If you are planning to spend a vacation in Thailand and you would like a primer on the local culture to protect cultural shock, the first thing you should keep in mind that Thailand is highly multicultural: Chinese-Thai make up a large percentage of the total populationas Indian-Thai. While the religion of the majority of the Kingdom of Siam is firmly Buddhism with almost 95% of the population being Buddhist, there is more than one notable Islamic presence: about 4.6% of the population is Muslim, most of which are concentrated in southern Thailandsuch as Yala, Songkhla Chumphon, Pattani and Narathiwat mainly due to proximity to Malaysia, where the dominant Islamic faith is. As such, while the dominant ethnicity Thailand is present during most of the country, in the South there is a much more noticeable, orient Thai origins, such that they are effectively the majority in this administrative division. In total, 2.3% of the populous is the Arabic heritage, culture and religious practices.
Outside the South, however, cultural integration is softer and more relaxed. In Northern and central Thailand, among others, the Chinese new year is celebrated annually and is considered just as official as the Thai new year or any one of several days of Buddhist Saints and fairs. The Chinese Lunar Festival, again in origins, likewise is celebrated widely across the country: this reflects the demographic ratio in which at least 14% total citizens is composed of persons of Chinese origin, usually third generation and up. Many Indian dishes are integrated into the Thai cuisine, and the sight of tents roti is common in any street in Chiang Mai or Bangkok. Japanese expatriates chose to live in various provinces in Thailand, particularly in the North, and the administrative division of the Northeast is home to a substantial Vietnamese minority and the distinctive cuisine of this region is ample evidence of this integration between two cultures.
It is further noted that out of tension in the South, the overall atmosphere is one of tolerance. Most can be of Theravada Buddhism, but there is relatively little oppression and marginalization of religious minorities. intolerance certainly less outright vista in the West, particularly in pós-II incident Trade Center America. Contrary to popular belief held by foreigners of first world, the Thai culture to live-and-let-live has spared much of the political divide raging as seen in the West and Buddhism itself is exceptionally liberal. People of the non-normative sexuality or gender identity, particularly the transsexual known in Thailand as katoey-can expect considerably less harassment on a street of Bangkok than they could in New York or London, and the same applies to desktops: although they are still excluded the privileged enjoyed by most cisgendered (i.e. men and women born respectively in male and female bodies), they are not subject to outright violence and gross discrimination.
In fact, many schools take steps to ensure that katoey students don't feel erased and desumanizadas and bullying is carefully monitored in Thai schools. Much of this is thanks to the principles of the dominant religion, which has very little to speak in oppressing, eliminating, enslaving and converting them to a different faith. Likewise makes no mention that katoey or homosexual people are abominations destined for the fire of hell (as the afterlife really doesn't include a Buddhist). In fact, for a traveller culturally aware, one would be hard-pressed to find a religion more open and relaxed armed than the teachings of Buddha, which most Thais take to heart and to practice as a matter of daily life.
