Show q Siam r rA A Quaint Siamese Cart Prepared by National Society Washington I D. D C C. Service JAM I 1 still sUll Is oriental in spirit SI S SIAM but possesses modern occidental tal appointments of or great va- va In assimilating things western west west- ern Slam has hns maintained Its Us dl distinctive tive Ure Individuality Few countries offer more startling contrasts It Is not unusual In Siamese cities clues to see sec policemen halting motor and street car traffic to mate make way for some kaleidoscopic medieval pageant pa pa- geant With mo modern ern hospitals nn and dispensaries available many people still prefer medicinal concoctions made from rhinoceros horns snake e egnUs galls gnUs and strange herbs Slow- Slow moving mo oxcarts and shuffling elephants elephants ele ele- vie with motorcars for the right of or way on many country roads Siamese Rebeccas In Bangkok Bangkok Bangkok Bang Bang- kok fill Gil their Jars or oil on tins with water ater at sanitary street hydrants In some parts of or north Slam Siam tiger whiskers are consi considered ered much more i effective In punishing an nn enemy I than is a 0 police court Yet Ye on the visit of or the king and queen of Slam to the United States in 1931 when hen King revealed revealed re re- re- re his keen Interest In athletics athletics ath oth- radio and motion pictures and ond discussed In excellent English with newspaper correspondents and business leaders such things as astree free tree press and democracy while the queen played cd golf man many people were amazed to discover how v modem modern modern mod mod- em ern n the ro royal al family really was Again through the forthcoming visit of the king for fol further optical optical optical cal treatment the Land of the Free in Asia will meet our United S States and ond mutual appreciation will willbe willbe be Increased Slam Siam a Land of or the Free Such Is the meaning of Muang Thai the name Dame by which the Siamese have hav always known their country Superficially Super Super- tidally it might seem somewhat atan of at an anomaly for tor until less than two years ago ngo when a constitution was born Slam Siam was the sole remaining remaining remaining re re- absolute monarchy in the Family of Nations Yet the name Muang Thai has Of all nil the numerous races and tribal groups who In successive successive successive suc suc- migrations have ha swept down I across southern Asia only the Siamese have bave emerged victorious Against many vicissitudes they have maintained their complete Independence ence and forged themselves es a 0 modern modern modern mod mod- ern state tee Now Quite Quito Accessible Today we can step aboard the magic carpets provided by Imperial Airways Airway's K 1 L L. M M. and France Air-France at London Amsterdam or Marseilles Mar- Mar Bellies seilles and be whisked away to this tIlls Interesting oriental land In a little littleover littleover over oyer a 0 week for Cor Slam lies at the aerial crossroads of or the Far Tar East Or we can go by boat and drop of off at ot Singapore or Hong lIons Kong as Bangkok Is linked to by train to Hong Kong b by local steamer and to Singapore b by both In the tIle long curving sweep of Bangkok's river rIve highway the Ule Me Meram ram Nam Chao Is revealed re the pageant of or Stains Stain's commercial ac nc- ac- ac Many of Bangkok's SO 80 rice mills line the water front Chinese junks and lighters clutter their wharves with endless queues of or perspiring bare backed ed coolies dumping basl baskets ets of or rice In their holds Other boats lift their rough matting sails and slip sUp downstream to the off coast Island of Koh SI Chang where draft deep-draft steamers take on cargo Nearly 90 per cent of or all Slams Slam's foreign n trade moe moves motes up and down this waterway accompanied by all the strange smells and cries peculiar peculiar liar jar to an nn oriental port portAs As Aea a capital city Bangkok is not nol old It is but a 0 few v years senior to I Washington on the Potomac The New lama nama I bridge Its enormous enormous spans etched sharply against a 0 background of colorful temples and nod water front shops gives the Ule city its date line This foot structure first to link the two portions of or the city was dedicated In April 1032 1932 In commemoration of or the one bundred bun hun I dred dyed fiftieth anniversary of or the founding of ot Bangkok and the reign of ot the present dynasty American Influence America has touched Slam Siam In many ways Through American missionaries missionaries mission mission- aries modern medicine was first practiced and progressive schools developed In the country Americans Amer Amer- brought the first printing pressed presse and also adapted the 44 I consonants and 20 vowel and tonal i marks of the Siamese written lan lan- language language guage to the keyboard of 01 a type type- writer Titer i I I i Aided by American advisers nd of or foreign affairs Slam Siam in 