Introduction:

Thailand is the world's 51st largest country in terms of total area (slightly smaller than Yemen and slightly larger than Spain), with a surface area of approximately 513,000 km2 (198,000 sq mi), and the 21st most-populous country, with approximately 64 million people. The largest city is Bangkok, the capital, which is also the country's centre of political, commercial, industrial and cultural activities. About 75% of the population is ethnically Thai, 14% is of Chinese origin, and 3% is ethnically Malay the rest belong to minority groups including Mons, Khmers and various hill tribes. The country's official language is Thai. The primary religion is Buddhism.

Geographical Location:

Area
Thailand has a rough geographical area of 514, 000 sq km (200,000 sq miles). This makes Thailand roughly equivalent in size to France or Texas.

Currency
The currency of Thailand is the Thai Baht. Baht come in both coin and banknote form. The size of Thai currency, both coins and bills increases with value and varies in color.

Population

The population of Thailand comprises of roughly 70 million citizens, the majority of whom are ethnically Thai, though peoples of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Mon, Khmer, Burmese, and Lao origin are also represented to varying degrees. Approximately 7 million citizens live in the capital city, Bangkok, though this number varies seasonally and is otherwise difficult to accurately count.

Language:
The language spoken in The Thailand is Daic. Thai is the national language and the medium for education and mass communication. It is widely used by speakers of other Tai languages and is a second language for most other people. More than 92% of the population speaks Thai or one of its regional dialects. While the Thai language is the official language of Thailand, as a result of its cosmopolitan capital city and established tourism infrastructure, English is spoken and understood throughout much of Thailand.

Religion:

94.6% of Thais are Buddhist, 4.6% of Thais are Muslim 0.7% of Thais are Christian

Weather
The weather in Thailand is generally hot and humid: typical of its location within the tropics. Generally speaking, Thailand can be divided into three seasons: hot season, rainy season, and

cool season, though Thailands geography allows visitors to find suitable weather somewhere in the country throughout the year.

People
The vast majority (roughly 80%) of Thailands nearly 65 million citizens are ethnically Thai. The remainder consists primarily of peoples of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Mon, Khmer, Burmese, and Lao decent. Of the 7 million citizens who live in the capital city, Bangkok, there is a greater diversity of ethnicities, including a large number of expatriate residents from across the globe. Other geographic distinctions of the population include a Muslim majority in the south near the Malaysian border, and hill tribe ethnic groups, such as the Hmong and Karen, who live in the northern mountains.

Government
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, not dissimilar to Englands, whereby an elected Prime Minister is authorized to be the head of government and a hereditary Thai King is head of state. The constitution of Thailand allows for the people of Thailand to democratically elect their leaders in the form of a parliament, with a bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives, and executive authority in the hands of the Prime Minister. A Judiciary, overseen by the Supreme Court, was designed to act independently of the executive and the legislature.

Temperature:
Located just 15 degrees north of the equator, Thailand has a tropical climate and temperatures typically range from 19 to 38 degrees C (66-100 F).

History:
Thailand's history has been quite turbulent with various ruling factions coming and going. The most recent history of Thailand has shaped the country into the Buddhist nation it is today. This stems from King Rama 1st (King Ramathibodi I) who introduced Buddhism to Thailand in the 19th Century to differentiate the Kingdom from Angkor, a neighbouring Hindu state. He also introduced a system of law that helped to identify the nation as distinct from its neighbours.

The diplomatic skills of the ruling Siam monarchs and politicians, together with social reforms went a long way towards preventing and attempts to take control of the country. In 1939, Siam was unofficially known as Prathet Thai Prathet meaning 'nation' and Thai meaning 'free'. So Thailand managed to stay as a free state as its name suggests.
In 1932 a military coup unseated the absolute monarch and a period of authoritarian rule followed, headed by the Prime Minister Luang Phibulsongkram.In 1946, King Rama VIII died leaving his younger brother Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)to inherit the throne, and he is still the King to this day. Rama IX is now the world's longest serving monarch and is deeply respected by all parts of Thai society. Although in theory the country is democratic, the 20th and 21st centuries has seen a series of military led governments inter-dispersed with brief periods of democracy. The recent history of Thailand has shown it growing in popularity as a major tourist attraction bringing in much needed foreign currency.

Political crisis
See also: 20082010 Thai political crisis

Yellow shirts rally on Sukhumvit Road in 2008. Red Shirts protest on Ratchaprasong intersection in 2010.

The People's Power Party (Thailand), led by Samak Sundaravej formed a government with five smaller parties. Following several court rulings against him in a variety of scandals, and surviving a vote of no confidence, and protesters blockading government buildings and airports, in September 2008, Sundaravej was found guilty of conflict of interest by the Constitutional Court of Thailand (due to being a host in a TV cooking program),[33] and thus, ended his term in office. He was replaced by PPP member Somchai Wongsawat. As of October 2008, Wongsawat was unable to gain access to his offices, which were occupied by protesters from the People's

Alliance for Democracy. On December 2, 2008, Thailand's Constitutional Court in a highly controversial ruling found the Peoples Power Party[34] guilty of electoral fraud, which led to the dissolution of the party according to the law. It was later alleged in media reports that at least one member of the judiciary had a telephone conversation with officials working for the Office of the Privy Council and one other. The phone call was taped and has since circulated on the Internet. In it, the callers discuss finding a way to ensure the ruling PPP party would be disbanded. Accusations of judicial interference were levelled in the media but the recorded call was dismissed as a hoax. However, in June 2010, supporters of the eventually disbanded PPP were charged with tapping a judge's phone. Immediately following what many media described as a "judicial coup", a senior member of the Armed Forces met with factions of the governing coalition to get their members to join the opposition and the Democrat Party was able to form a government, a first for the party since 2001. The leader of the Democrat party, and former leader of the opposition, Abhisit Vejjajiva was appointed and sworn-in as the 27th Prime Minister, together with the new cabinet on 17 December 2008. Thailand remains an active member of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations). In of April 2010, a set of new protests by the Red Shirt opposition movement resulted in 87 deaths (mostly civilian and some military) and 1,378 injured.[35] When the army tried to disperse the protesters on April 10, 2010, the army was met with automatic gunfire, grenades, and fire bombs from the opposition faction in the army, known as the "watermelon". This resulted in the army returning fire with rubber bullets and some live ammunition. During the time of the "red shirt" protests against the government, there have been numerous grenade and bomb attacks against government offices and the homes of government officials. Grenades were fired at protesters, that were protesting against the "red shirts" and for the government, by unknown gunmen killing one pro-government protester, the government stated that the Red Shirts protesters were firing the weapons at civilians.[36][37][38][39] On 3 July 2011, the oppositional Pheu Thai Party led by Yingluck Shinawatra (the youngest sister of Thaksin Shinawatra) won the general election by a landslide (265 seats in the House of Representatives). They could form a coalition government presided over by Yingluck.

Economics
The economy of Thailand is reliant on exports, which account for 60% of Thailands approximately US$ 200 billion GDP. The economy of Thailand is the 2nd largest in Southeast Asia. Thailands exports consist primarily of agricultural products including fish and rice, of which it is the largest exporter in the world, as well as textiles, rubber, automobiles, computers and other electronic appliances, and jewelry. While one of the premier tourist destinations in the world, Thailand relies on tourism to provide only 7 % of its GDP.

Education

Main article: Education in Thailand

Primary school students in Thailand Thailand enjoys a high level of literacy, and education is provided by a well-organized school system of kindergartens, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools, numerous vocational colleges, and universities. The private sector of education is well developed and significantly contributes to the overall provision of education which the government would not be able to meet through the public establishments. Education is compulsory up to and including age group 14, and the government provides free education through to age group 17. Thailand has never been colonized, and its teaching relies heavily on rote rather than on studentcentred methodology. Education in a modern sense is therefore relatively recent and still needs to overcome some major cultural hurdles to ensure further development and improvement to its standards. The establishment of reliable and coherent curricula for its primary and secondary schools is subject to such rapid changes that schools and their teachers are not always sure what they are supposed to be teaching, and authors and publishers of textbooks are unable to write and print new editions quickly enough to keep up with the volatile situation.

Chulalongkorn University, established in 1917 is the oldest university in Thailand. The issue concerning university entrance has therefore also been in constant upheaval for a number of years. Nevertheless, education has seen its greatest progress in the years since 2001. Most of the present generation of students are computer literate, and knowledge of English is on the increase at least in quantity if not in quality. Extensive nationwide IQ tests were carried out in December 2010 to January 2011 on 72,780 Thai students. The average IQ was found to be at 98.59, which is higher than previous studies have found. The IQ levels are not consistent throughout the country though, with the lowest average of 88.07 found in the southern region of Narathiwat and the highest average of 108.91 reported in Nonthaburi province. The Thai Ministry of Public Health blames the discrepancies on

iodine deficiency and steps are being taken to require that iodine be added to table salt, a practice common in many Western countries. Major Industries of Thailand: Fishery: