spear points are some of the most prevailing articles found around the world.

In those ancient times, people hunted for food and fought each other. We do not know, but it probable that men and non-pregnant young women hunted animals and collected fruit, nuts and berries, while the older family members looked after the children.

It is unclear when bows were invented, but certainly more than two thousand years before Christ or four thousand years ago. Earlier than this, hunters almost certainly crept up on or ambushed their quarry and then ran after it, throwing rocks and sharp sticks or primitive spears perhaps with fire-hardened or flint tips.

It is improbable that they often killed their quarry out-and-out, they most likely wore it out until it bled to death. This style of hunting deer is still practiced by some hunters in South Africa and to other places.

As people lived and learned, so more sophisticated hunting devices were invented and improved on. The first such item would have been the spear and the second either the throwing arrow or the bow and arrow. It is probable that the throwing arrow came first. This weapon is still used by some traditional Aborigine hunters in Australia.

Recurve bows and longbows dating back to 2,000 BC have been found all over Europe and Asia. It seems that the longbow was more common in the north and the recurve bow in the south. Recurve bows can be shorter than longbows and still retain their power, which suits shooting from horse back or chariot.

As farming developed, so did civilization and more and more often, hunting wild animals was left to specialist. The creatures that they killed would be swapped for other items or, later, sold for money.

For the majority of people, hunting became recreational, a sport or a game and the animals they killed in their spare time they called ‘game’ and we still do today in English.

Most peoples of the world did not only develop weapons to hunt with, they also trained animals to help them. Dogs, whose forebears were wolves, were almost certainly the first whose help was sought. Some dogs were used to recover the gave after it had been shot and fallen into the bushes or the water, other dogs really did the killing.

Later still, the aristocracy would hunt with no intention of consuming the animal at all: foxes in Britain and lions in Afghanistan. This is still done today. Likewise with falcons and eagles.

Other animals were used to help chase prey. Horses equalized the speed difference between man and buffalo or deer. Elephants were used to even out the strength of tigers and offer a safer platform from which to hunt.

Nowadays, few people need to hunt to survive, but it is still a popular activity, even though for many it is a once a year event. The most legendary hunting trips were or still are the safaris, despite the fact that now more people shoot with video cameras than with guns.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with compound hunting bows. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Tags: archery, buddhism, education, government, History, hobbies, hunting, martial arts, other, outdoors, Politics, recreation, sports, war

Archery is as old as the hills. The oldest bows to have been discovered date back to about 2000 BC and bows are almost certainly older than that. Archery is so old that no-one knows where or when the bow and arrow was developed. It has always been employed in hunting and warfare. Buddhist monks in the Far East have used archery in their martial arts routines for centuries as well.

Archery is even now being utilized by some tribes around the world for hunting purposes and many millions of ordinary people practice archery for leisure. Buddhist monks still utilize it in their meditation techniques. There are basically three kinds of archery recognized: primitive, traditional and modern archery.

Traditional archery includes such bows as the longbow and the recurve bow. Bows of both types have been found dating back to 2000 BC. It appears that the longbow was more common in northern Europe and the recurve bow was more widespread in southern Europe and east from there all the way to Japan.

The contemporary compound bow can achieve a heavy draw weight by expending relatively little physical energy compared with traditional bows by the use of a set of pulleys or cams, but still a lot of people prefer to use traditional bows. People appear to want to get back to the root of archery.

Longbows are very simple items, traditionally made from one piece of yew or ash. Recurve bows could also be made from one length of wood, but more often, the tips would be crafted from wood and horn or bone. Remember that the tips of a recurve bow point to the front when the bow is unstrung.

Because of the recurved tips, a recurve bow is more powerful than a longbow weight for weight or inch for inch, but recurve bows are typically fairly short, so the standard longbow is much more powerful than the typical recurve bow.

However, both types of bow require quite an amount of physical strength to draw them to full power and hold that draw to take aim.

This cycle of drawing and holding without quivering or trembling requires a lot of strength and concentration, which usually has to be acquired. It can take years of practice to master traditional archery. The British longbow men of the 14 th and 15 th centuries trained all their lives.

In fact, Henry VIII made it law that all English and Welsh men had to train with a longbow at the butts every Sunday aiming at targets at a minimum of 220 yards away. These days, 90 metres (100 yards) is about the furthest archers shoot. It would often take ten years to become this proficient, but some archers could cast an arrow 400 yards and more.

In order to cast an arrow that far, traditional longbows used in warfare had a draw weight of between 160 and 180 lbs, which would send a three ounce, armour-piercing arrow about 300 yards. Not many men could draw a bow like that these days These days, a standard draw weight for a longbow would be 100 lbs and for a recurve something like 60 lbs.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on various topics, but is currently concerned with archery bows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Tags: archery, buddhism, education, government, History, hobbies, hunting, martial arts, other, outdoors, Politics, recreation, sports, war

People have been involved with archery for a minimum of four thousand years, but very nearly certainly for a lot longer than that. Sections of composite recurve bows have been found dating back to the second millennium BC, but the parts that were found were the non-wooden, composite parts, usually of horn.

The wooden sections ordinarily rotted away thousands of years previously, but a wooden longbow from the same period was found in Somerset. Most probably, people had been using all wooden, single piece bows long before they started constructing complex composite recurve bows.

The skill of archery has always enthralled mankind and, in spite of the fact that guns have made archery obsolete, it still fascinates people today, although nowadays archery is practically exclusively used for sporting purposes. It is a thriving sport and hobby and is the national sport of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

If you are interested in taking up archery, you will first have to decide which type of bow you prefer. Among other types, there are the longbow, recurve bow, reflex and decurve bows, deflex bow, pyramid bow and crossbow.

To a certain degree, the arrows are not interchangeable either. For example, a longbow can cast a three foot, heavy-gauge arrow, whereas a crossbow shoots a six inch bolt. The bows also had different uses although there was a certain degree of common ground.

For example, longbows were the heavy, rapid-firing artillery of their day, being able to lob a heavy, armour-piercing arrow hundreds of yards; whereas a short recurve bow was perfect for attack from horseback. Crossbows took less ability to operate but were slower than a bow.

There are different types of arrow too. Historically, arrows were made of wood with a pointed metal tip, but these days arrows can be made of aluminium or carbon fibre. The arrowheads are different for different uses as well. A plain brass tip is sufficient for everyday shooting whereas a ferocious, slashing broadhead is used for killing.

Most people who take archery seriously use carbon fibre arrows these days which is the typical arrow shaft used at the Olympic games. The flights are usually of bird feathers and are used to steady the arrow in flight to minimize wobble. Plastic flights are also to be had as they are less susceptible to damage.

The Welsh (and English) longbow was perhaps the most powerful hand bow widely used. These longbows were typically six feet or more in length and made of one section of seasoned yew (or other woods). The draw weight of a Welsh longbow at the time of Henry VIII was between 160 -180 lbf and that would shoot a heavy three ounce arrow up to about 280 yards.

An explanation of the damage that one of these arrows could wreak was given by Gerald of Wales in the 12th century:

“… in the war against the Welsh, one of the men of arms was struck by an arrow shot at him by a Welshman. It went right through his thigh, high up, where it was protected inside and outside the leg by his iron cuirasses, and then through the skirt of his leather tunic; next it penetrated that part of the saddle which is called the alva or seat; and finally it lodged in his horse, driving so deep that it killed the animal”.

It took years of practice to draw and shoot one of these longbows bows accurately.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several topics, but is currently concerned with archery recurve bows. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Tags: archery, buddhism, education, government, History, hobbies, hunting, martial arts, other, outdoors, Politics, recreation, sports, war