Wat Rong Khun (Thai: วัดร่องขุ่น), more well-known among foreigners as the White Temple, is a contemporary unconventional Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat in 1997.

Taronga's first female elephant calf explores the paddock with her mother Pak Boon at Taronga Zoo on November 3, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. The 120kg elephant was born at 1:12am and is Taronga's first female calf and fifth born to The Australian Conservation Management Plan for endangered elephants. The calf will be given a Thai name to reflect the herds' cultural origin. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

People use large water guns to spray each other as they celebrate the annual Songkran festival in Bangkok, Thailand on April 14, 2025. Thailand celebrated the Thai traditional New Year, called Songkran in Thai and also known as ëthe water festivalí, on 13 April, with festivities going on on throughout the weekend. During Songkran, people celebrate the New Year by splashing water to each other as a sign of washing away sins and bad luck from the previous year. People across Thailand celebrate the New Year with parties and water related activities throughout the weekend. (Photo by Diego Azubel/Matrix Images)

Visarute Angkatavanich gets incredibly close up to capture these stunning portraits of Siamese fighting fish in graceful, dancerly poses. The Thai photographer uses perfectly placed lighting to create the dramatic highlights and shadows that give personality to each little finned creature.

A Thai security guard stands by a wall of sandbags in front of a factory at the Bangchan Industrial Estate area on the outskirts of the capitol city November 8, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Over seven major industrial parks in Bangkok and, thousands of factories have been closed in the central Thai province of Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi with millions of tons of rice damaged. Across the country, the flooding which is now in its third month has affected 25 of Thailand's 64 provinces. Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in over 50 years which has affected more than nine million people. Over 400 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

People carry lychee for sale on a motorbike on a street in Luc Ngan, Bac Giang province, Vietnam, 22 June 2016. Lychee output in Bac Giang province is expected to reach 130,000 tonnes this year. China is still Vietnam's main lychee export market so far, buying around 60 percent of the annual crop, according to official reports. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA)

Locals watch from the beach as waves hit an Indonesian tanker that ran aground near Narathiwat in southern Thailand December 19, 2014. The tanker loaded with palm oil, previously hijacked by its crew members and then seized by Thai authorities, was anchored some 400 meters from the beach but strong wind and waves broke it free, according to local media. (Photo by Surapan Boonthanom/Reuters)