Background: A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing armed violence in its three Muslim-majority southernmost provinces.

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of BurmaGeographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 100 00 E Map references: Southeast Asia Area: total: 514,000 sq km; land: 511,770 sq km; water: 2,230 sq km Land boundaries: total: 4,863 km; border countries: Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 kmCoastline: 3,219 km Climate: tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid

Natural resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

Land use: arable land: 29.36%; permanent crops: 6.46%; other: 64.18% (2001) Irrigated land: 47,490 sq km (1998 est.)Natural hazards: land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts Environment – current issues: air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from organic and factory wastes; deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting

Population: 65,444,371 Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 23.9% (male 7,988,529/female 7,633,405); 15-64 years: 68.6% (male 22,195,625/female 22,731,767); 65 years and over: 7.5% (male 2,251,112/female 2,643,933) (2005 est.); Median age: total: 30.88 years; male: 30.11 years; female: 31.66 years (2005 est.) Population growth rate: 0.87% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 15.7 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) Death rate: 7.02 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 0.98 male/female; 65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female; total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 20.48 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 21.83 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 19.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.95 years; male: 69.65 years; female: 74.37 years (2005 est.); Total fertility rate: 1.88 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate: 1.5% (2003 est.); HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS: 570,000 (2003 est.); HIV/AIDS – deaths: 58,000 (2003 est.)Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A; vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, Japanese encephalitis, and plague are high risks in some locations animal contact disease: rabies
water contact disease: leptospirosis (2004)

Nationality: noun: Thai (singular and plural); adjective: Thai Ethnic groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11% Religions: Buddhist 94.6%, Muslim 4.6%, Christian 0.7%, other 0.1% (2000 census)

Languages: Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 92.6%; male: 94.9%; female: 90.5% (2002)

Country name: conventional long form: Kingdom of Thailand; conventional short form: Thailand; former: Siam

Government type: constitutional monarchy; Capital: Bangkok

Economy – overview: Thailand has a well developed infrastructure, a free-enterprise economy, and welcomes foreign investment. Thailand has fully recovered from the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis and was one of East Asia’s best performers in 2002-04. Increased consumption and investment spending and strong export growth pushed GDP growth up to 6.9% in 2003 and 6.1% in 2004 despite a sluggish global economy. The highly popular government’s expansionist policy, including major support of village economic development, has raised concerns about fiscal discipline and the health of financial institutions. Bangkok has pursued preferential trade agreements with a variety of partners in an effort to boost exports and maintain high growth, and in 2004 began negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with the US. In late December 2004, a major tsunami took 8,500 lives in Thailand and caused massive destruction of property in the southern provinces of Krabi, Phangnga, and Phuket.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $524.8 billion (2004 est.); GDP – real growth rate: 6.1% (2004 est.); GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $8,100 (2004 est.); GDP – composition by sector: agriculture: 9%; industry: 44.3%; services: 46.7% (2004 est.); Labor force: 36.43 million (November 2004 est.); Labor force – by occupation: agriculture 49%, industry 14%, services 37% (2000 est.); Unemployment rate: 1.5% (November 2004 est.); Population below poverty line: 10% (2004 est.); Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8%; highest 10%: 32.4% (1998); Distribution of family income – Gini index: 51.1 (2002); Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (2004 est.); Investment (gross fixed): 22.5% of GDP (Jan – Sep 2004 est.); Budget: revenues: $30.86 billion; expenditures: $31.94 billion, including capital expenditures of $5 billion (2004 est.); Public debt: 47.6% of GDP (November 2004 est.); Agriculture – products: rice, cassava (tapioca), rubber, corn, sugarcane, coconuts, soybeans; Industries: tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing such as jewellery, electric appliances and components, computers and parts, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics, world’s second-largest tungsten producer, and third-largest tin producer.

Published by the The CIA World FactBook