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

Capital: Bangkok (6.5 million in 1995)

Population: 64.4 million ; growth rate of 0.95%; 24.2% of population is under 14 yrs. old; Ethnic Groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%

Area: 511,770 sq. km. (slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming)

Natural Features: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma

Terrain: central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere;
tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid

Land Boundaries and Coastline: Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km; 3219 km. of Coastline; Gulf of Thailand

Economy: Income Category: Lower middle income; Population under $1 per day: 2%; Population under $2 per day: 28.2 %; Gross National Income (per capita): $1836.13 per person; Population below poverty line 12.5% (1998 est.)

”Thailand has a free enterprise economy and welcomes foreign investment. Exports feature computers and electrical appliances. After enjoying the world’s highest growth rate from 1985 to 1995 – averaging almost 9% annually – increased speculative pressure on Thailand’s currency in 1997 led to a crisis that uncovered financial sector weaknesses and forced the government to float the baht. Long pegged at 25 to the dollar, the baht reached its lowest point of 56 to the dollar in January 1998, and the economy contracted by 10.2% that same year. Thailand then entered a recovery stage, expanding by 4.2% in 1999 and 4.4% in 2000, largely due to strong exports. An ailing financial sector and the slow pace of corporate debt restructuring, combined with a softening of global demand, slowed growth to 1.4% in 2001. Increased consumption and investment spending pushed GDP growth up to 5.2% in 2002 despite a sluggish global economy.”

Important industries include tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing, such as jewelry; electric appliances and components, computers and parts, integrated circuits, furniture, and plastics. It is the world’s second-largest tungsten producer and third-largest tin producer. Commodity exports include computers, transistors, seafood, clothing, and rice. Exports partners include US 19.6%, Japan 14.5%, Singapore 8.1%, Hong Kong 5.4%, China 5.2%, and Malaysia 4.1%.

Executive branch (chief of state): King PHUMIPHON Adunyadet (since 9 June 1946)- 2nd-longest reigning monarch in the world

Executive branch – elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister is designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following national elections for the House of Representatives, the leader of the party that can organize a majority coalition usually is appointed prime minister by the king

Prime Minister: Thaksin Shinawatra (2001) TRT

Type of Government: constitutional monarchy; status: democracy;
new constitution signed by King PHUMIPHON on 11 October 1997

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Independence: 1238 (traditional founding date; never colonized)

Judicial Branch: Supreme Court or Sandika (judges appointed by the monarch)

Legal system: based on civil law system, with influences of common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal origin – English

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly or Rathasapha consists of the Senate or Wuthisapha (200 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon (500 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Religion: Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism 0.1%, other 0.6% (1991)

Currency: bath (Bht or Bt)

Health: Probability of dying before 5 (females): 3.2 per 100 people; Probability of not reaching 40: 9.0%; Tobacco (female): 2.6%; Tobacco (male): 44.1%

Life Expectancy at birth: (total population): 71.24 years; Female 73.53 yrs.; Male 69.07 yrs. (world avg. is 67; 78 in rich countries)

Infant Mortality Rate: 29.5

Education: Overall Literacy: 96 %; Female Literacy: 94.6%; Male Literacy: 97.5%; Average schooling: 6.5 yrs.; Duration of Compulsory Education: 9 yrs.; Female Enrollment Share: 48.4%

Food:
Common ingredients: sweet and sour sauce, soy sauce, lemon grass, morning glory (vegetable), pork, chicken, seafood, fish, basil, chilies, coconut milk, green mango, ginger, cardamom, cashew nuts; insects, such as grasshoppers, grubs, water scorpion, ants, ant larvae (fried and served as a snack or a meal);

Common meals: Tom Yum soup (spicy with chicken, pork, or seafood); coconut milk soup; grilled fish, squid, shrimp, prawns, fish, chicken – with sauce; noodle salad; omelette over rice; noodles and duck; octopus; chicken and gourd soup; fried food on a stick is popular for street food

Common fruit: mango, mangosteen, lichi, miniature bananas, mandarin, coconut, round red fruit with hairy green protruding “spikes” (I don’t know the name of this fruit or a host of other fruit);

