ABOUT
Thailand is a Southeast Asian country. It’s known for tropical beaches, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins and ornate temples displaying figures of Buddha. In Bangkok, the capital, an ultramodern cityscape rises next to quiet canalside communities and the iconic temples of Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Emerald Buddha Temple (Wat Phra Kaew). Nearby beach resorts include bustling Pattaya and fashionable Hua Hin.
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Thailand
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Thailand, country located in the centre of mainland Southeast Asia. Located wholly within the tropics, Thailand encompasses diverse ecosystems, including the hilly forested areas of the northern frontier, the fertile rice fields of the central plains, the broad plateau of the northeast, and the rugged coasts along the narrow southern peninsula.
Until the second half of the 20th century, Thailand was primarily an agricultural country, but since the 1960s increasing numbers of people have moved to Bangkok, the capital, and to other cities. Although the greater Bangkok metropolitan area remains the preeminent urban centre in the country, there are other sizable cities, such as Chiang Mai in the north, Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), Khon Kaen, and Udon Thani in the northeast, Pattaya in the southeast, and Hat Yai in the far south.
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See all mediaHead Of Government: Prime Minister: Paetongtarn ShinawatraCapital: BangkokPopulation: (2024 est.) 66,168,000Currency Exchange Rate: 1 USD equals 37.204 Thai bahtHead Of State: King Vajiralongkorn
Siam, as Thailand was officially called until 1939, was never brought under European colonial domination. Independent Siam was ruled by an absolute monarchy until a revolution there in 1932. Since that time, Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy, and all subsequent constitutions have provided for an elected parliament. Political authority, however, has often been held by the military, which has taken power through coups. During the last two decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, parliamentary democracy steadily gained wider popular support. Although a crisis emerged in 2006, when the military, aligned with the monarchy, overthrew an elected government, new parliamentary elections were held—as promised by the interim government—in 2007.
Land of Thailand
Thailand, which has about the same land area as Spain or France, consists of two broad geographic areas: a larger main section in the north and a smaller peninsular extension in the south. The main body of the country is surrounded by Myanmar (Burma) to the west, Laos to the north and east, Cambodia to the southeast, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. Peninsular Thailand stretches southward from the southwestern corner of the country along the eastern edge of the Malay Peninsula; Myanmar extends along the western portion of the peninsula as far as the Isthmus of Kra, after which Thailand occupies the entire peninsula until reaching its southern border with Malaysia at roughly latitude 6° N.
Relief
Thailand’s landscapes vary from low mountains to fertile alluvial plains dotted with rice paddies to sandy beaches set amid the equatorial latitudes of the Asian monsoons. The country is divided into five distinct physiographic regions: the folded mountains in the north and west, the Khorat Plateau in the northeast, the Chao Phraya River basin in the centre, the maritime corner of the central region in the southeast, and the long, slender peninsular portion in the southwest.
The northern mountains, the southeastern continuation of the uplift process that formed the Himalayas, extend southward along the Thai-Myanmar border and reach as far south as northern Malaysia. Long granitic ridges were formed when great masses of molten rock forced their way upward through the older sedimentary strata. Peaks average about 5,200 feet (l,600 metres) above sea level. Mount Inthanon, at 8,481 feet (2,585 metres) the highest in the country, is in northwestern Thailand, near the historical city of Chiang Mai. The city is overshadowed by Mount Suthep, site of a famous Buddhist shrine and the royal summer palace. Some of the rugged limestone hills contain caves from which remains of prehistoric humans have been excavated.
The northeast is coterminous with the Khorat Plateau, a vast tableland bounded by the Mekong River on the north and east. It was formed by uplifting along two perpendicularly arranged crustal faults—one trending north-south in the west and the other east-west in the south. As a result, the underlying sedimentary rocks were tilted rather than uniformly uplifted. This tilting created ranges of low hills and mountains along the western and southern edges of the plateau: the Phetchabun and Dangrek (Thai: Dong Rak) mountains, respectively. The escarpments of these uplands overlook the plain of the Chao Phraya basin to the west and the Cambodian plain to the south. Surface elevations on the Khorat Plateau range from about 650 feet (200 metres) in the northwest to some 300 feet (90 metres) in the southeast. The terrain is rolling, and the hilltops generally slope to the southeast in conformity with the tilt of the land.
Situated between the northern and western mountain ranges and the Khorat Plateau is the extensive Chao Phraya River basin, which is the cultural and economic heartland of Thailand. The region, sometimes called the Central Plain, consists of two portions: heavily dissected rolling plains in the north and the flat, low-lying floodplain and delta of the Chao Phraya in the south. It was formed by the outwash of immense quantities of sediment brought down from the mountains by the Chao Phraya’s tributaries, which produced vast fan-shaped alluvial deposits.
The generally rolling countryside of the southeast has high hills in the centre and along the eastern boundary with Cambodia. Notable peaks are Mount Khieo, which rises to 2,614 feet (797 metres), and Mount Soi Dao, which attains a height of 5,471 feet (1,668 metres). The hills, reaching nearly to the sea, create a markedly indented coastline fringed with many islands. With their long stretches of sandy beach, such coastal towns as Chon Buri and Rayong and some of the islands have become popular year-round tourist resorts.
