Thailand is unique among the countries of Southeast Asia in that it has never been a European colony....Thais, unlike most other Southeast Asians, are untouched by a trace of what the psychiatrists call trauma where European are concerned. They treat visitors with neither resentment nor exaggerated respect but rather with a gracious air of quiet curiosity, which makes their guests feel flattered and at ease. More important than its effects upon contemporary tourists have been the consequences of this attitude towards visitors upon Thailand's own colourful history, both early and contemporary.
[Noel F. Busch,  Thailand: An Introduction to Modern Siam, D. Van Norstrand Company, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, 1959, p.22]

Noel F. Busch Thailand: An Introduction to Modern Siam, D. Van Norstrand Company, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, 1959, 161 pages

THAILAND: An Introduction to Modern Siam
A rare book on Thailand by Noel F. Busch, published in 1959 
By D. Van Norstrand Company, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, 161 pages.

Chapter 2 - The People
"In the opinion of many commentators, Thais are, by and large, the handsomest people in the Orient. Small, slight, and delicately built, they are usually darker than Chinese, with small bones, well-made torsos and attractive faces. Thai women especially are often extravagantly graceful and good-looking. Young Thai girls are expected to be proficient in the national idiom of the dance, which stresses manual gesticulation, and are likely to spend their spare moments practicing it. As a result, most of them have unusually graceful hands, with tapering fingers flexible enough to bend backwards at a ninety-degree angle.
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The dexterity of Thai women is by no means exclusively digital; they seem expert also at most of the numerous activities they undertake, including business, the professions, and the arts. In distinction from women elsewhere in Asia, who are often obliged to lead an emphatically domestic life, as in Japan or in the Middle East, those of Southeast Asia have been traditionally more versatile....
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Thailand is unique among the countries of Southeast Asia in that it has never been a European colony....Thais, unlike most other Southeast Asians, are untouched by a trace of what the psychiatrists call trauma where European are concerned. They treat visitors with neither resentment nor exaggerated respect but rather with a gracious air of quiet curiosity, which makes their guests feel flattered and at ease. More important than its effects upon contemporary tourists have been the consequences of this attitude towards visitors upon Thailand's own colourful history, both early and contemporary."

Reference: Noel F. Busch  Thailand: An Introduction to Modern Siam, D. Van Norstrand Company, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, 1959, pp.19-22
Noel F. Busch worked for the Asia Foundation in Thailand from 1954 to 1959. Before joining the Asia Foundation he worked for Time and Life Magazines as editor and writer, also a contributing writer to The New Yorker, the Saturday Evening Post, The Atlantic Monthly, and many other leading US magazines.

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NATIONAL PARKS OF THAILAND
An 18 hours documentary series produced by THAIVISION in 2017, written and directed by Somkiat Onwimon for The National Science Museum of Thailand

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