CNN) -- Thailand's people are justifiably proud of their country, which, sandwiched as it is between historically powerful neighbors, has managed skillfully to play off its rivals and retain its independence.
Known as the "land of smiles" to tourists but the "land of freedom" to those born in the country once known as Siam, its astute line of Chakri dynasty monarchs in the 18th and 19th century managed to juggle competing French and British colonial interests in the region.