Experience the Culture of Thailand

Thailand lies in the heart of Soutern Asia. The largest city in Thailand is Bangkok, the capital, which is also the country's center of political, commercial, industrial and cultural activities.

With approximately 64 million people, Thailand is the 21st most populous country in the world. Thai culture has been shaped by many influences, including Chinese, Lao, Burmese, Cambodian, and Indian. Thailand's national religion Theravada Buddhism is important to modern Thai identity. Most Thai people's lives are closely tied to Buddhism and temples; they often send their sons to be educated with the monks.

Like most Asian cultures, respect towards ancestors is an essential part of Thai spiritual practice. Thais have a strong snese of hospitality and generosity, but also a strong sense of social hierachy. Senority is an important concept in Thai culture, Elders have by tradition ruled in family decisions or ceremonies. Older siblings have duties to younger ones. Taboos in Thailand include touching someone's heaad or pointing with the feet, as the head is considered the most sacred and the foot the dirtiest part of the body.

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Thai Cuisine

Thai cusine blends five fundamental tastes; sweet, spicy, sour, bitter and salty. Some common ingredients used in Thai cuisine include garlic, chillies, lime juice, lemon grass and fish sauce. The staple food in Thailand is rice, particularly jasmine variety rice (also known as Hom Mali rice) which is included in almost every meal. Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice, and Thais domestically consume over 100 kg of milled rice per person per year

The Royal Orchid is proud to offer authentic Thai cuisine and you can be guaranteed to have an authentic experience with us, through our welcome to you, the restaurant design and most importantly the food.

Muay Thai

Muay Thai or Thai boxing, is the national sport in Thailand and its native martial art call "Muay". In the past "Muay" was taught to royal soldiers for combat on battlefield if unarmed. After they retired from the army, these soldiers often became Buddhist monks and stayed at the temples. "Muay" is also one of the subjects taught in the temples. Muay Thai achieved popularity all over the world in the 1990's. Although similar martial arts styles exist in other Southeast Asian countries, few enjoy the recognition that Muay Thai has received with its full-contact rules allowing strikes including elbows, throws and knees.

Thai Meditation

Buddhist meditation is fundamentally concerned with two themes; transforming the mind and using it to explore itself and other phenomena. Thai historical Buddha himself, Siddhartha Gautama, was said to have achieved enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. In Buddhist mythology, there were twenty eight Buddhas and all of them used meditation to make spiritual progress. Most forms of Buddhism distinguish between two classes of meditation practices, samatha and vipassana both of which are necessary for attaining enlightenment. The former consists of practices aimed at developing the ability to focus the attention single-pointedly; the latter includes practices aimed at developing insight and wisdom through seeing the true nature of reality.