Thailand is an ancient kingdom in Southeast Asia approximately the size of France with a population of about 62 million.
Thailand's climate is tropical; there is a rainy, warm and cloudy southwest monsoon season from mid-May to September, and a dry, cool and northeast monsoon season from November to mid-March.
The great majority of Thai are Buddhists, with Muslims comprising the second largest religious group.
Thai food is often very spicy with rice serving as the main staple, and includes lots of vegetables with fish, pork or chicken.
Although modernization has improved living conditions for many Thai, it has also created greater gaps between rich and poor. Drug abuse is a serious problem and has contributed to a high incidence of AIDS. Other recent problems included the outbreak of bird flu and a violent earthquake in 2004 in the Indian Ocean that caused tidal waves in Thailand that were responsible for killing more than 5,300 people.
On September 19, 2006, the country's first coup in 15 years took place, and a military junta took over the government replacing the previous constitutional monarchy. The military revoked the Thai Constitution and suspended Parliament. The coup ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was in New York at the time of the coup. The upheaval was as peaceful as could be hoped for with no shots fired and no mass arrests.
Thailand's beloved king even gave his blessing to the takeover, and the day after the coup quickly turned into an impromptu national holiday with celebrating throughout the country. The military leader Sondhi Boonyarataklin said in a news conference that coup leaders were searching for a new Prime Minister and that he would serve in the interim as Prime Minister.
Web Sites
- CIA: The World Factbook
- U.S. Department of State
- Library of Congress Country Studies
- BBC News Country Profile
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for Thailand.
Databases
Enter Thailand in these databases: