I. Introduction

Thailand officially is known as the Kingdom of Thailand (Prathet Thai, or "Land of the Free"). Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been occupied by any European or other foreign power, except during the war. The country was an absolute monarchy from 1782 until 1932, when rebels seized power in a coup and established a constitutional monarchy. Since then, Thailand has come under the rule of many governments, both civil and military. The country was known as Siam until 1939 (when it was renamed Thailand), and again for a few years in the late 1940s. In 1949 the name Thailand was adopted a second time.

Central Thailand is dominated by a large fertile plain, formed by the country's chief river, the Chao Phraya and its tributaries. Much of the country's rice and other crops are grown in this region. Mountains and plateaus surround the central plain on the west, north, and east. The western mountain ranges extend south to the Malay Peninsula (Malaya). Bangkok, located on the Chao Phraya near the Gulf of Thailand, is Thailand's capital and largest city.

Thai people form the large majority of Thailand's population, and most of them practice Theravada Buddhism. Other ethnic groups within the population include Chinese, Malays, and indigenous hill peoples, such as the Hmong and Karen. Thailand is known for its highly refined classical music and dance and for a wide range of folk arts. Traditionally based on agriculture, Thailand's economy began developing rapidly in the 1980s.

II. Land and Resources

Thailand is bordered on the west and northwest by Myanmar (formerly Burma); on the northeast and east by Laos and Cambodia; and on the south by the Gulf of Thailand (also known as the Gulf of Siam, the northwestern portion of the South China Sea), peninsular Malaysia, and the Andaman Sea. With an area of 513,115 sq. km. (198,115 sq. mi.), the country is similar in size to France. Its distinctive shape is often compared to an elephant's head, with the "trunk" extending south into the slender Malay Peninsula. This unusual shape means that Thailand is more than twice as long from north to south (about 1,770 km./1,100 mi.) as it is wide from east to west (about 800 km./500 mi.). The country as a whole pivots around the Gulf of Thailand.

III. People and Society

Thailand has never been heavily populated. By the 1800s Thailand's population remained low at 2,000,000, and by 1950 it had risen to only 20,041,628. By 2000 the total population had increased to 61,163,833, giving a population density of 119 persons per sq. km. (309 per sq. mi.), still one of the lowest in Asia.

Residents of cities are 21 percent of Thailand's inhabitants. More than 10 percent is concentrated in Bangkok, where serious problems of overcrowding do exist. Since World War II, a significant number of rural Thai have moved from the countryside to cities in search of better economic opportunities. Many Thai people also have migrated abroad either on a permanent basis, mainly to the United States and Canada, or on a temporary one, as migrant laborers, to other Southeast Asian countries (such as Singapore) and to countries of the Middle East.

With an annual rate of population growth of 0.9 percent, Thailand's population is expected to double in 78 years. However, family size is falling. The Thai have a long tradition of family planning and the use of contraception, which partly reflects the fact that women gain status through their ability to trade rather than through family size. The birthrate (2000 estimate) was 16.1 births per 1,000 people, and the average number of children per woman was 1.8. The proportion of the Thai population that is elderly has grown in recent decades, with 6 percent of the population age 65 or older in 1999. This number is expected to reach 14 percent by 2025.

IV. Economy

The recent history of Thailand's economy is defined by more than a decade of sustained and rapid economic growth beginning in 1985, followed by a severe recession that started in late 1997. During the boom years, economic growth averaged more than 7 percent annually, one of the highest rates in the world. The crisis of 1997 and 1998 wiped out some of the gains of the boom and forced major adjustments in Thai industry and economic policy.

Many different factors contributed to the rapid growth of Thailand's economy. Low wages, policy reforms that opened the economy more to trade, and careful economic management resulted in low inflation and a stable exchange rate. These factors encouraged domestic savings and investment and made the Thai economy an ideal host for foreign investment. Foreign and domestic investment caused manufacturing to grow rapidly, especially in labor-intensive, export-oriented industries, such as those producing clothing, footwear, electronics, and consumer appliances. These industries also benefited from a tremendous expansion in world trade during the 1980s. As industry expanded, many Thai people who previously had worked in agriculture began to work in manufacturing, slowing growth in the agriculture sector. Meanwhile, manufacturing growth spurred the expansion of service sector activities.