Vegetables: squash, chilies, onions, garlic, potatoes (found only in the cities – eaten rarely by the Thais), morning glory, lemon grass, tofu; sticky rice (eaten with almost every meal – rolled into a ball with the hand and dipped into a sauce);

Desserts: sticky rice with mango; banana fritters with honey or ice cream; coconut ice cream (dessert not eaten on a regular basis by the Thais);

Drinks: Thais are said to be the largest consumers of alcohol worldwide; beer; rice alcohol; Thais drink little tea or coffee; soda; water is readily available in restaurants, where it is served in a common bucket that people dip their cup into – Thais usually drink from a common cup by the water thermos, even in restaurants

How the Thais eat: Thais usually eat sitting on the ground (many houses do not even have a table!); people eat from a common bowl (this holds true for all food, even soup); Usually eat with the hands (spoons and forks are rarely served, and knives never); Chopsticks are usually reserved for noodles

History:

Prehistory:
Though influenced by contact with foreign cultures, Thailand (or Siam, as it was called until 1939), has never been colonized by a foreign power, unlike its South and Southeast Asian neighbors. Evidence shows that the area that comprises the present-day country was already inhabited some 10,000 years ago. In fact, evidence establishes Southeast Asia as a “focal area in the emergent cultural development of Homo sapiens. It now seems likely that the first true agriculturists anywhere, perhaps also the first true metal workers, were Austro-Thai speakers.” Rice was cultivated as early as 4000 BC (before China) and bronze metallurgy began before 3000 BC (before the Middle East and China).

It is still a matter of academic debate as to where the Thais originally came from. Most scholars favor a region stretching from southern China to northern Vietnam, while others believe it to be an ocean-based civilization from the western Pacific, while still others believe the Thais to be indigenous to the area now known as Thailand.

Thai Migration and Early Kingdoms:
The early Thais spread all over Southeast Asia and some later settle in southern and southwest China, to later re-migrate to northern Thailand and establish the first Thai kingdom in the 13th century. Though significant numbers of Austro-Thai people started migrating from southern China and northern Vietnam as early as the 8th century, it was during the rise to power of the Mongols under Kublai Khan in China in the mid-13th century that caused a more dramatic movement southward of Thai peoples. Wherever they met indigenous populations in the move south (in what is now Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia), they were able to displace, assimilate, or co-opt them without force.

By the 6th century AD, an important network of agricultural communities was thriving and Theravada Buddhism was flourishing in Thailand. The Dvaravati kingdom produced many works of art, but quickly declined in the 11th century following the political domination of the invading Khmers. The Khmer conquest from the 7th to 11th centuries introduced Khmer culture in the form of art, language, and religion. Some elements of Brahmanism and Mahayana Buddhism, along with today’s dominant Theravada Buddhism were introduced and remain to this day present in Thai religious and court ceremonies.

While this was taking place, a distinctly Thai state called Nan Chao (650-1250 AD) was flourishing in what later became Yunnan and Sichuan in China. With the move southward, many Thais became mercenaries in the Khmer armies in the early 12th century. The Khmers called them “Syam,” from which comes the English transliteration “Siam” (the name of the country until 1939).

The First True Thai Kingdom:
Thai princes wrested the lower north from the Khmers and united several Thai principalities in the Mekong River valley in the 13th and 14th centuries. They created the Sukhothai kingdom (“Rising of Happiness”), which declared its independence in 1238. This is considered by Thais to be the first true Thai kingdom, a sort of golden age of Thai politics, religion, and culture. A Thai writing system was sponsored and the Thai form of Theravada Buddhism was codified. The Sukhothai kingdom was annexed by Ayuthaya in 1376, by which time a national identity of sorts had been formed.

Ayuthaya Period:
The Thai kings of Ayuthaya were very powerful in the 14th and 15th centuries, even conquering Angkor (in Cambodia) in 1431. Though the Khmers were their adversaries in battle, they adopted large portions of Khmer court customs and language (as a result, the Thai monarch gained more absolute authority and assumed the title of “god-king”). Ayuthaya was one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in Asia that sustained an unbroken 400-year monarchical succession through 34 reigns. European powers were greatly in awe of the thriving city. European embassies were established in the city and a Greek became a high official in Siam in the late 17th century (during which time he allowed 600 French soldiers in the kingdom). Fearing a takeover, the Thais eventually expelled the French and killed the Greek official and sealed itself off from the West for 150 years.

