It is difficult to deny that Thailand, as a nation, likes to have fun. But a good reason to slap the 'Amazing Thailand' label on the country is the current craze for breaking world records. Even Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has caught the bug. Not content with hosting one of the best Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forums last year, he has jumped into aerobics, eaten chicken stew and strutted on a catwalk - all to put Thailand on the map.
Since the billionaire businessman came to power more than three years ago, he has tried to increase the number of mentions his country has in the Guinness World Records. He braved the rain to take part in the world's largest aerobics workout in 2002, with more than 46,000 participants.
He braved no less than death by eating from the world's largest pot of chicken stew recently, after several people had died from bird flu (including some reportedly from eating diseased chicken). And he presided over the world's longest fashion catwalk, (5kms), to highlight Thailand's fashion industry.
But there are limits to how far Mr Thaksin will go. He has yet to go as far as Boontawee Siengwong, 26, who lived with 1,000 centipedes for 28 days last year in a bid to keep up with his girlfriend, Kanachana Ketkaew, who a year earlier had spent 32 days cooped up with thousands of deadly scorpions, bagging herself a world record.
Mr Thaksin did not join the 672 freefall skydivers who broke the world mass freefall skydiving record recently. Nor did he take part in the record-breaking 64-hour movie-viewing marathon. And he did not join the 34 couples who broke the record for the most people to exchange marriage vows underwater. But he did cheer the people on.
Not that getting into the record books is all fun. One newspaper columnist grumbled that the world's longest catwalk extravaganza was just big hype, demonstrating that the country had little idea how to put on a fashion show.