Siam (Vegetarian World)
From Alternative History
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| Official language | Siamese |
| Capital | Bangkok (Krung Thep) |
| Largest City | Bangkok |
| Population | 9,488,000 |
| HDI | 0.831 (High) |
| Periods | Sukhothai kingdom: 1238–1368 Ayutthaya kingdom: 1350–1815 First Republic: 1815-1929 Dictatorship: 1929-1945 Second Republic: 1947-present |
| Currency | Siamese Baht (SMB) |
| Our Timeline Equivalent | Thailand, minus its northwest (Chiang Mai area) and some of its far west (Phuket, some areas bordering Myanmar, etc) |
Siam is a nation located in continental Southeast Asia. It managed to escape colonization, unlike some of the other nations in formerly foreign-dominated Southeast Asia. However, it was occupied at the end of the Pan-Global War after its then dictatorship sided with the Japanese, who used it as a base for the invasion of Malaya and thus Sundarapore, and which, itself, occupied Lanna and parts of Lan Xang. After the war, it became a moderately stable democracy, though it has had some coup attempts.
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[edit] History
Siam is usually thought to have coalesced during the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya Kingdoms, the latter one peacefully absorbing the former. Ayutthaya had good relations with most of its neighbors, and, later, with Europeans, Indians, and Chinese who frequently traded with the nation. The Burmese, bordering Siam at the time, started to continually threaten the capital in the 1700s. In response, the Ayutthaya Kingdom shifted its capital to the modern-day Thonburi (in Bangkok) in 1767, and the city of Ayutthaya fell into a minor role in national affairs, but was never overcome by the Burmese. The Burmese had been unwisely raiding Indian towns, in addition to Siamese towns, and India took these incursions to be ample justification of Burman annexation. Thus, for the 19th century, Indian-controlled Burma posed no threat to allied Siam. Internally, the Siamese came to realize that the rest of the world was democratizing. In 1815, in a bloodless coup against an unyielding king, a republic was created. Another coup in 1929 brought a dictator to power. This eventually led the nation to defeat, and it was finally occupied by outside (Indian) forces, though only until a new constitution was ratified and the country was back to being a republic. Currently, Siam is not as wealthy as neighboring Malaya, but is is generally considered more traditional, at least away from Bangkok, an impoverished city studded with post-war Cheapie modern architecture.
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Vegetarianism
For a Buddhist nation, its percentage of vegetarians is quite low. Theravada Buddhism is, in general, more lax than Mahayana Buddhism in terms of moral diet restrictions, but even most other Theravada-majority nations have a higher percentage of vegetarians.
- 57% Non-Vegetarian
- 43% Vegetarian
[edit] Ethnic Groups
Siam's largest ethnic group, the Thai/Tai ("Thai" meaning "free"), are also the largest ethnic group in Lanna and Tai, and are a large group in Lan Xang, though each of these are sub-groups and differ to some degree. These people have various names, including Tai, Thai, and Lao, and have slightly different languages, but are all closely related, compared to the neighboring ethnic groups. Citizens of Siam, regardless of ethnic affiliation, are called "Siamese".
- 92% Thai
- 06% Chinese
- 01% Malay
- 01% other
[edit] Religions
- 75% Buddhism
- 72% Theravada Buddhism
- 03% Mahayana Buddhism
- 18% Non-religious
- 10% atheist
- 08% agnostic
- 04% Hindu
- 03% other (Daoist, Christian, etc)
[edit] Languages
- 96% Siamese (a Tai language)
- 02% other Tai languages
- 01% Chinese languages
- 01% others (Malay, etc)