By 1998 Thailand's per capita income reached $2,160, making it an upper-middle income developing economy. The percentage of the population living in poverty fell from 23 percent in 1981 to less than 10 percent in 1994.

In the early 1990s a series of economic policy reforms introduced by the Thai government made it easy and attractive for foreign banks to offer loans to Thai banks. The Thai banks used the capital to lend money to domestic finance companies, property developers, and other investors, stimulating an investment boom. In an atmosphere of great optimism about continued rapid growth, the resulting investment boom created a "bubble economy" based on speculation in urban property and stocks. The bubble burst in 1996 and 1997, when stock and property prices declined steeply. As speculators in these sectors failed to repay loans, many Thai banks became unable to service their foreign debt, causing investor confidence to fall sharply. The consequent outflow of capital caused the Thai banking system to crash in mid-1997. The resulting credit shortage drove many companies into bankruptcy and created a large pool of unemployed workers. Thailand's economy remained deep in recession through 1998, with gross domestic product (GDP) shrinking an estimated 8.5 percent that year. The economy began to pick up again in early 1999, with GDP growth forecast at 1.5 percent for the year.

V. Government

Thailand was ruled by an absolute monarchy from 1782 until 1932, when a small group of rebels seized control of the country and persuaded the king to accept the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. The country's first constitution called for a government headed by a legislature (the National Assembly), with the king maintaining an advisory role as head of state. When the king sought to dissolve the new legislature the following year, the army moved to prevent him, thus becoming the dominant political force in the country. For most of the next half century, Thailand was under the control of various military governments.

In 1997 Thailand's 16th constitution took effect. It is the country's first constitution to be drafted by a process involving public debate, and the first to include a bill of rights guaranteeing equality and basic human rights to all citizens. The constitution is intended to move the center of power away from the military and bureaucracy and toward the elected members of the legislature. It contains guarantees for social welfare and environmental protection and requires the government to report its activities.

Thailand is a unitary state, in which the authority of the central government is superior to that of the country's provincial and municipal governments. However, in recent years pressure has increased for more devolution of power to the provinces and municipalities. All citizens age 18 and older are eligible to vote.

VI. History

Although Thailand only recently took its current name and assumed its present-day borders, its history extends back many thousands of years. One of the pervasive themes of the country's history has been the ability of its inhabitants to adapt to, and accommodate, the changes that have constantly surrounded them.

It is natural to think that the history of Thailand is the history of the Thai people, but in fact it is much more than that. The Thai were relative latecomers on the scene, becoming the majority of the region's population only 700 or 800 years ago. The lands now included in Thailand have been inhabited for 4,000 or 5,000 years. Even long ago, people of the region were adept at adopting new technologies and absorbing new populations.

The society and economy of Thailand's earliest inhabitants, in prehistoric times, went through a long evolution. As is demonstrated by archaeological discoveries at Ban Chiang and other sites, these early peoples were among the first in the world to make and use bronze tools and weapons, to which they later added iron. They domesticated pigs and chickens, cultivated rice and caught fish, and produced fabrics from bark and fibrous plants. They lived in small villages scattered over a broad area.

In early historic times, the peoples living in what is now central Thailand probably spoke Mon-Khmer languages (a group of languages of the Austro-Asiatic language family) and were absorbed into a number of local states that developed in the area. Especially between the 6th and 9th centuries, the kingdom of Dvaravati dominated the central plain of the Chao Phraya river system and the Khorat Plateau to its east. The most enduring legacy of this period was Theravada Buddhism, which was strongly influenced by the Buddhism of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). Many of the region's inhabitants embraced Buddhism. Many also were exposed regularly to foreign trade by traders passing through the region when traveling between China and India by sea.

Between the 9th and 13th centuries the central plain and the Khorat Plateau were incorporated into the Khmer (Cambodian) kingdom of Angkor, centered on the ancient city of Angkor in what is now western Cambodia. This added a Khmer element to a population that already included indigenous and Dvaravati elements.

The Thai people began to incorporate themselves into this mixture of peoples from the 10th or 11th century onwards. The Thai had been moving steadily southwestward from the border region between Vietnam and China, usually occupying the mountainous areas between major lowland states. They may have founded tiny upland principalities in the upper Mekong River region near present-day Chiang Saen as early as the 7th century. However, only in the early 13th century did they suddenly burst upon the scene in the Dvaravati and Angkor domains.