Comparative Analysis

(Thailand and China)

Submitted by: Camille T. del Rosario II-Sampaguita Submitted to: Mr. Job A. Faustino

II.INTRODUCTION:

II.BODY OF RESEARCH:
Thailand Historical Background: Thailand (formerly Siam Thai) is a country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The history of Thailand before settlement by the Thais remains dispute. North eastern Thailand may have been the site of the earliest rice cultivation in Asia, and excavation in this region indicate that metal smiths of BAN CHIANG were working in bronze by 2d millennium B.C. and possibly much earlier. The Funan Empire dominated after 3d century, and the Mon kingdom of Dvaravati (c.550-1253), after c.675. Dvaravati became (11th century) a viceroyalty under the Khmer Empire. The Thais began migrating into a region from south China in the 11th century and established the kingdoms of Sukothai and Chiang Mai. Sukothai (1238-1419) overpowered Dvaravati by 1238 and, maintaining friendly relations with Chiang Mai, gained control by absorbing the Khmers. In the 14th century the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya (1350-1767) subdued Sukothain and other small kingdoms and became a regional center of wealth and power. Portuguese envoys arrived in 1511-the first Europians to visit Siam. Burmans destroyed the capital at Ayutthaya (Ayutthia) in 1767, and a new era, the Bangkok Period (1767-1932), began with the establishment of a new capital at Thon Buri, across the Chao Phraya from modern Bangkok. The present royal house is descended from General Chakkri, the second king of this period. In the 19th century King Mongkut, or Rama IV (1851-1868), who ruled as an absolute monarchy, began to modernize Thailand. His son Chulalongkorn, or Rama V (1868-1910), intensified the process by abolishing slavery and introducing railroads, telegraph services, and scientific education. This exposure to Western ideas culminated in a bloodless revolution by the Thai elite in 1932, who demanded a constitutional government limiting the kings powers. The revolution also began he struggle between military and civilian groups for control of the government, a continuing feature of Thai politics life today. A civilian government under Seni Promaj led the nation between 1945

and 1946 after the end of Japanese control on World War II. In 1947 a bloodless military coup brought Field Marshall Phibul Songgram to power, and a similar coup in 1957 replaced him with Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat. Sarit died in 1963, and his successor, Gen. (later Field Marshal) Thanom Kittikachorn, initiate a brief return to politically fractionalized civilian rule in 1968 but replaced it with martial rule in 1971 as unrest mounted. In 1973 an interim civilian government led by Sanya Dharmasakti was installed. Elections held in 1975 failed to produce a majority and coalition governments led by Seni Pramoj and Kukrit Pramoj, respectively, both failed to unite the divided nation. Gen. Kriangsak Chomanan, who assumed power in a 1977 bloodless coup, became prime minister after the 1979 elections but resigned in 1980. Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda was prime minister from 1980 to 1988. His successor, Chatichai Choonhaven, was ousted in a 1991 coup led by Gen. Sunthorn Kongsompong. A nonelected military prime minister was installed after the election under a new constitution in March 1992, sparking widespread protests. The armys brutal suppression of the demonstrations forced Sunthorn to resign. Prodemocracy parties won slim majority in the September 1992 elections and formed a coalition civilian government headed by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. Banharn Silpa-archa, who became prime minister after elections on July 1995, was very unpopular was forced to resign in September 1996. Gen. Chavalit Youngchaiyudh, who succeeded him after November elections, instituted austerity measures in 1997 to deal with the nations economic difficulties. Unsuccessful, he resigned in November and was replaced by Chuan Leekpai.

King Buddha Yodfa

King Mongkut Three Kings of Thailand

King Chulalongkorn

Political Background:

