About Thailand

Formerly SIAM, officially Kingdom of Thailand, kingdom of Southeast Asia, bounded by Burma (Myanmar) on the North and West, by Laos on the North East, by Cambodia and the Gulf of Thailand (Siam) on the South East, by Malaysia on the South, and by the Andaman Sea and Burma on the South West. The total area of Thailand is 513,115 sq km.

LAND AND RESOURCES

Thailand lies within the Indochinese Peninsula, except for the S extremity, which occupies a portion of the Malay Peninsula. The country’s extreme dimensions are about 1770 km (about 1100 mi) from N to S and about 805 km (about 500 mi) from E to W. The physiography is highly diversified, but the mountain systems are the predominant feature of the terrain. A series of parallel ranges, with a N-S trend, occupy the N and W portions of the country. Extreme elevations occur in the westernmost ranges, which extend along the Burmese frontier and rise to 2595 m (8514 ft) atop Doi (mount) Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand. The peninsular area, which is bordered by narrow coastal plains, reaches a high point of 1786 m (5860 ft) atop Khao Luang. Another mountain system projects, in a N and S direction, through central Thailand. At its S extremity, the system assumes an E-W trend and extends to the E frontier. Doi Pia Fai (1270 m/4167 ft) is its highest peak. The region to the N and E of this system consists largely of a low, barren plateau, called the Khorat Plateau. Making up about one-third of the country, the plateau is bordered by the Mekong R. valley. Between the central and W mountains is a vast alluvial plain traversed by the Chao Phraya, the chief river of Thailand. This central plain, together with the fertile delta formed by the Chao Phraya near Bangkok, is Thailand ’s richest agricultural region and most densely populated section.

Climate.

Thailand has a moist, tropical climate, influenced chiefly by monsoon winds that vary in direction according to the season. From April to October the winds are mainly from the SW and are moisture laden; during the rest of the year they blow from the NE. Temperatures are higher, ranging from 25.6° to 36.7° C (78° to 98° F), while the country is under the influence of the SW winds. During the remainder of the year the range is from 13.3° to 33.3° C (56° to 92° F). Temperatures are somewhat higher inland than they are along the coast, except at points of great elevation.

Annual rainfall is about 1525 mm (about 60 in) in the N, W, and central regions, 2540 mm (100 in) or more on the Thai portion of the Malay Peninsula, and 1270 mm (50 in) or less on the Khorat Plateau. Most rain falls in summer (June through October).

Natural Resources.

Thailand is rich in natural resources. Among the known mineral deposits are coal, gold, lead, tin, tungsten, manganese, zinc, iron ore, and precious stones. In addition, the country has many large forests that produce teak for export. The rich alluvial soil along the Chao Phraya and other rivers constitutes another important resource.

Plants and Animals.

Jungles and swamps, scattered through the coastal areas of Thailand, have extensive stands of tropical trees, including mangrove, rattan, ironwood, sappanwood, ebony, and rosewood. The upland areas are also heavily wooded, the most valuable species being teak, agalloch, and oak. In addition, a wide variety of tropical plants and fruit trees, including orchid, gardenia, hibiscus, banana, mango, and coconut, occur in Thailand. Many animal species inhabit the jungles and forests. Elephants, widely used as beasts of burden, are abundant. Other large quadrupeds include the rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, gaur, water buffalo, and gibbon. The Siamese cat is, as its name implies, indigenous to Thailand. Thailand has more than 50 species of snakes, including several poisonous varieties. Crocodiles are numerous, as are various species of fishes and birds.

POPULATION

About 80% of the inhabitants of Thailand are Thai, a people of the Indochinese linguistic family who are thought to have originated in SW China and migrated to Southeast Asia at the beginning of the 1st millennium ad. An ethnic distinction often is made, however, between the Thai proper, or Siamese (53%), who occupy the central regions, and the Lao people of the NW and E regions (27%), who are related more closely to the people of neighboring Laos. The country’s largest minority group consists of the Chinese, who make up about 12% of the total population and many of whom are Thai nationals; other minority groups include the Malay-speaking Muslims in the S and the non-Thai hill tribes in the N. More than 100,000 Karens—people of eastern and southern Burma (now Myanmar )—live in refugee camps along the border with Burma ; some 36,000 Cambodian refugees in Thailand were repatriated in the late 1990s. The population of Thailand is about two-thirds rural.

