Asian Elephant - Thailand

The Thai alphabet is derived from the old Khmer script, an abugida script. Abugiba describes a segmental writing style to allow each consonant-vowel sequence to be written as one unit. The Thai alphabet contains 44 letters and shares a similar style with the Roman alphabet; the Thai alphabet is written from left to right. 

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Elephas maximas - The Asian elephant consists of three sub-species: the Indian, the Sumatran, and the Sri Lankan elephant. The trunk of the elephant is its single most important feature. Containing no bones or cartilage, the trunk is made up of over 100,000 individual muscles. This sensitive organ has the ability to lift heavy logs or small pieces of fruit. Its flexibility is extraordinary; the elephant could not survive without a trunk. Male Asian elephants have large tusks; female tusks are small, unnoticeable or completely missing.

Strychnine - Thailand

Strychnos nux-vomica - The strychnine tree is native to India and Southeast Asia. This plant is the source of strychnine and brucine, both are poisonous substances. The fruit is usually the size of a large apple, each containing 5 seeds; the seeds appear as flattened discs and are grey in color. The seeds and blossoms contain strychnine; brucine is found in the tree’s bark. There are no medical uses for either compound. Strychnine is primarily manufactured for use in baiting animal traps.

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Thailand lost large tracts of land to France and Britain, but it did not succumb completely to European colonization. Thailand’s role as a buffer state between French control of Indochina and British control of Burma and Malaysia was ideal for maintaining peace between the European powers. Despite Thailand’s attempt to remain neutral during World War II, it did bow to demands in allowing Japanese troops to pass through Thailand to attack British positions in Burma and Malaysia.

African and Asian Elephant Comparison

Elephantidae is the only extant family in the Proboscidea order and contains the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. The forest elephant was considered a subspecies of the bush elephant, but DNA analysis has shown enough differences to support classifying them as separate species. Differences between the Asian and African elephant are broader in scope than those of the bush and forest elephant. The highest point on the Asian variety is the back; the African elephant is tallest at the shoulders. The stomach of the Asian elephant is straight or sags slightly in the middle; the African elephant’s stomach slopes down towards the hind legs. The ears of an Asian elephant are small and do not cover the neck area; the ears of an African elephant are large and cover the neck. The number ribs, toes, and trunk fingers are also different for each species.

Cities in Asia

Bangkok began as a small trading post  situated on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River in the emerging Ayutthaya Kingdom. Prosperity for the Ayutthaya Kingdom came through trade with the nearby Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indians, as well as the distant French, Portuguese, and Dutch. This lucrative international trade transformed Krung Thep, as it is known in Thai, into a leading Asian metropolis.

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Kuala Lumpur  was founded in the 1850’s to serve the needs of the local tin miners. The town barely survived floods, fires, gang warfare, and various outbreaks of diseases. Yap Ah Loy was installed by the British as the chieftain of the area during the 1870’s in an attempt to bring a degree of stability to the region. Under his leadership, Kuala Lumpur began to grow rapidly and emerged as Malaysia’s leading city.

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Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. It was known as Marakanda when Alexander the Great conquered it in 329 BC. Samarkand served as the capital for Timur when he ruled over the Timurid Empire in the 14th century and serves as his burial site. Samarkand was also one of the key cities along the Silk Road and through this position, grew into a prosperous trading city.