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, whereby the prime minister is the head of government with the king exercising little power and a hereditary monarch is head of state. The judiciary is independent of the executive and legislative branches. The present monarchy is King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who ascended the throne after his brothers death in 1946 and was crowned king in 1950. Constitutionally, power rests with the prime minister, a cabinet, and a bicameral legislature (National Assembly) composed of an appointed senate and elected House of Representatives. In practice, however, the military has exerted great influence on civilian affairs, ruling the country intermittently after constitutional government began in 1932. The 1991 constitution, granting increased right to the military, was widely criticized as undemocratic. It was amended in 1992 to require that future prime ministers be elected members of the legislature and to reduce the powers of military-appointment Senate. A constitution approved in 1997 called for reforms to the electoral system to curb political corruption. Economic Background: Thailand is the largest rice exporter in the world. Thailand is an emerging economy and considered as a newly industrialized country. Agriculture accounts for 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Rice, the chief crop is grown mainly in the Chao Phraya basin, and rubber in th southern peninsula. Plantation estates are generally small. Manufacturing accounts for nearly 30% of the GDP. Most traffic moves by water or along an extensive rail system radiating from Bangkok. Many roads are passable only in the dry season. The chief port is Bangkok. Leading Thai exports are electrical and nonelectrical machinery, garments, shrimp, rubber, jewelry, rice, canned seafood, and footwear. In 1997 overinvestment and overcapacity, particularly in the commercial real estate market, led to the worst economic crisis in decades. Thailand received assistance from the international monetary fund during its currency crisis. Economists predicted that the nations former rapid rate of economic growth would slow to more modest levels in the future. GNP (1994) Foreign Trade(1994) 129.9 Billion; 2,210 per capita Imports: 52.6 Billion

Exports: 46 Billion Currency Labor distribution (1994) 1 baht = 100 satang Agri.-45% ; Trade-13% ; Mining, Manuf.-15% Constr.-7% ; finance, services-13% ; transport4%

Social Background: PEOPLE: Today, Thailand has a population more than twice the 26,258,000 recorded in 1960. Ethnic Thai or Siamese, make up about 75% of the population; ethic Chinese, the largest minority, about 14%; and Malays, living mainly on the peninsula, about 4%. Scattered MON communities occur in the central region and Khmer and other hill people live in the northeast and along the border with Burma. Thai, which is not affiliated with any other Asian language, is spoken by 97% of the population and is the official language. Theravada Buddhism, considered the national religion, is professed by about 95% of the population although most Thai also traditionally believe that their lives are influenced by spirits and ghosts. About 30% of the population lives in the Chao Phraya basin, but even there population densities are generally lower than in other Asian ricegrowing nations. Bangkok is the largest city, followed by its suburb of Nonthaburi, Nakhon, Ratchasimha and CHIANG MAI, in the north. Education has been compulsory for many years, and children from 7 to 14 are now required to attend school. Thai culture has its roots in Hinduism and Buddhism. Thailands written literature dates from the 13th century, when the modern system of Thai writing was introduced. The golden age Thai arts occurred during 13th and 14th centuries and is reflected at its best in the many temples (wats) surviving from that period. Population (1997) Density Distribution (1997) 60,100,000 117 Persons per km sq. (303 per mi sg 19% Urban 81% Rural

Official Language Major Religions Life Expectancy Infant Mortality

Thai Buddhism; Islam Women- 72 Men- 66 32 per 1,000 live births

Religion/Philosophy: Religion Buddhism Islam Christianity Others Percent 94.6% 4.60% 0.70% 0.10%

Thailand has a prevalence of Buddhism that ranks among the highest in the world. The national religion is Theravada Buddhism. According to the last census (2000) 94.6% of the total population is Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Muslims are the second largest religious group in Thailand at 4.6%. Thailand's southernmost provinces Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of Songkhla Chumphon have dominant Muslim populations, consisting of both ethnic Thai and Malay. The southern tip of Thailand is mostly ethnically Malay, and most Malays are Sunni Muslims. Christians represent 0.5% of the population. A tiny but influential community of Sikhs in Thailand and some Hindus also live in the country's cities, and are heavily engaged in retail commerce. There is also a small Jewish community in Thailand, dating back to the 17th century. Education Background: Thailand enjoys a high level of literacy (1992:90% of adult population) and education is provided by a well-organized school system of