The Burmese invaded the city in 1765 and destroyed everything that was sacred to the Thais, including manuscripts, temples, and religious sculptures. Within 2 years of the takeover, the Thais had regained control of the country.

Chakri Dynasty – The Current Dynasty:
The royal capital was moved across the river to Bangkok in 1782, at which time the Chakri dynasty was created. The first two monarchs set themselves to the task of restoring Thai culture, which had been severely damaged by the Burmese decades earlier. The third king, Phra Nang Klao (1824-51) developed trade with China, increased domestic agricultural production, and established a new royal title system (posthumously conferring “Rama I” and “Rama II” upon his predecessors and taking the title of “Rama III” for himself). This title system is still used to this day.

Rama IV, upon taking the throne in 1851, immediately courted diplomatic relations with a few European nations, taking care at the same time to avoid colonization. He also attempted to align Buddhist cosmology with modern science, with the aim of demythologizing Thai religion (still not fully accomplished to this day). He loosened Thai trade restrictions and many Western powers signed trade agreements with the monarch. He instituted education reforms and developed a school system along European lines. Though he adopted Western inventions and told Thais that they could learn from other cultures, he was still wary of colonization. He was the first monarch to show his face to the public.

Rama V (1868-1910) continued reform, abolishing slavery, state labor, and prostration before the king. The legal code was restructured, railways were built, and civil service was established. Though the country avoided colonization, the king was forced to concede territory to French Indochina (Laos and Cambodia) and British Burma (Malaysia states). Since the early 1990’s, this king has been revered and worshipped as a sort of god in Thailand, especially among the business classes and upper classes of the large cities.

Rama VI (1910-25) introduced compulsory education and made the Thai calendar conform to Western models. Thai nationalism (and a resulting strong anti-Chinese sentiment) came to the forefront. In 1909, all Thai citizens were forced to adopt Thai surnames (Thais were formerly given only a single name, with no surname). A group of Thai military officers attempted to overthrow the monarchy in 1912 – the first in a series of coup attempts that has continued to the present day.

Revolution:
During Rama VII’s reign (1925-35), a group of Thai students living in Paris mounted a successful coup d’etat against absolute monarchy. The bloodless revolution resulted in a constitutional monarchy along British lines, with a mixed military-civilian group in power. One of the king’s last official acts was to outlaw polygamy in 1934, leaving behind the cultural underpinnings for concubines, minor wives, and consorts that now support Thai prostitution. In 1935, the king abdicated without naming a successor and moved to Britain. His 10-year old nephew was promoted by the cabinet, but didn’t return from school in Switzerland until 1945.

In the meantime, Phibul Songkhram, a key military leader in the 1932 coup, maintained a position of power until the end of WWII. The country’s name was changed from Siam to Thailand in 1939. Though “Thai” is considered to have the connotation of “free,” it refers in usage to the Thai peoples.

The young Rama VIII returned to Thailand in 1945 to assume power, but was shot to death under mysterious circumstances in 1946. To this day, no one ever speaks or writes publicly about his death (Thai publishers delete all mention of the event even in historical accounts of Thailand). His brother, Rama IX, succeeded him. He reigns to this day (the second-longest ruling monarch in the world) and is widely revered and respected by the Thai public.

WWII and Postwar Periods:
The Phibul government sided with Japan in the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia in 1941, declaring war on Britain and the USA. But the Thai ambassador in Washington refused to deliver the declaration of war and Phibul was forced to resign under pressure from the underground resistance. He came back to power in 1947 and took an extreme anticommunist stance, become a loyal supporter of French and US foreign policy in Southeast Asia and refusing to recognize the newly declared People’s Republic of China.

Power went back and forth between different generals in the 1950’s. Sarit launched a coup in 1958, abolishing the constitution, dissolving the parliament and banning all political parties. He maintained power until he died in 1963. Army officers ruled until 1973, during which time the government allowed the US to establish army bases within its borders in support of the US campaign in Vietnam.

