Hey guys
Glad somebody is trying to put Thailand together in Civ4. I was kinda hoping its added in Civ4 but nope, never happens. =(. But as a keen Thai historian myself, I shall take the liberty to express some of my opinions. Hope they are constructive.
I would say the name Siam delivers the punch more than Thailand. Ick is right about it being poetic and historic and all but more importantly, the country was introduced to the Western World as Siam and that was when it was at its greatest height. (Like before the French and the British tore the country apart, colonizing half the country which is today Melayu Peninsular, Laos and Combodia) Its flag, if Siam is favored, then should be an elephant with a default colour of red/blue/gold
As for its leader, I would say it is somewhat a no to use the current king, Bhumibol as a leader head. Majorly, because he still is in reign and thus would induce that disrespectful feeling the most. (the same way i believe Hitler was never appeared whereas Churchill and Roosevelt does) But as for other choices of LH, there are 3 kings who with the title 'The great': King Buddha Yodfachulalok (Rama I), King Mongkut (Rama V), and King Bhumibol (Rama IX). With King Bhumubol out of the question, that leaves the first two. King Buddha Yodfachulalok was not that well-known. Thus my choice would be to go with King Mongkut, if you insisted on the name being stated. But i would suggest stating Rama V, as Civ4 has wrote Suriyavarman II. As for PM, there has never been a Thai PM who fit the description of being a national symbol therefore i suggest doing the king would be the best. As for the pre-ratanakosin era kings, King Naresuan or King Taksin would fit into the position. King Naresuan was the liberator of Siam during the first fall of Ayothya, and King Taksin in the second.
As for the traits, for any choice of LHs, the Siamese has shown unparalleled amount of loyalty to its king, hence there would be limited anachy in the kingdom, if there were any. Hence, i would say Spiritual is defenitely in. If Rama V is chosen, i would go for protective as he defended the freedom of the country (quite succesfully too) against foreign power. (although spiritual/protective belongs to Saladin, i believe Saladin should have other traites, =) ) But if Rama I is chosen, i would go spiritual/organized for how he found Bangkok. As for King Naresuan/Taksin: protective/organized, for how they liberated Siam from the hands of Burma.
As for UU and UB, I totally agree on the Battle Elephant, just the correct and balanced version. (i suggest making it a 10/1 vanilla unit, an 8/2 war elephant, or 8/1 war elephant with 25% against melee) But as for UB, how about a (elephant) breeding ground, a replacement of stable, but also add ivory to the trading resources, making the Battle Elephant readily available regardless of terrain as well as tradable goods.
Lastly, for the city name, I shall list down the name of cities according to its importance during Ayudhya era where the country is at its greatest. (do note that these cities are spelled using anglicization of the original bali language that is used to name the city as used in the Khmer Civ)
Sri Ayodhya (capitol)
Chantaburi
Sri Sajanalaya/Sukothai
Nakorn Sridhammaraja
Kanchanaburi
Nakorn Rajasrima
Bhitsanulok/Song Kwae
Surajadhani
Bangkok
(follow by the original list)
I also leave out the important cities in area that are no longer Thai such as Vientiane that is now Laotian and the Melayu Peninsular cities.
Hope that helps making a better Thai Civ Mod =)
DD cheap too ! ;DD )
+2 
+2 Horse EXP +1 Elephant EXP