kindergartens, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools, numerous vocational colleges, and universities. The private sector of education is well developed and significantly contributes to the overall provision of education which the government would not be able to meet through the public establishments. Education is compulsory up to and including grade 9 and the government provides free education through to grade 12. Thailand has never been colonized, and its teaching relies heavily on rote rather than on student-centered methodology. Education in a modern sense is therefore relatively recent and still needs to overcome some major cultural hurdles to ensure further development and improvement to its standards. The establishment of reliable and coherent curricula for its primary and secondary schools is subject to such rapid changes that schools and their teachers are not always sure what they are supposed to be teaching, and authors and publishers of textbooks are unable to write and print new editions quickly enough to keep up with the volatile situation. China Historical Background: The human record in China can be traced back at least 1.7 million years with the 1965 discovery in Yunnan province in southwest China of fossils Known as Yuanmou man, a closely related ancestor of modern man. Other Homo erectus fossils in China include those found at Lantian, Shaanxi province, in 1963, of humans who lived about 600,000 to 700,000 years ago, and earlier finding (1921) at Zhoukoudian (Chou-kou-tien) of the fossils later known as Beijing (Peking) MAN, who live approximately 250,000 to 500,000years ago. By about 25,000 BC, also in the vicinity of Beijing, a fully advanced human, sometimes referred to as Upper Cave Man, hunted and fished and made shell and bone artifacts. Although fossils remains of early humans have been discovered in various other places in China, the Northespecially the fertile region watered by Huang He (Huang Ho; Yellow River)was a nuclear area of ancient Chinese civilization. There, and also along the southeastern coast, switch from hunting-gathering methods of food collection to an agricultural

way of life first occurred in China sometime during 6th to the 5th millennium BC, a far-reaching development that scholars have recently come to believe took place independently of the Near Eastern NEOLITHIC revolution. During the first phase of the Neolithic period (c.5000-2500 BC), called Painted Pottery Neolithic Yangshao, after the first associated site, farmers employed primitive techniques of cultivation, shifted their villages as the soils became exhausted, and live in semi subterranean houses in region of modern central Shaanxi (Shensi), southwestern Shangxi (Shangsi), and western Henan (Honan) provinces. Their handcrafted, painted pottery occasionally bears a single incised sign that may be a forerunner of Chinese writing. During the 2nd phase, the Black Pottery or Longshan (Lung-shan), c.2500-1000 BC, agriculture became more advanced. Farmers began a widespreading cultural expansion into the eastern plains, Manchuria, and Central and South China. Longshan farmers worshipped their ancestors, a Chinese custom that still persists.

Dynasties of China Shang Dynasty: The Yangshao and Longshan cultures laid the foundations for the first true Chinese civilization, the Shang dynasty, which controlled a loose confederation of settlement groups in the Henan region of North China from the 16th century BC to c.1027 BC Shang civilization, known from cities such as ANYANG and ZHENGZHOU, was characterized by an advanced system of writing, a sophisticated bronze metallurgy, the first Chinese calendar, and a genuinely urban way of life. Aided by a priestly class, the Shang kings prayed to their ancestral spirits to intercede on their behalf with the most powerful of the Shang gods, Shangdi, to bring rain for good crops and other blessings records of these priestly divinations have survived in the form of Oracle Bones. Until recently it was believed that many of the characteristic elements of the Shang, such as bronze making and writing, were importations from the Near East and other places. It now appears that, like the Chinese development of agriculture, these were invented independently and that the emergence of civilization in China was thus largely indigenous. Zhou Dynasty:

 Political Background: China is a Communist state, with all authority resting in the Chinese Communist party (CCP). The country has had five constitutions since the Communists reorganized the national government in 1949. The first provisional constitution (1949) was superseded by the 1954 constitution adopted by the First National Peoples Congress (NPC), by the1975 constitution by the Fourth NPC, by the 1978 constitution adopted by the 5th NPC, by the 1982 constitution adopted b the 6th NPC. The 1982 constitution restored the post of president, which had been abolished in 1975. In 1983, Li Xiannian (Li Hsien- nien) was appointed president. When he retired in 1988, Yang Shankun was selected as president. The NPC is the highest organ of the state power. It can amend the constitution, elect to or remove from office the highest state dignitaries, and decide on the national economic plan. The NPC elects a Standing Committee, whose chairman is equivalent to the head of state. The NPC is composed of deputies elected to 5-years terms. In 1988 the 7th NPC selected Wan Li as its chairman. The highest government administrative organ is the State Council, headed by a premier and several vice premiers. It consists of more than 30 ministries and committees.

