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Thailand is situated in South-East Asia, covering an area of nearly 513,115 square kilometres. It is roughly the size of France. It shares land borders with Myanmar (Burma) in the north and west, the Andaman Sea in the west, Laos in the north and north-east, Cambodia and the Gulf of Thailand in the east, and Malaysia in the south.
The shape of the country is similar to the profile of an elephant with a long trunk stretching down the peninsular. At school, students are taught that their country resembles the shape of an ancient axe with the peninsular being the handle. |
Data updated July 2008
Geography :
Thailand covers a land area of 513,115 square kilometres (198,114 square miles), extends about 1,620 kilometres (1,007 miles) from north to south and 750 kilometres (482 miles) at its widest point from east to west, or approximately the same size as France, with a coastline of approximately 2,700 kilometres (1,143 miles) on the Gulf of Thailand and 865 kilometres (537 miles) along the Indian Ocean.
Lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m
Highest point: Doi Inthanon 2,576 m
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 100 00 E
Natural resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite
Climate: The climate is sub-tropical with long hours of sunshine and high humidity. There are three seasons. The hot season lasts from March to June. The rainy season, from July to October. The cool season from November to February. Average low temperature is 20c and high temperature is 37c. The geographic and climatic conditions make the country suitable for the cultivation of a wide range of tropical and semi-tropical agricultural crops.
Land use: arable land: 34%, permanent crops: 6%, permanent pastures: 2%, forests and woodland: 26%, other: 32%.
Irrigated land: 49,860 sq km (2003)
Thailand is divided into four geographical regions : Central Thailand (including Bangkok), Northern Thailand, Northeastern Thailand, and Southern Thailand. The country has also an Eastern Region which is often included into the Central Region.
People :
Population : About 65,493,298 people (2007 est.). Life expectancy at birth : male 70.24 years ; female : 74.98 years ; total population 72.55 years.
Infant mortality rate 18.23 deaths/1,000 live births ; total fertility rate 1.64 born/woman (higher in provinces, lower in Bangkok). Birth rate 13.57/1000 population ; death rate 7.17/1000 population. All 2008 estimates. Infant mortality rate as well as birth rate declining steadily. See : Thailand's declining fertility rate.
Ethnic groups : Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
Religions : Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism 0.1%
Languages : Thai (English language and Chinese language newspapers available)
Literacy (age 15 and over who can read and write) : 92.6%
Government :
The conventional long name of the country : Kingdom of Thailand. Short name : Thailand, formerly named Siam.
Thailand has a constitutional monarchy. King Bhumibol Adulyadej is head of state. Bangkok is the capital of Thailand. The country has 76 provinces.
Recent political developments :
The government headed by Thaksin Shinawatra (Thai Rak Thai political party) was deposed in a bloodless military coup in september 2006.
A temporary government was headed by Khun Surayud Chulanont and prepared and wrote a new constitution (previous constitution dated from 1997). The Council for National Security (CNS), whose members headed the military coup, acted in the background. The main Thai Rak Thai party was disbanded, and some of its members disallowed from engaging in political activities for a period of 5 years.
National elections were held on 23 December 2007. In January 2008 a new government was formed by a coalition of People's Power Party and 5 small parties. The Democrat Party (second largest) is the sole opposition party.
The People's Power Party consists mainly of old members of the Thai Rak Thai party. The new Thai Prime Minister is the veteran Samak Sundaravej, born 1935. In june 2008, the government survived an early no-confidence motion.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) is a coalition of protesters (not clearly affiliated with a major political party) that first started protesting agains the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006. It reconstituted itself and renewed its street protests against the present government of Samak Sundaravej, based on a variety of issues, not always easily understood by outsiders.
The National Assembly (legislative branch) consisted of the Senate (200 seats) and the House of Representatives (500 seats). Members to both are elected every four years.
Judiciary : Supreme Court or Sandika (judges appointed by H.M. the King)
Economy :
Thailand enjoyed very high growth rates between 1985 and 1995 (9% annually). A severe economic crisis followed in 1997. At the time the baht was allowed to float (before it was pegged to the dollar at about 25 baht for one dollar). After years of languishing at a low exchange rate, through 2007 the Thai Baht has been rising in value (mostly due to US dollar weakness) and the exchange rate now is about 33.8 baht for one dollar (beginning 2008). Under the government of Khun Thaksin Shinawatra, the economy recovered with growth rates between 5-7%. Growth rate in 2007 was 4.3% and predicted growth for 2008 is 4.6%.
Contribution to GDP (approximate) : Agriculture 10.8 % (although a much larger proportion of the population is working in this sector) ; industry 45.3 %, services 43.8 %.
Labour force by occupation : agriculture 49 %, industry 14 %, services 37 % (mid 2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (purchasing power parity) : US$ 9,200 (much higher in Bangkok, much lower in many rural areas). [estimate 2006]
'Standard GDP' : 127,064 bath per year (est. for 2007).
Exports grew by 10.2 % during 2007 to 148.4 billion US dollar.
Imports grew by 7.4 % during 2007 to 138.6 billion US dollar.
So there is positive trade balance of about 9.8 billion US dollar. Interestingly, newspapers articles often feature business and industry leaders complaining about the ever-strengthening Thai baht (that is, the weakening US dollar), since this would dramatically impair Thai exports. Available figures for 2008 seem to indicate that the positive trade balance is vaporizing.
The major bulk in value for exported goods come from the following : machinery, mechanical applicances (15%), electrical apparatus (10.6%), vehicles, parts and accessories (8.5%), electrical appliances (7.7%). Agricultural products (though growing now) only account for 9.2% of total export value, though a large proportion of the population is still working in that sector.
Total foreign currency reserves stand at 84.6 billion US dollar in november 2007.
After years of low inflation (around 2 %), the headline rate of inflation at the end of 2006 was 3%. End 2007 the core inflation (without raw food prices and energy) was 1.0%. The headline inflation was 2.2%. Headline inflation was expected to rise to around 4% in 2008. Subjectively, we had the impression that prices were rising faster, than the above official numbers indicate. Mid 2008 core inflation is 2.7% and headline inflation 7.2 %. Core inflation does not take into account raw food prices and energy costs. Even more worrying is that the producer price index rose year-on-year by 15.6% (may 2008). Interest rates have not been adjusted as of June 2008 and are still very low.
Important industries : Tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural products, beverages, tobacco, cement, jewelry, electric appliances and components, computer and computer accessories, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics, tin
Communications :
There are many Thai language T.V. stations. English-language programs are also widely available through cable TV (including BBC, CNN, NSBC etc.)
Mobile phone use is widespread, with 50.8 million phones in circulation at the end of 2007. There are more mobile phones than fixed line phones.
Internet access is available throughout the country. Cities and towns in Thailand have Internet-Cafes with cheap rate of access (less than 1 dollar per hour usually). Broadband services are also available and are now being heavily promoted.
Sources : National Statistical Office, Bank of Thailand ; NESDB ; World Bank ; CIA World Factbook ; Bangkok Post daily newspaper.
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