The southwestern portion of the country consists of a peninsula with a mountainous spine and a gently sloping sandy coastline. Higher mountains reaching about 4,900 feet (1,500 metres) line the peninsula on the west and contain narrow passes linking Thailand and Myanmar. These ranges separate the Andaman and South China seas as the peninsula narrows near the Malaysian border. Off the rugged and much-indented west coast lie numerous large islands, including tin-rich Phuket Island, which, with other islands such as Samui and Phiphi, have become tourist destinations, surpassing in popularity Hua Hin, the old coastal resort located in the northern part of the peninsula.
Drainage of Thailand
Thailand is drained largely by two river systems: the Chao Phraya in the west and the Mekong in the east. Three major rivers in the northern mountains—from west to east, the Ping (and its tributary the Wang), the Yom, and the Nan—flow generally south through narrow valleys to the plains and then merge to form the Chao Phraya, Thailand’s principal river. The delta floodplain of the Chao Phraya is braided into numerous small channels and is joined by other rivers—notably the Pa Sak—as the river flows toward its mouth in the Gulf of Thailand. The flooding of the flat delta in the wet season is an asset to rice cultivation, although higher ground on the extreme eastern and western edges of the plain requires irrigation. The entire delta was once part of the Gulf of Thailand, but over time the sediment carried down from the north has filled it in. Such silting is a continuing obstruction to river navigation, but it also extends the river’s mouth into the gulf by several feet each year.Not all peoples living within the borders of Thailand have been fully integrated into the national community. Malay-speaking peoples form the vast majority of the population in the four southernmost provinces of the country. Because this region constituted a separate Malay sultanate until the late 19th century, and because its inhabitants have a distinct linguistic identity and religious heritage (as practitioners of Islam), some of the residents of the area have supported movements seeking greater autonomy or even independence from the predominantly Buddhist and Tai-speaking rest of the country.The national language of Thailand, known as Standard Thai, is based on the language spoken in central Thailand. Nearly every person in the country is able to speak and write Standard Thai, having learned the language from government schools and through its use in print and broadcast media. While Standard Thai has strongly influenced all the languages of Thailand, a number of distinct Tai languages continue to be spoken. Most people living in Bangkok and surrounding urban areas as well as in up-country towns and cities use Standard Thai as both their domestic and public language, while people in rural areas speak languages in a domestic setting that are sharply different from Standard Thai. Dialects related to the Lao language of Laos are spoken by nearly one-fourth of the population, primarily by those living on the Khorat Plateau, in northeastern Thailand near the border with Laos. Speakers of other Tai languages—notably Kammüang (also known as Northern Thai, or Yuan in its written form) in northern Thailand and Pak Tai (Southern Thai) in the south—account for about another one-sixth of the population. Tai-speaking peoples are found not only in Thailand but also in Laos, where a Tai language is also the national language, as well as in Myanmar, Vietnam, northern Malaysia, and southern China.
Upland-dwelling peoples (also known as “hill tribes”) such as the Karen, Hmong, Yao, Lahu, Lisu, and Akha also follow distinctive traditions that set them apart from the country’s Tai-speaking majority. In the past such peoples were considered by the Thai to be peoples of the forest, and this association has continued to shape the popular image of upland communities in the 21st century. Most upland peoples at one time followed local religious traditions. While some have become Buddhists, more have converted to Christianity, a feature that further distinguishes them from the majority of the population.
A number of stigmas have plagued the upland peoples, including a history of growing opium poppies and engaging in swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture—both banned in the 1950s—as well as a widespread inability or failure to obtain national identification cards. A more positive role for Thailand’s upland peoples has been fostered by King Bhumibol and other members of the royal family, who have not only made many visits to these areas but also have established projects that replaced opium cultivation with other products that have improved the livelihoods of upland peoples. Cultural tourism has also contributed to improving the image of the upland communities. In addition, several nongovernmental organizations have worked to gain citizenship for upland peoples and to protect their rights to land without being displaced.
Until the mid-20th century most permanent immigrants to Thailand were allowed—even encouraged—to become citizens. However, the situation changed for later immigrants, many of whom entered Thailand as political refugees from neighbouring countries. The first significant group of refugees arrived from Vietnam just after World War II, and most were eventually granted Thai citizenship. Thailand was inundated with a much larger wave of refugees in the 1970s following the establishment of communist governments in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Although the majority of these refugees were ultimately resettled in other countries, some Hmong from Laos remained in refugee centres in Thailand. In the late 1980s an even greater number of refugees began to enter the country from Myanmar in search of employment and political asylum. This influx has continued into the 21st century, and although some of the immigrants have been accorded guest-worker status, tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar, as well as Cambodia, Laos, and China, have continued to live and work illegally throughout the country.