De facto power is held by the CCP, which had 47 million members in 1989. In 1982 the CCP abolished the post party chairman in favor of a general secretary and named HU YAO-PANG (Hu Yaobang), who had replaced HUA GUOFENG (Hua Kuo-feng) as party chairman in 1981, to the post. Hu resigned in 1987 after student protest and was succeeded by ZHAO ZIYANG (Cha Tzu-yang). Hardliner Li Peng was premier from 1987 to1998. The 13th Party Congress (October 1987) continued a transfer of power to younger leaders begun in 1985 by DENG XIAPONG (Teng Hsiao-ping), Chinas paramount leader the party leadership was reshuffled in June 1989 after two months of large-scale prodemocracy demonstrations in Beijing and other cities. Deng ordered the demonstration suppressed by the army on June 4 and dismissed Zhao as general secretary. JIANG ZEMIN (Chiang Tse-min) was named the new party general secretary. Designated Dengs heir-apparent, Jiang assumed control after Dengs death in February 1997. The 15 th Party Congress (September 1997) adopted Jiangs proposal to privatize most stateowned industries. In March 1998, Zhu Rongji was named to succeed Li Peng as premier. For local administrative purposes China is divided into 22 provinces (not including Taiwan), 5 autonomous regions, and 3 cities (Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai) directly under central government control. Provinces and autonomous regions are governed by local Peoples Congresses, and lower levels of the government, by local Peoples Government. The People's Republic of China (PRC), established in 1949, commonly known as China, has control over mainland China and the largely selfgoverning territories ofHong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999). Economic Background: Since 1949, China has had a centrally planned economy based on the Stalinist model. From 1953 to 1990, seven five-year plans were implemented to coordinate economic development of heavy industry financed with Soviet assistance. The 2nd Five-Year Plan (1958-1962) was interrupted by Mao Zedongs radical measures of the GREAT LEAP FORWARD and the establishment of rural communes. The new policies caused a great setback for Chinas economic development. A period of readjustment followed in 1962-1965, the 3rd and 4th Five-Year Plans (1966-1970 and 1971-1975) were disrupted by the Cultural Revolution. An ambitious Ten-Year Plan (19761985) calling for modernization in all sectors was inaugurated in 1978 but was soon abandoned in favor of new adjustment and reforms. In September

1982 the government adopted a new program designed to quadruple the gross annual value of the nations industrial and agricultural output by the year 2000. The 6th and 7th Five-Year plans (1981-1985 and 1986 and 1990) were designed toto attain this long-term strategic goal. During the 1980s the government also pursued a series of reform policies to increase productivity in agriculture and industry through decentralization and to open the door to foreign investment. The reform policies, while increasing industrial and agricultural output substantially, also contributed to inflation, corruption, speculation, and income disparities. In October 1988, new policies were initiated to reimpose government control and slowdown growth to achieve economic stability. GNP (1994) Labor distribution (1994) 630.2 billion; 530 per capita Agriculture-54%; Mining and manufacturing-17%; Construction-5%; Finance and Trade-7%; government and services-6%; other-11% Imports: 115.7 billion Exports: 121 billion 1 Renminbi (yuan)- 100 fen

Foreign Trade (1994)

Currency

Social Background: PEOPLE: China is a multiracial state, whose population includes about 94% Han Chinese and about 6% of some 60 other ethnic groups. National autonomous regions, districts or counties have been established in areas where these ethic groups are concentrated. LANGUAGES: Chinas languages are classified into four major linguistic families: the INDO-EUROPEAN, SINO-TIBETAN, URAL-ALTAIC, and MON-KHMER. Mandarin dialects, the largest group of the Sino-Tibetan family, are spoken by about two-thirds of Chinas population. The Mandarin Beijing dialect is now Chinas national spoken language.

The Ural-Altaic linguistic family includes the Turkic linguistic groups (Kazakh, Kirghiz, Uzbek, Salar, and ULGHUR), Mongolic groups (Meng, Tu, Dongsiang, Baoyin, and Daghurs), and Tingusic groups (Manchu, Evanki, Orochon Gold, and Sibo). The Mon Khmer linguistic family of Southeast Asia is represented in Yunnan province by the Wa (Waka), the Puland (Palaung), and the Penglung. The Indo-European Linguistic family is represented nly by Tadzhik speakers. DEMOGRAPHY: China contains about one-fourth of the worlds people; the latest official census, completed in 1982, placed the countrys population at more than 1 billion, about half of whom are under the age of 30. During the 1950s the population grew at a rate of 2% per year. The rate of growth slowed to 1.1% by 1984 but then turned upward again after 1985. Current laws obligate couples to practice family planning, and penalties are imposed on families with more than three children. The adoption of a new farming system since 1982, however, has increased the economic value of offspring and made family planning less effective in rural areas. About 95% of Chinas people are crowded into eastern and southeastern sections of the country. Most densely populated are the Chang Jiang plain and the Guangzhou delta. In 1982 an estimated 21% of Chinas population were urban, up from 13.3% in 1952. The pace urbanization accelerated in 1984-1986 when many rural countries were incorporated into metropolitan areas, adding 90 million people to the urban population. The largest urban centers are SHANGHAI, BEIJING (Peking), TIANJIN (Tientsin), SHENGYANG, WUHAN, GUANGZHOU, HAERBIN (Harbin), CHONGQING (Chungking), NANJING (Nanking), XIAN (Sian), and CHENGDU (CHENG-TU). Population (1997) Density Distribution (1997) 1,236,700,000 129 persons per km sq. (334 per mi sq) Rural- 29% Urban- 71% Official Language Major Religions Mandarin Chinese Daoism

