Digging around on the computer today I was deleting some old Word and Excel files that I no longer used and I found an old document of Thai Lists that I thought you might enjoy reading.
I used to work for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum here in Washington. My job was managing the bookstore inside the main gift shop. The museum itself holds several records, the Worlds Most Visited Museum for one and the gift store is, I believe, also the worlds largest. It was like a Department Store with three floors of the typical tourist souvenir junk except for my floor (of course 😛 ) which was all books and in fact the largest single retail collection of books on aviation in the US..another record!
During the height of the tourist season we were always overrun with tourists from all across the US and every country in the world including Thailand. When I found out a customer was Thai I would begin speaking to them in Thai and sometimes the reaction was quite funny. One time a customer almost fell over in shock to hear a farang speak passable Thai 😉
During the winter months with 
most of the tourists safely back home a lot of times I would have nothing to do most of the day so one day I was browsing through one of the books in our general science section.
This was a cool book with some interesting lists, many including Thailand. Sometimes Thailand or Thai culture was number one, sometimes it was farther down the list. Bored and also intrigued I started writing them down for an e-mail to send to a Thai friend. I wrote all the ones I found in each category including Thailands place on the list and who beat them out for number one. I forgot I had saved it on my PC so here it is some cool facts and lists that might surprise some of you so enjoy!
Top Ten Book of Lists on Thailand (and other stuff)
Pets
Countries with the Highest Pet Dog Populations
1. United States – 61,080,000
10. Thailand – 6,900,000
Food
Countries with the Most Rice Production (Paddy production in tons)
1. China – 197,648,870
6. Thailand – 29,711,797
Longest Reigning Living Monarch
1. King Bhumibol Adulyadej – Thailand
Born: Dec. 5th 1927
Accession: June 9th 1946
10. Carl XVI Gustaf – Sweden
Born: April 30th 1946
Accession: Sept. 19th 1973
Religion
Beliefs with followers world wide
1. Christianity – 2,050,616,000
5. Buddhism – 367,538,000
Largest Buddhist Population
1. China – 105,829,000
2. Thailand – 52,383,000
Religions in the US
1. Christianity – 159,030,000
2. Buddhism – 1,082,000 (tied with Islam)
Cities
Longest Place Name for a City or State
1. Krung teip mahanakhon bovorn ratanakosin mahintharayutthaya mahadilok pop noparatratchathani burirom udomratchanivetmahasathan amornpiman avatarnsathit sakkathattiya visnukarmprasit The poetic full name of Krung Teip (Bangkok), Thailand a total 167 letters long!
(Check back on this one I want to post the complete name for Krung Teip in Thai Script – anyone know where I can find it? 🙂 )
ed. note
My Thanks to MrBradUSA for showing me where to find the full name of Krung Teip in Thai Script. Thanks also for the typing lesson since I had to retype the entire name here since the website where MrBrad found it would not let me simply use cut and paste. I hope I got all the spelling correct! Here it is.กรุงเทพมหานครอมรรัตนโกสินทร์มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลกภพนพรัตน์
ราชธานีบุรีรมย์อุดมราชนิเวศมหาสถานอมรพิมานอวตารสถิตสักกะทัตติ
ยวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์
10. Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhubhghaill A city in Scotland 32 letters long, looks kinda wimpy by comparison huh?
Architecture
Tallest Hotels
1. Jin Mao Tower – Shanghai, China completed in 1998 88 stories tall – 1,214 feet high
3. Buiyoke Tower 2 – Bangkok, Thailand completed in 1997 89 stories tall – 1,013 feet high
6. Thai Wah Tower 2 – Bangkok, Thailand completed in 1996 60 Stories tall – 853 feet high
Entertainment
Primetime viewers on Network TV 2001-2002
1. Academy Awards – 26,832,000 viewers
7. TV Show Survivor: Thailand Special – 14,124,000
Finances
Countries with most external debt for fiscal year 2000
1. Brazil – 237,953,000,000 Reals
10. Thailand – 79,675,000,000 Baht
Worst Fatalities
Motor Vehicle and Road Disasters
1. Afghanistan Nov. 3rd 1982 Soviet Army Truck collides with a fuel tanker – explosion and vehicles involved kill an est. 3,000 people
2. Thailand Feb. 15th 1990 Dynamite truck explodes killing over 150 people
Travel and Aviation
Busiest International Airports
1. Heathrow Airport, London UK – 53,796,000 passengers in 2001
8. Bangkok International, Thailand – 21,394,000 passengers in 2001
Sports
Goal Scorers in International Soccer
1. Ferenc Puskas – Hungry/Spain played from 1945-56 and scored 84 goals
9. Kiatisuk Senamuang – Thailand played from 1993 (still active) and scored 59 goals
So there you have it. I wonder what could be in the lists for 2005? Hottest chillies? Wettest New Year? 😉 We’ll have to wait and see.
That’s it for me this time check back next week when I take a trip to Thailand in the movies! Anyone got the popcorn?
Till next time,
พบกันใหม่ ครับ
วิทย์
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