XiangkhouangXiangkhouang (Lao: ຊຽງຂວາງ, meaning 'Horizontal City') is a province of Laos on the Xiangkhoang Plateau, in the nation's northeast. The province has the distinction of being the most heavily bombed place on Earth. The province was originally known as the Principality of Muang Phuan (Muang Phouan / Xieng Khouang). Its present capital is Phonsavan. The population of the province as of the 2015 census was 244,684. Xiangkhouang province covers an area of and is mountainous.
TaksinKing Taksin the Great (สมเด็จพระเจ้าตากสินมหาราช, , ) or the King of Thonburi (สมเด็จพระเจ้ากรุงธนบุรี, ; ; Teochew: Dên Chao; April 17, 1734 – April 7, 1782) was the only king of the Thonburi Kingdom that ruled Thailand from 1767 to 1782. He had been an aristocrat in the Ayutthaya Kingdom and then was a major leader during the liberation of Siam from Burmese occupation after the Second Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, and the subsequent unification of Siam after it fell under various warlords.
Mon peopleThe Mon (ဂကူမန်;(Thai Mon=ဂကူမည်); မွန်လူမျိုး, mʊ̀ɰ̃ lù mjó; มอญ, mɔ̄ːn ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar's Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, the Irrawaddy Delta, and several areas in Thailand (mostly in Pathum Thani province, Phra Pradaeng and Nong Ya Plong). The native language is Mon, which belongs to the Monic branch of the Austroasiatic language family and shares a common origin with the Nyah Kur language, which is spoken by the people of the same name that live in Northeastern Thailand.
Buddhism in LaosTheravada Buddhism is the largest religion in Laos, which is practiced by 66% of the population. Lao Buddhism is a unique version of Theravada Buddhism and is at the basis of ethnic Lao culture. Buddhism in Laos is often closely tied to animist beliefs and belief in ancestral spirits, particularly in rural areas. However, Laos is a multi-ethnic country with a large proportion of non-Buddhist groups that adhere to religions that are often subsumed under the denominator "animism", but that can also substantially overlap with Buddhism, or a least contain Buddhist elements resulting from cross-cultural contact.
Köppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, German climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification.
IsanNortheast Thailand or Isan (Isan/อีสาน, ʔīː.sǎːn; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli isāna or Sanskrit ईशान्य īśānya "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in the northeastern region of Thailand. Isan is Thailand's largest region, located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River (along the Laos–Thailand border) to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Sankamphaeng Range south of Nakhon Ratchasima.
ChulalongkornChulalongkorn (จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V from 1 October 1868 to his death in 23 October 1910. Chulalongkorn was born as the son of King Mongkut in 1853. In 1868, he travelled with his father and other Westerners invited by Mongkut to observe the solar eclipse of August 18, 1868 in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. However, they both contracted malaria which resulted in his father's death.
Thonburi KingdomThe Thonburi Kingdom (ธนบุรี, thōn būrīː), or the Early Bangkok Empire (1767–1851), was a major Siamese kingdom which existed in Southeast Asia from 1767 to 1782, centered around the city of Thonburi, in Siam or present-day Thailand. The kingdom was founded by Taksin the Great, who reunited Siam following the collapse of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, which saw the country separate into five warring regional states.