Population Characteristics.

In 2003 the population was estimated at 62,833,000, yielding an overall population density of about 122 persons per sq km (about 317 per sq mi). The population is unevenly distributed throughout the country, however, with the greatest concentration of people in the central region.

Buddhism is the prevailing religion of Thailand. The head of the Buddhist hierarchy, called the supreme patriarch, is generally a member of the royal family. About 95% of all Thais are Buddhists, and the country has approximately 18,000 Buddhist temples. Nearly all Buddhist men in Thailand enter a wat (monastery) for at least a few days or months. Muslims, the majority of whom live in the area just N of Malaysia, constitute approximately 4% of the population, and the country also has some small Christian and Hindu communities.

Literature.

Classic Thai literature is based on tradition and history. The Ramakien, the Thai version of the Hindu epic Ramayana, is the leading classic on which Thai art and music are also based. Modern writing is more Western in style, and Thailand has many women among its authors of popular writing.

Art.

Among the most celebrated works of architecture in Thailand are the wats in Bangkok. Thai sculpture, dating from the 14th century, is a mixture of Chinese, Burmese, Hindu, and Khmer influences and is best seen in the temples and representations of Buddha. Thai religious paintings have been less well preserved; paintings are rarely older than 50 or 100 years. Thailand is known for producing beautiful silk textiles.

A revolution in 1932 transformed Thailand into a constitutional monarchy after centuries of rule by absolute monarchs, but since that time the country has been largely controlled by the military. The nation’s 15th constitution took effect in 1991. A 16th constitution, incorporating provisions designed to root out political corruption, became law in October 1997.

Executive.

The King is Thailand ’s head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. He appoints a cabinet, headed by a prime minister, who must be an elected member of the legislature. The prime minister may, in theory, take any steps necessary to preserve the stability of the throne, to maintain public order, or to ensure that the economy functions smoothly. In practice, however, high-level military officers play a major role in government.

HISTORY

Tai-speaking peoples, originating in western China, moved into Yunnan in the 2d or 1st century bc. In the confusion following the collapse of the Han dynasty in ad 220, Tai leaders founded the kingdom of Nan Chao, which endured until the Mongol conquest in the mid-13th century (see Nan Chao, Kingdom of). Long before that time, however, the Tai had begun a southward migration that in the course of the following centuries led them far down the Malay peninsula and as far east as Cambodia. Here they were subject to Indian influences and adopted the Buddhist religion. By the end of the 13th century the Tai had formed a political entity and emerged as a nation afterward known as the Thai. In 1350 a unified Thai kingdom was established by a ruler known posthumously as Rama Tibodi I (r. 1315?–69). He founded the kingdom of Ayutthaya and made it his capital. Despite intermittent warfare with the Cambodians and Burmese, the Ayutthaya kingdom flourished during the next four centuries, conquering Cambodia and the surviving states in the north (see Ayutthaya, Kingdom of). Meanwhile, the Thai had come into contact that was not always friendly with various European and Asian nations, including Portugal, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and China .

Sovereignty Embattled.

The Burmese launched a full-scale attack on Thailand, and in 1767, following a 4-year siege, Ayutthaya was captured and destroyed. Burmese overlordship in Thailand was shortly terminated in an uprising led by Gen. Pya Taksin (1734–82), who proclaimed himself king. On his death the crown passed to Gen. Pya Chakri (1737–1809), founder of the present dynasty of Thai kings, who ruled (1782–1809) as Rama I. The British and Thai governments concluded a commercial treaty in 1826. Because of the rights and privileges obtained by this agreement, British influence increased in Thailand throughout the remainder of the 19th century.

Owing to the statesmanship of two rulers, however, Thailand was spared the fate of colonization that befell its neighbors. Interested in Western science and civilization, King Mongkut (1804–68) invited many European advisers to assist him in modernizing the country. His son, King Chulalongkorn, who reigned during the height of the onslaught of European colonization, continued the vigorous modernization efforts of his father and managed to maintain the country’s independence, albeit at considerable cost in territorial concessions. Thus, in 1893 Thailand became embroiled in a boundary dispute with France, then the dominant power in Cochin China, Annam, Tonkin, and Cambodia. The French dispatched warships to Bangkok and forced the Thais to yield Cambodia and all of Laos east of the Mekong River. Additional Thai territory, situated west of the Mekong, was acquired by France in 1904 and 1907. Thailand gave up suzerainty over four states in the Malay Peninsula to Great Britain in 1909. In exchange, the British relinquished most of their extraterritorial rights in the rest of the kingdom. The Thai government entered World War I on the side of the Allies in July 1917. Thailand subsequently became a founding member of the League of Nations .