1025 so- so cured the abrogation of outgrown extraterritorial treaties and won her complete sovereignty Originating in the mission s schools the training physical Idea Iden has spread rapidly throughout the land The late Inte king himself was Scout Chief for the tho Wild Tiger corps Although that organization has since ceased to function its spirit Is carried on In a Boy Scout organization known as os the Wild Tiger Cubs Education has become t. t More than 80 SO per cent of 01 loyal local lo al schools and CO GO per cent of government government govern govern- ment schools are situated In monasteries moans monas teries or are aro modern outgrowths of ot the old temple schools In Bangkok Bangkok Bangkok Bang Bang- kok too is a n well functioning unIversIty university university uni unI- nod and medical school In the east of Slam bordering on French Indo China Is a wide moun moun- tain-encircled tain plateau feet to feet above sea level and tilted sl slightly to the east so that it drains Into the ml mighty Mekong During the six-months' six dry season this territory Is very arid and durIng during dur dur- ing lag the rains It Is often heavily flooded consequently It is the poorest poorest poorest poor poor- est section of Siam Slam Until recently when the railway was extended beyond Raja- Raja sIma Korat to the people were severely handicapped handicapped handicapped handi handi- capped In getting their produce out outto outto outto to market et centers Considerable wealth however lies In the rhe red red- and other forests located In Inthe Inthe Inthe the mountaIns These and other resources resources resources re re- re- re sources will be devel developed ped because railroads and highways s 's are being extended Into the region province pro bordering the Gulf of Slam Siam finds prosperity In its forested hills In pepper coffee coffee coffee cof cof- fee and In ru ruby lj sapphire and zircon zircon zircon con mines Minerals and Rice South Slam Siam embodies about one- one half of the tho elongated Malay peninsula peninsula penin penin- I sula with Its population gradually 1 shading into almost pure Malay Like lower Malaya It is rich In minerals espe especially lally tin and also produces considerable quantities of I rubber In normal times an nn average average average aver aver- age of or nine million dollars' dollars worth of tin annually goes Into foreign marts from these mines miness Eastward westward and northward northward northward north north- ward from Bangkok stretches the vast alluvial plain of central Slain Slam level as a table top top the the rice granary granary gran gran- ar ary of the country It Is the heart of the time kingdom and the source of tenths nine of oL Its wealth An Anarea Anarea area of roughly square miles is enclosed between the hl high h mountain mountain moun moun- tain thin backbone bone that extends along the Burma border and the battlements battlements battle battle- ments that face the Korat Karat plateau What the Nile Is to Egypt the Me Nam Naru Chao Is to this fertile fertile fertile fer fer- tile valley II ey Every ery year during the summer rainy season the river overflows overflows overflows over over- flows Its banks and stretches out through its network of canals and depositing rich silt and providing the required water for the rice lands second city of Slam was founded in the Ele Eleventh nth century century cen cen- tury and subsequently gained ascendancy ascendancy as ns- over neighboring prIn pall ties Because of Its Importance I 1 It long sat on the fence between Burma and Slam Siam and was pulled first one way and then the other er according to which rival sought Bought by force of arms aims to claim Its Us al al- Is attractively located on the Mo Me Ping PIn one of or the time chief tributaries of ot the Me Nam Chao Beyond it stretches a rice plain backed by the Imposing foot mountain of Dol Doi The staffs of several teak companies companies com com- panIcs and of the missionary schools and hospitals comprise e the princIpal principal principal pal foreign population In Chieng ChIen- mal One of the outstanding missIonary missionary mis mis- enterprises In the Ule city Is the tho asylum for lepers Many of these unfortunates are made comfortable comfortable com- com in the excellent cottages provided for them They are treated treated treat trent ed with the esters of chaulmoogra oil and In many cases the disease Is arrested If not completely cured So effective has been this w work rk that I the government now grants ants an annual annual an an- nual subsidy toward Its upkeep In the fastnesses of or the northern forests axes ring trees crash lo logs s 1 thunder down mountain mahouts shout and elephants trumpet trumpet the the voices of ot a n leaking camp Each year approximately teak logs go down the river to Bangkok are routed by the river to Burma and an other outer ride the turbulent waters waters wa wn of or the Mekong to Indo lade |