The rivers of the Khorat Plateau flow generally southeastward and empty into the Mekong. Floodwaters from these rivers have been important sources of water for rice production in the area. However, the floods have long been unpredictable, in terms of both quantity and frequency, and flooding problems have worsened as more land has been deforested and put under cultivation. The region also has a high water table that contains mostly brackish, unpotable water. Much of the Mekong itself, which lies on the boundary between Thailand and Laos, is either studded with islands or broken up by impassable rapids.
The southeast and the peninsula are drained by short streams and rivers. In the southeast the rivers in the north flow into the Chao Phraya delta, while those in the west and south run directly into the sea, where they have built up small alluvial basins and deltas along the coast. The mouths of the rivers along the southern coast consist of tidal flats and mangrove swamps. Nearly all the rivers on the peninsula drain into the Gulf of Thailand.
Between the 1950s and ’80s, a number of dams were built, mainly in the north and northeast of the country, that have improved flood control and made it possible to increase the production of hydroelectric power and to expand agricultural areas that can be irrigated.
Soils
The great alluvial deposits in the river valleys contain the most fertile soils in Thailand and are replenished annually with sediment washed down by rivers swollen with the annual monsoon rains. Chief among these areas is the delta floodplain of the Chao Phraya, but the relatively flat basins in the northern mountains, scattered lands along the Mun and Chi rivers on the Khorat Plateau, and much of the coast also have rich alluvial soils. Soils elsewhere tend to be relatively infertile, highly leached laterites. Near the Mekong, a high salt content in some soils limits crop production, although salt deposits there are mined commercially.Britannica QuizGuess the Country by Its Neighbors Quiz
Climate
The major influences on Thailand’s climate are its location in the tropical monsoon zone of mainland Southeast Asia and certain topographic features that affect the distribution of precipitation. Beginning in May, the warm, humid air masses of the southwest monsoon flow northeastward over the region from the Indian Ocean, depositing great quantities of precipitation; rainfall reaches a maximum in September. Between November and February the winds reverse direction, and the northeast monsoon brings cool, relatively dry air in a southwesterly flow to create cooler temperatures for much of the country. Stagnant air in March and April produces a distinct hot-and-dry intermonsoonal period.
Uplands cause local variations in the general weather patterns, especially on the peninsula: Ranong on the west coast receives approximately 160 inches (4,000 mm) of precipitation annually, while Hua Hin on the east coast receives less than 40 inches (1,000 mm). Similar but less-pronounced rain-shadow effects occur along the western margins of the Central Plain and on the Khorat Plateau. Songkhla, at the southern end of peninsular Thailand, has its rainy period during the cool season, the result of moisture picked up by the northeast monsoon winds while passing over the Gulf of Thailand.
Nationwide, temperatures are relatively steady throughout the year, averaging between 77 and 84 °F (25 and 29 °C). The greatest fluctuations are in the north, where frost occasionally occurs in December at higher elevations; conversely, maritime influences moderate the climate in the south. The cooler, drier air of the northeast monsoon produces frequent morning fogs that generally dissipate by midday in the north and northeast regions. Humidity is extremely high during the rainy season.
Plant and animal life
Thailand is a country of forests, shrub-studded grasslands, and swampy wetlands dotted with lotuses and water lilies. Since the mid-20th century, the total land area covered by forests has declined from more than half to less than one-third. Forest clearing for agriculture (including for tree plantations), excessive logging, and poor management are the main causes of this decline. Forests consist largely of such hardwoods as teak and timber- and resin-producing trees of the Dipterocarpaceae family. As elsewhere in Southeast Asia, bamboo, palms, rattan, and many kinds of ferns are common. Where forests have been logged and not replanted, a secondary growth of grasses and shrubs has sprung up that often limits land use for farming. Lotuses and water lilies dot most ponds and swamps throughout the country.
The Thai people traditionally used water buffalo, oxen, horses, and elephants for plowing and harrowing fields, transporting goods and people, and moving heavy loads. By the 1980s, however, draft animals had been replaced by machines, and, except in remote areas of the country, animals used for transportation had been replaced by motorcycles, trucks, cars, and buses. The demand for work elephants almost completely disappeared after the logging ban in 1989, and domesticated elephants were absorbed into the tourist industry.
Rapid deforestation coupled with a marked rise in demand for exotic animals has been detrimental to wildlife. Rhinoceroses and tapirs, once found in many parts of the country, have all but disappeared, as have herds of wild elephants. A similar fate has befallen gibbons and some species of monkeys and birds. Although serious efforts have been made to prevent the illegal sale of endangered species, they have met with only limited success. Like other conservation legislation, which has a long history in Thailand, the laws have been difficult to implement and enforce.
Thailand’s once abundant freshwater and marine fish have been rapidly depleted by overfishing and disruption of their natural habitats, as have shrimp, prawns, and sea crabs. Many of the shrimp and prawns now sold in both domestic and export markets come from shrimp farms. Snakes, including the king cobra and several species of poisonous water snakes, while still common in the wild, are today more likely to be seen at snake farms. The same is true for crocodiles, although they still exist in the wild in the south.
Mosquitoes, ants, beetles, and other insects—as well as the lizards that eat them—are always in evidence, even in urban environments. The silkworm has contributed much to the silk industry, for which Thailand has become famous.