Buddhism Islam Folk Religions Life Expectancy (1997) Women- 72 Men- 68 Infant Mortality (1997) 31 per 1,000 live births

Religion/Philosophy: Traditionally, the major religions of China were BUDDHISM AND TAOISM. Most Chinese also believed in ANCESTOR WORSHIP and CONFUCIANISM, a system of social and political values. TIBETAN BUDDHISM, or Lamaism, was the religion of the Mongols and the Tibetans. Large Muslim and Christian (primarily Roman Catholic) minorities were also important. After 1949, under the Communist government, the practice of religion was discouraged, although freedom to believe in religion was guaranteed under the constitution of 1954. During the CULTURAL REVOLUTION of the mid-1960s, religious institutions were destroyed, but since 1978 the government has become more tolerant of religious observance. Confucianism is a philosophical school developed from the teachings of the sage collected in the Analects. It is a system of moral, social, political, and religious thought that has had tremendous influence on Chinese history, thought, and culture down to the 21st century. Some Westerners have considered it to have been the "state religion" of imperial China. Its influence also spread to Korea and Japan. The major Confucian concepts include Rn (humanity or humaneness), Zhngmng (a ruler who rules unjustly are no longer a ruler and may be dethroned), Zhong (loyalty), Xiao (filial piety), and L (ritual). Confucius taught both positive and negative versions of the Golden Rule. The concepts Yin and Yang represent two opposing forces that are permanently

in conflict with each other, leading to perpetual contradiction and change. The Confucian idea of "Rid of the two ends, take the middle" is a Chinese equivalent of Hegel's idea of "thesis, antithesis, and synthesis", which is a way of reconciling opposites, arriving at some middle ground combining the best of both.

Kong Fuzi (Latin: Confucius)

Education Background: In the 1950s and early 1960s educational policy was directed toward producing college and secondary school graduates who were politically reliable and technically qualified. Students were required to spend half of

their school hours on academic subjects and the other half learning practical skills in factories and fields. Revolutionary committees ran the schools during the Cultural Revolution, with emphasis on political indoctrination in revolutionary ideology. The traditional university entrance examinations were abolished, and the students were selected on the basis of work performance and party loyalty. The educational policies of the Cultural Revolution were abandoned in 1977. Entrance examinations were reintroduced and tuition for higher education was reinstituted in 1985. More than 40,000 bright students were sent to study in colleges and universities in Western Europe, Japan, and the United States, although the government has reduced the number of students sent abroad since 1988. Efforts have been made to extend the years of schooling to 10 in urban areas and 9 in rural areas (5 years at the elementary level and 4 to 5 years of secondary school). In 1986, 96% of school-age children were enrolled in schools. The first university in China was the Imperial Academy (124B.C). Admission to the academy was by highly competitive examination, and the purpose of the institution was to prepare students for the even more rigorous examinations that determined who would serve in the higher-level government bureaucracy. These examinations were concerned exclusively with classical Confucian scholarship into the 19th century, when efforts were made to reform education through the creation of universities on the Western model. Today China has five major types of universities, comprehensive, technological, agricultural, medical, and teacher teaching. Amongst the largest universities in modern China are Beijing University (1898), the Peoples University of China (1937), and Qinghua University (1911), all in Beijing; Tianjin University (1895), in Tianjin; Shanghai Riao Dong University (1896) and Futan University (1905), in Shanghai; and Nanjing University (1902), in Nanjing.

III. COMPARE AND CONTRAST (ANALYSIS):

IV.REFERENCES:

 THAILAND:

Grolier: Encyclopedia of Knowledge (pg. 204-206) www.google.com www.wikipedia.com CHINA: Grolier: Encyclopedia of Knowledge (pg. 329-347) www.google.com www.wikipedia.com