WHAT THE COUNTRIES OF MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA HAVE IN COMMON
Monsoons (seasonal winds), that bring very wet summers and somewhat
dry winters The majority of the people live in rural villages The
majority of the people learn their living by farming and the main
crop is rice. Many use water buffalo to pull the plow The majority
of the people follow the religion of Buddhism & Buddhist monks
in their orange robes are a common sight.
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Myanmar (used to be called Burma) Two rivers, the Irrawaddy and
the Salween, flow through Myanmar Mountains lie on the western and
eastern borders.
Slide 7
Myanmar About 2/3 of the people earn their living by farming.
Rice is the main crop Although some use tractors, many still use
plows pulled by water buffalo
Slide 8
Myanmar Has thick forests & produces about 75% of the
worlds teakwood However, forests are declining because of
deforestation, the cutting of too many trees
Slide 9
Myanmar-house in the Irrawaddy Delta About 75% live in rural
areas. Many people build homes on poles above the ground for
protection from floods and wild animals
Slide 10
Slide 11
Myanmar Yangon is the capital, and is known for its gold
covered Buddhist temples. Buddhism is the main religion
Slide 12
Myanmar Myanmar has a very repressive government in which the
military leaders rule. It has a socialist economy, in which most
businesses are owned and run by the government.
Slide 13
The Padaung tribe, known for the long necked women, are found
in Myanmar and Thailand.
Slide 14
Slide 15
THAILAND
Slide 16
The name Thailand means land of the free. It was never a colony
of a European government. Its old name was Siam. Famous movies set
in Thailand include The King and I, and Anna and the King of Siam,
which are based on a true story about a teacher from Great Britain
who came to be a teacher for the children of the King of Siam.
Slide 17
Thailand still has a king, so it can be called a Constitutional
Monarchy. However, much power seems to be in the hands of military
leaders, although its government is not nearly as repressive as
that of Myanmar.
Slide 18
King Bhumibol-86 years old
Slide 19
Thailand is very friendly to visitors, and tourism is an
important industry. It has modern buildings as well as traditional
temples called wats. Buddhist temples and Buddhist monks are a
common sight.
Slide 20
Many young boys in Thailand become monks, at least for a time,
often after the death of a grandparent, in order to help the
grandparent get to paradise (nirvana). Novice monks wake up at 5:00
and mediate After that they have free time and play video games.
Then they walk through villages with the older monks to beg for
food.
Slide 21
Emerald Temple, Bangkok Capital: Bankok
Slide 22
Shedagon Pagoda, Yangon
Slide 23
Slide 24
Buddhist Monks
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
LAOS
Slide 28
Remote and landlocked. The Mekong River flows through Laos
Slide 29
Laos is economically poor It has a communist government Its
industry is undeveloped because of isolation and years of civil war
Most people are farmers who grow rice along the Mekong River
Slide 30
Reclining Buddha-Laos
Slide 31
Cambodia Most people belong to the Khmer ethnic group and live
in rural villages. The main religion is Buddhism.
Slide 32
The capital is Phnom Penh The Mekong River through it.
Slide 33
1000 years ago Cambodia was the center of the ancient Khmer
Empire. From the 1800s to the mid 1950s, it was ruled by the
French.
Slide 34
In the 1980s it had a civil war, and then a very cruel dictator
named Pol Pot who caused the death of about a million
Cambodians.
Slide 35
Now Cambodia has brought back its king and is a Constitutional
Monarchy.
Slide 36
Slide 37
Angkor Wat Most famous site in Cambodia: Angkor Wat, which is a
Hindu temple built in the 1100s.
Slide 38
It represents the Hindu view of the universe. There is a moat
around it which represents the ocean. The tallest towers represents
the home of the gods.
Slide 39
Vietnam Has a long curving coastline along the Gulf of Tonkin,
the South China Sea, and the Gulf of Thailand The Mekong River
forms a swampy delta in the south.
Slide 40
In the 1950s-early 1970s, there was a civil war between the
Communists in the north, and the non- communists in the south. This
led to the Vietnam War, when the U.S. sent troupes to help South
Vietnam. China helped North Vietnam The U.S. gave up and withdrew
in 1973. The Communists took over South Vietnam, and reunited the
country. Now there is just one Vietnam.
Slide 41
The country is now reunited, and the government is communist.
Recently, the government has become more open to western ideas, and
have loosened control of the economy. The capital is Hanoi, located
in the north. The largest city is Ho Chi Minh city (which used to
be Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam).