In June 1932, during the reign of King Prajadhipok (1893–1941), a small group of Thai military and political leaders organized a successful revolt against the government, until then an absolute monarchy. The insurgents, led by Pridi Phanomyong and Col. Phibun Songgram (1897–1964), proclaimed a constitutional monarchy on June 27. Royalist opposition was finally overcome in October 1933. In March 1935 King Prajadhipok abdicated in favor of his nephew, Prince Ananda Mahidol (1925–46). Thailand invalidated all of its treaties with foreign nations in November 1936. Under the provisions of new treaties negotiated in the following year, the government obtained complete autonomy over its internal and external affairs.

World War II.

With Japanese encouragement and support, Phibun’s government made demands on France, beginning in 1940, for the return of the territory ceded in and after 1893. The dispute was settled, with Japanese mediation, in May 1941. By the terms of the settlement, Thailand received about 54,000 sq km (about 21,000 sq mi) of territory, including part of western Cambodia and all of Laos west of the Mekong River. The relations between Japan and Thailand became increasingly friendly thereafter. On Dec. 8, 1941, a few hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Thai government granted Japan the right to move troops across the country to the Malayan frontier. Thailand declared war on the U.S. and Great Britain on Jan. 25, 1942. Phibun’s pro-Japanese government, however, was overthrown in July 1944, and considerable sympathy for the Allied cause thereafter developed among the Thai people under Pridi’s leadership. See also World War II.

Thailand concluded a treaty with Great Britain and India in January 1946, renouncing, among other things, its claims to Malayan territory obtained during the war. Diplomatic relations with the U.S. were resumed in the same month. In November 1946 Thailand reached an agreement with France providing for the return to France of the territory obtained in 1941. Thailand was admitted to the UN on Dec. 15, 1946, becoming the 55th member. Meanwhile, on June 9, 1946, King Ananda Mahidol had died under mysterious circumstances. A regency was appointed to rule during the minority of his brother and successor, King Rama IX.

Domestic Instability.

On Nov. 9, 1947, a military junta led by Phibun seized control of the government. A provisional constitution, largely based on the constitution of 1946, was immediately proclaimed by the junta. Except for a brief interlude early in 1948, Phibun thereafter retained control of the government until 1957. His regime, essentially a dictatorship, based its foreign policy on maintaining close relations with the U.S. and Great Britain. King Rama IX assumed the throne on May 5, 1950. After the start of the Korean War in June 1950, Thailand assigned about 4000 men to the UN forces.

On Nov. 29, 1951, a group of army officers seized control of the government in a bloodless coup d’état and reestablished the authoritarian constitution of 1932, with some changes. Phibun was retained as premier. Meanwhile, a Free Thai movement, supported by the Chinese Communists and nominally headed by Pridi, had been formed in China .

Thai representatives took part in the Geneva Conference of April 1954, which temporarily ended the war in Indochina. In September 1954, Thailand was a founding member and Bangkok became the headquarters of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).

In September 1957, Phibun’s government was overthrown by a military coup d’état led by Marshall Sarit Thanarat, commander in chief of the Thai armed forces.

A coalition government was formed in January 1958 under the premiership of Lt. Gen. Thanom Kittikachorn. Another coup in October 1958, again headed by Sarit, overthrew the Thanom government. The constitution was suspended, a state of martial law was proclaimed, and all political parties were banned. In the early 1960s the government showed increasing concern over a rapidly growing Communist guerrilla movement in the north. The increase in terrorist attacks was one of the major problems faced by Thanom, who became prime minister again on Sarit’s death in December 1963. The new government was also concerned about the deteriorating position of the pro-Western government in neighboring Laos and about the Vietnam War.

This is a part of an article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. ©2005 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Please follow the link for the full article.