10,000 students publicly demonstrated to demand a real constitution in 1973, but the military brutally suppressed the revolt at a demonstration in Bangkok. The king sympathized with the students and refused to support further bloodshed. Kukrit Pramoj took charge of a 14-party coalition government and instituted a national minimum wage, repealed anti-communist laws, and ejected US forces from Thailand.

Polarization and Stabilization:
A new demonstration occurred in 1976, at which time hundreds of students were killed and the military stepped in and installed a new right-wing government. As a result, many disillusioned Thais dropped out of society and joined the armed communist insurgents who had been active in the hills since the 1930’s. The military-backed government changed hands again.

Prem served as prime minister from 1981-1988 (only one coup attempt in the 1980’s!) and is credited with political and economic stabilization of Thailand. His lasting successes include dismantling the Communist Party of Thailand and the People’s Liberation Army of Thailand (armed communist combatants) through a combination of amnesty programs and military force. He also is considered responsible for a gradual democratization of Thailand that culminated in the 1988 election of his predecessor (Chatichai). He continues to serve as an elder statesman of the country. Thailand made huge progress in the 1980’s. For example, between 1976 and 1981, freedom of speech and of the press were curtailed and a strict curfew was enforced in Bangkok. Prem lifted the curfew and allowed dissenting opinions.

Traditionally, every leading political figure in Thailand has needed the support of the military, who are generally staunch reactionaries. But as the threat of communist takeover has diminished, the military has begun to loosen its hold on national politics. In Chatichai’s government, 60% of the cabinet was formed of former business executives rather than ex-military officers – a huge increase from Prem’s 38%.

February 1991 Coup:
In a move that astounded many, the military overthrew the Chatichai administration in 1991 in a bloodless coup. Although it was Thailand’s 19th coup attempt and one of 10 successful coups since 1932, it was only the second coup to overthrow a democratically-elected civilian government. The 1978 constitution was abolished, the parliament was dissolved, and the right of public assembly was curtailed. The new prime minister – who was chosen by the military – was only allowed freedom to make decisions so long as they didn’t affect the military. A new constitution (1991) stated that the government would remain largely in the hands of the military. Despite all of this, many observers felt that the temporary premiership and cabinet were the best Thailand had ever had.

Elections and Demonstrations:
Though a general election was held in 1992, the military exercised its constitutional prerogative and replaced the elected premier with one of its generals. One month later, huge demonstrations took place in Bangkok and larger provincial capitals. The appointed general resigned after street confrontations between protestors and the military killed several dozen. The military-supported government agreed to institute a constitutional amendment requiring that the prime minister come from the ranks of elected MPs. The elected prime minister of the 1992 elections did not complete his 4-year term, and a royal command appointed a new cabinet in 1994. The new prime minister’s government collapsed in 1996 (after 2 years in power) amid corruption scandals and a crisis of confidence. The 1996 election was marked by electoral violence and accusations of vote buying.

The Thai currency fell into a deflationary tailspin in July 1997 and the national economy crashed, screeching to a virtual halt. In September, the parliament voted in a new constitution that guaranteed more human and civil rights than had ever before been codified in Thailand. It fostered hope in a population that was battered by the economic crisis. However, the prime minister, who failed to deal effectively with the economy, was forced to resign in November.

A compulsory nation-wide election was held in 2001 – the first to be held under strict guidelines established by the 1997 constitution. However, there were accusations of widespread vote-buying and violent protests.

Asean Shifts and Political Reform:
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) was formed in 1967 by Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore in an attempt to restructure regional relations along more cooperative lines. A 1992 agreement created the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA), which includes lowering and eventual elimination of tariffs on imports and exports among member states. Brunei joined in 1984, followed by Vietnam in 1995 and Laos and Myanmar in 1997. Though the association’s main declared objective is economic cooperation, its most important accomplishments have been political stabilization and conflict mediation. Their governments refuse to involve themselves publicly in the internal political affairs of member countries, while remaining active in the economic sphere. Thailand became the first nation to suggest that limited criticism could be heard within the group, especially with regard to human rights. So far, only Malaysia and the Philippines have backed the initiative. The others are vehemently opposed to the change.

Some people believe that the latest democratically-elected governments are only short-lived deviations from the norm of military rule. Others believe that the country is on a road towards a more democratic national government. Corruption remains a large problem in the country.