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Just The Facts

Introduction
Geography
People
Government
Economy
Communications
Transportation
Military
Transnational Issues
Narrative

OFFICIAL NAME: 
Kingdom of Thailand

Geography 
Area: 513,115 sq. km. (198,114 sq. mi.); about the size of Texas. 
Cities (2000): Capital--Bangkok (pop. 10 million est.), Nakhon Ratchasima (2.5 million), Chiangmai (1.6 million), Songkla (1.2 million). 
Terrain: Densely populated central plain; northeastern plateau; mountain range in the west; southern isthmus joins the land mass with Malaysia. 
Climate: Tropical monsoon.

People 
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Thai(s). 
Population (1999): 62 million. 
Annual growth rate: 1%. 
Ethnic groups: Thai 89%, other 11%. 
Religions: Buddhist 95%, Muslim 4%, Christian, Hindu, other. 
Languages: Thai (official language); English is the second language of the elite; regional dialects. 
Education: Years compulsory--6. Literacy--96% male, 92% female. 
Health (1998): Infant mortality rate--4.5/1,000. Life expectancy--69.97 yrs. male, 74.99 yrs. female.

Government 
Type: Constitutional monarchy. 
Constitution: New constitution promulgated October 11, 1997. 
Independence: Never colonized; traditional founding date 1238. 
Branches: Executive--king (chief of state), prime minister (head of government). Legislative--National Assembly (bicameral). Judicial--three levels of courts; highest is Supreme Court (Sarndika). 
Administrative subdivisions: 76 provinces, including Bangkok municipality, subdivided into 794 districts. 
Political parties: Multi-party system; Communist Party is prohibited. 
Suffrage: Universal at 18.

Economy 
GDP (1999): $124 billion. 
Annual growth rate (1999): 4.2%; (2000, projected): 4.5%. 
Per capita income (1999): $1,996. 
Natural resources: Tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite. 
Agriculture (11% of GDP): Products--rice, tapioca, rubber, corn, sugarcane, coconuts, soybeans.
Industry: Types--tourism, textiles, garments, agricultural processing, cement, integrated circuits, jewelry. 
Trade (1999):  Exports--$57 billion: textiles and footwear, fishery products, computers and parts, jewelry, rice, tapioca products, integrated circuits, rubber.  Major markets--U.S., Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, EU.  Imports--$48 billion: machinery and parts, petroleum, iron and steel, chemicals, vehicles and parts, jewelry, fish preparations, electrical appliances, fertilizers and pesticides.  Major suppliers--Japan, U.S., Singapore, Taiwan, Germany, South Korea, EU.

PEOPLE 
Thailand's population is relatively homogeneous.  More than 85% speak a dialect of Thai and share a common culture.  This core population includes the central Thai (36% of the population), Thai-Lao (32%), northern Thai (8%), and southern Thai (8%).

The language of the central Thai population is the language taught in schools and used in government.  Several other small Thai-speaking groups include the Shan, Lue, and Phutai.

The largest minorities are the Chinese--about 12% of the population--and the Malay-speaking Muslims of the south (3%).  Other groups include the Khmer; the Mon, who are substantially assimilated with the Thai; and the Vietnamese.  Smaller, predominantly mountain-dwelling tribes, such as the Hmong, Karen, and Mein, number about 500,000.

The population is mostly rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern, and northern regions.  However, as Thailand continues to industrialize, its urban population--18% of total population, principally in the Bangkok area--is growing.

Thailand's highly successful government-sponsored family planning program has resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from 3.1% in 1960 to around 1% today.  Life expectancy also has risen, a positive reflection of Thailand's efforts at public health education.  However, the AIDS epidemic has had a major impact on the Thai population.  Thai Government officials estimate that Thailand has between 200,000 and 400,000 HIV carriers.  Chiang Rai Province in the north may have an infection rate as high as 15%.  In recent years, the Thai Government has devoted substantial resources toward AIDS education and awareness.

Universal, free public education is compulsory for a period of 6 years.  Education accounts for 25% of total government expenditures.

Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand and is the religion of more than 90% of its people.  The government permits religious diversity, and other major religions are represented.  Spirit worship and animism are widely practiced.

HISTORY 
Southeast Asia has been inhabited for more than half a million years.  Recent archaeological studies suggest that by 4000 B.C., communities in what is now Thailand had emerged as centers of early bronze metallurgy.  This development, along with the cultivation of wet rice, provided the impetus for social and political organization.  Research suggests that these innovations may actually have been transmitted from there to the rest of Asia, including to China.

The Thai are related linguistically to groups originating in southern China.  Migrations from southern China to Southeast Asia may have occurred in the 6th and 7th centuries.  Malay, Mon, and Khmer civilizations flourished in the region prior to the arrival of the ethnic Thai.

Thais date the founding of their nation to the 13th century.  According to tradition, in 1238, Thai chieftains overthrew their Khmer overlords at Sukhothai and established a Thai kingdom.  After its decline, a new Thai kingdom emerged in 1350 on the Chao Praya River.

The first ruler of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, King Rama Thibodi, made two important contributions to Thai history: the establishment and promotion of Theravada Buddhism as the official religion--to differentiate his kingdom from the neighboring Hindu kingdom of Angkor--and the compilation of the Dharmashastra, a legal code based on Hindu sources and traditional Thai custom.  The Dharmashastra remained a tool of Thai law until late in the 19th century.  Beginning with the Portuguese in the 16th century, Ayutthaya had some contact with the West, but until the 1800s, its relations with neighboring nations, as well as with India and China, were of primary importance.

After more than 400 years of power, in 1767, the Kingdom of Ayutthaya was brought down by invading Burmese armies and its capital burned.  After a single-reign capital established at Thonburi by Taksin, a new capital city was founded in 1782, across the Chao Phraya at the site of present-day Bangkok, by the founder of the Chakri dynasty.  The first Chakri king was crowned Rama I.  Rama's heirs became increasingly concerned with the threat of European colonialism after British victories in neighboring Burma in 1826.

The first Thai recognition of Western power in the region was the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United Kingdom in 1826.  In 1833, the United States began diplomatic exchanges with Siam, as Thailand was called until 1938.  However, it was during the later reigns of Rama IV (or King Mongkut, 1851-68), and his son Rama V (King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910)), that Thailand established firm rapprochement with Western powers.  The Thais believe that the diplomatic skills of these monarchs, combined with the modernizing reforms of the Thai Government, made Siam the only country in South and Southeast Asia to avoid European colonization.

In 1932, a bloodless coup transformed the Government of Thailand from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy.  King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) initially accepted this change but later surrendered the kingship to his 10-year old nephew.  Upon his abdication, King Prajadhipok said that the obligation of a ruler was to reign for the good of the whole people, not for a select few.  Although nominally a constitutional monarchy, Thailand was ruled by a series of military governments interspersed with brief periods of democracy from that time until the 1992 elections.  Since the 1992 elections, Thailand has been a functioning democracy with constitutional changes of government.

As with the rest of Southeast Asia, Thailand was occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War.  Since Japan's defeat in 1945, Thailand has had very close relations with the United States.  Threatened by communist revolutions in neighboring countries such as Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, Thailand actively sought to contain communist expansion in the region.  Recently, Thailand also has been an active member in the regional Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS 
The king has little direct power under the constitution but is a symbol of national identity and unity.  The present monarch--who has been on the throne since 1946--commands enormous popular respect and moral authority, which he has used on occasion to resolve political crises that have threatened national stability.

Thailand's legal system blends principles of traditional Thai and Western laws; Koranic law is applied in the far south, where Muslims constitute the majority of the population.  The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeals, and its judges are appointed by the king.

Thailand's 76 provinces include the metropolis of greater Bangkok.  Bangkok's governor is popularly elected, but those of the remaining provinces are career civil servants appointed by the Ministry of Interior.  Following the 1932 revolution which imposed constitutional limits on the monarchy, Thai politics were dominated for a half century by a military and bureaucratic elite.  Changes of government were effected primarily by means of a long series of mostly bloodless coups.

Beginning with a brief experiment in democracy during the mid-1970s, civilian democratic political institutions slowly gained greater authority, culminating in 1988 when Chatichai Choonavan--leader of the Thai Nation Party--assumed office as the country's first democratically elected prime minister in more than a decade.  Three years later, yet another bloodless coup ended his term.

Shortly afterward, the military appointed Anand Panyarachun, a businessman and former diplomat, to head a largely civilian interim government and promised to hold elections in the near future.  However, following inconclusive elections, former army commander Suchinda Kraprayoon was appointed prime minister.  Thais reacted to the appointment by demanding an end to military influence in government.  Demonstrations were violently suppressed by the military; in May 1992, soldiers killed at least 50 protesters.

Domestic and international reaction to the violence forced Suchinda to resign, and the nation once again turned to Anand Panyarachun, who was named interim prime minister until new elections in September 1992.  In those elections, the political parties that had opposed the military in May 1992 won by a narrow majority, and Chuan Leekpai, a leader of the Democratic Party, became Prime Minister.  Chuan dissolved Parliament in May 1995, and the Thai Nation Party won the largest number of parliamentary seats in subsequent elections.  Party leader Banharn Silpa-archa, became Prime Minister, but held the office only little more than a year.  Following elections held in November 1996, Chavalit Youngchaiyudh formed a coalition government and became Prime Minister.  The onset of the Asian financial crisis caused a loss of confidence in the Chavalit government and forced him to hand over power to Chuan Leekpai in November 1997.  Chuan formed a coalition government based on the themes of prudent economic management and institution of political reforms mandated by Thailand's 1997 constitution.

ECONOMY 
The Thai economy returned to modest growth in 1999, chalking up a 4.2% gain in real GDP.  This constituted a solid rebound from the sharp 10.2% fall the economy suffered in 1998, the year after financial crisis struck Thailand and spread through Asia.  The Thai have focused on restructuring their financial sector, stimulating domestic demand, and boosting exports to recover from the financial crisis.  The Thai Government expects improved macroeconomic fundamentals to translate into further growth and a 4.5%-5% rise in GDP in 2000.  The government will continue economic stimulus with a fiscal deficit of 5% of GDP in 2000.

Before the financial crisis, the Thai economy had years of manufacturing-led economic growth--averaging 9.4% for the decade up to 1996.  Relatively abundant and inexpensive labor and natural resources, fiscal conservatism, open foreign investment policies, and encouragement of the private sector underlay the economic success in the years up to 1997.  The economy is essentially a free-enterprise system.  Certain services, such as power generation, transportation, and communications, are state-owned and operated, but the government is considering privatizing them in the wake of the financial crisis.

The Royal Thai Government welcomes foreign investment, and investors who are willing to meet certain requirements can apply for special investment privileges through the Board of Investment.  To attract additional foreign investment, the RTG has modified its investment regulations.

The organized labor movement remains weak and divided in Thailand; only 3% of the work force is unionized.  In 2000, the State Enterprise Labor Relations Act (SELRA) was passed, giving public sector employees similar rights to those of private sector workers, including the right to unionize.

Roughly 60% of Thailand's labor force is employed in agriculture.  Rice is the country's most important crop; Thailand is a major exporter in the world rice market.  Other agricultural commodities produced in significant amounts include fish and fishery products, tapioca, rubber, corn, and sugar.  Exports of processed foods such as canned tuna, pineapples, and frozen shrimp are on the rise.

Thailand's increasingly diversified manufacturing sector made the largest contribution to growth during the economic boom. Industries registering rapid increases in production included computers and electronics, garments and footwear, furniture, wood products, canned food, toys, plastic products, gems, and jewelry.  High-technology products such as integrated circuits and parts, electrical appliances, and vehicles are now leading Thailand's strong growth in exports.

The United States is Thailand's largest export market and second-largest supplier after Japan.  While Thailand's traditional major markets have been North America, Japan, and Europe, economic recovery among Thailand's regional trading partners has helped Thai export growth (7.4 % in 1999).  Further recovery from the financial crisis depends heavily on increased exports to the rest of Asia and the U.S.

Machinery and parts, vehicles, electronic integrated circuits, chemicals, crude oil and fuels, and iron and steel are among Thailand's principal imports.  The recent increase in import levels (16.9% in 1999) reflects the need to fuel the production of high-technology items and vehicles.

Thailand is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Cairns Group of agricultural exporters.  Tourism contributes significantly to the Thai economy, and the industry has benefited from the Thai baht's depreciation and Thailand's stability.  Tourist arrivals in 1999 (8.6 million) reflected a 10.5% increase from the previous year (7.7 million).

Bangkok and its environs are the most prosperous part of Thailand, and the infertile northeast is the poorest.  An overriding concern of successive Thai Governments, and a particularly strong focus of the current government, has been to reduce these regional income differentials, which have been exacerbated by rapid economic growth in and around Bangkok and the financial crisis.  The government is trying to stimulate provincial economic growth with programs such as the Eastern Seaboard project and the development of an alternate deep-sea port on Thailand's southern peninsula.  It also is conducting discussions with Malaysia to focus on economic development along the Thai-Malaysian border.

Although the economy has demonstrated moderate positive growth since 1999, future performance depends on continued reform of the financial sector, corporate debt restructuring, attracting foreign investment, and increasing exports.  Telecommunications, roadways, electricity generation, and ports showed increasing strain during the period of sustained economic growth and may pose a future challenge.  Thailand's growing shortage of engineers and skilled technical personnel may limit its future technological creativity and productivity.

FOREIGN RELATIONS 
Thailand's foreign policy includes support for ASEAN in the interest of regional stability and emphasis on a close and longstanding security relationship with the United States.

Thailand participates fully in international and regional organizations.  It has developed increasingly close ties with other ASEAN members--Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam--whose foreign and economic ministers hold annual meetings.  Regional cooperation is progressing in economic, trade, banking, political, and cultural matters.

In recent years, Thailand has taken an increasingly active role on the international stage.  When East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, Thailand, for the first time in its history, contributed troops to the international peacekeeping effort.  Thailand's current Minister of Commerce is slated to be the next Secretary General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).  As part of its effort to increase international ties, Thailand has reached out to such regional organizations as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE).

This page was last updated on 17 August, 2004

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