This book is dedicated to my future students, the people of Thailand, and to Pum Kamonrat, who inspired my interest to learn all about Thailand

Thailand is a beautiful country known for it's elephants, Lantern Festival, Buddha statues and temples, and beautiful historical sites in Thailand's capital, Bangkok. Wondering what some of these things are, include, or look like? Keep reading to learn all about Thailand's culture, customs, values, and more! Even if you aren't wondering, you may love to know what a Lantern Festival is, or just how tall the tallest Buddha statue in Thailand is!

สวัสดี. My name is Pensri and I am from Bangkok, Thailand, but I just moved to America. As I was unpacking my boxes, I found a box full of items I kept over the years during my time in Thailand. I wonder what is in here...

Fun Fact: สวัสดี is pronounced Suh-wat-dee. This means hello in Thai!

Wow! Look at this! I just found an old flag of mine from Thailand. And there is a piece of paper attached to it. Let's see what it says.

This is a flag I got from Loy Krathong. They were passing these out at the booths to celebrate Thailand. The red stands for land and people. The white stands for religion. The blue stands for the king.

Loy Krathong means "to float a basket." Learn more about it on the next page!

I remember that flag! And the festival! Loy Krathong is a yearly festival in Thailand. Everyone gets together around some water, and they release decorated baskets with candles inside into the water. They also release paper lanterns into the sky. It is so beautiful! Look, here is a flyer for Loy Krathong from the 2015 festival!

I wonder what else is in here...

Oh, this is sad. I just found a newspaper article from the 2004 tsunami that hit Thailand. I was not in the place where it happened, but it was horrible. You know, though, there were some elephants on the beach that day who felt the earthquake before the tsunami hit, and they saved people! They put them on their back and ran to higher ground! It was amazing! Speaking of elephants...

A tsunami is a huge wave from the ocean that is triggered by an under water earthquake

Elephants are very important to Thai culture. The Thai Elephant is our national animal! In fact, Thailand's original flag had an elephant on it. Elephants helped us with war, labor, and they are also sacred to my religion, Buddhism, which is practiced throughout Thailand. I love to collect items with elephants on them, and oh! Here are some of those items!

What is your national animal? If you live in the United States, it's a... (turn your book upside down)

bald eagle