Facts About Thailand

By Pauline Go

The Kingdom of Thailand is spread across 513,115 square kilometers. It is equal to the size of France and a little smaller than Texas. The capital of Thailand is Bangkok. Other cities of Thailand are Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai and Muang.

Population of Thailand is more than 63 million. Most Thais are Buddhist while there are also Muslims, Hindus and Christians but are in the minority. The language of Thailand is Thai.
However, English is spoken in isolated pockets.

Thailand has rich soil conducive for agriculture and most people in the rural areas make their living by cultivating rice in the central, northern and north-eastern part of Thailand. The climate of Thailand is tropical. However, Thailand is developing and industrialization is taking place resulting in a lot of people migrating from rural areas to cities.

The Thai language is similar to Tai, the language spoken by the people who live in Southern China. This has led to a belief that the Thai originally came from southern China before migrating to South East Asia in the 6th or 7th century. Until 1938, Thailand was called Siam. It has a very close relationship with United Kingdom which signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1938 with Thailand and ended up being the first time that this country was recognized by a western power.

Japanese occupied Thailand during World War II. In 1945, after the Japanese were defeated, Thailand started having close relationship with the United States, which helped the communist regime to come to power.

Economy of Thailand is based on exports. Rice is the major cash crop and it is exported to many countries around the world. Fishery and other affiliated products are a major industry and along with rubber, corn and sugar it forms a large part of the export market.

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