Thailand's Export Import Directory and Resource Guide
Country Information

1. Introduction
2. Weather Conditions
3. Geography
4. People
5. Economy
6. Currency
7. Communications
8. Transportation
9. International Affairs

Introduction
Originally called Siam, Thailand is a country rich in culture and natural beauty. It has been blessed with expansive natural parks, fertile plains, remote jungles, beaches washed by turquoise waters and tropical islands bathed in endless sunshine. The country has more visible historical evidence of its past cultures than any other country in Southeast Asian. Its history is very complex, involving the invasion of many different peoples, the rule of different kings, the establishment of various kingdoms and the interaction of diverse cultures. The period of time from the mid 1800's until now is probably the most important in terms of the formation of modern day Thailand. King Mongkut, who ruled the country from 1851 to 1868, was a well educated, ex-monk who kept Thailand safe from European expansion. His son, Chulalongkorn, took over in 1868 and continued the enlightenment and modernization of Thailand. King Chulalongkorn made great strides in improving the country. Thailand was changed from an Absolute Monarchy to a Constitutional Monarchy by Thai intellectuals, along with military help, in 1932. The name of the country was changed from Siam to Thailand in 1939 by Prime Minister Phibun Songkhram, mainly because he wanted to disassociate his country from the past. Translated literally, Thailand means "Land of the Free."

The Thai race was previously believed to have originated somewhere near Mongolia, later moving southward. However, new theories based on historical discoveries regard the northeastern part of Thailand as the birthplace of the Thai race. Over the years, the country has become home to many immigrants. The Thai people have managed to preserve the traditions of their unique culture, at the same time absorbing the practices of modern living. Nevertheless, the combination of cultures and backgrounds of these immigrants make Thailand an interesting and memorable country to visit.

Tourism has become an important industry in the country. More people visit Thailand than any other country in Southeast Asia. In 1999, 9 million people visited Thailand.

Weather Conditions
Thailand has a humid, tropical climate, and it is hot all year round. Summer is from March to May with average temperatures around 93°F (34°C), but the temperature can reach over 105°F (40°C) for extended periods. Summer monsoons begin as the warm humid air masses flow towards the north from the Indian Ocean. The monsoons end in the fall when the wind reverses direction with the dry southwesterlies. The rainy season, with periods of sunshine, lasts from June to September, with temperatures ranging fro m 80°F to 89°F (27°C to 32°C). The amount of rainfall varies with topography. The northeast receives the least rain, while the south is flooded during the summer months. The best time to visit Thailand is during the cool season, from October though Feb ruary, when it is not as humid as during the summer and the rainy seasons. The average temperature is around 65°F to 89°F (18°C to 32°C). During this season, it can be very chilly in the north, with temperatures dropping to 44?F (7°C) at night.

Geography

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

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 100 00 E

Area:
total: 514,000 sq km
land: 511,770 sq km
water: 2,230 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming

Land boundaries: total: 4,863 km

Border countries: Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km

Coastline: 3,219 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid

Terrain: central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m
highest point: Doi Inthanon 2,576 m

Natural resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

Land use:
arable land: 34%
permanent crops: 6%
permanent pastures: 2%
forests and woodland: 26%
other: 32% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 44,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts

Environment - current issues: air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from organic and factory wastes; deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea

Note: controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia and Singapore

People

Population: 61,797,751
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 23.43% (male 7,380,273; female 7,099,506)
15-64 years: 69.95% (male 21,304,051; female 21,921,383)
65 years and over: 6.62% (male 1,796,325; female 2,296,213) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.91% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 16.63 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 7.54 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 30.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.86 years
male: 65.64 years
female: 72.24 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.87 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 2.15% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 755,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 66,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Thai (singular and plural)
adjective: Thai

Ethnic groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%

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

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

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.8%
male: 96%
female: 91.6% (1995 est.)

Economy

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 entered a recovery stage in 1999, expanding 4.2% and grew about the same amount in 2000, largely due to strong exports - which increased about 20% in 2000. An ailing financial sector and the slow pace of corporate debt restructuring, combined with a softening of global demand, is likely to slow growth in 2001.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $413 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.2% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 40%
services: 47% (1999)

Population below poverty line: 12.5% (1998 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 37.1% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 32.6 million (1997 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 54%, industry 15%, services 31% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 3.7% (2000 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $19 billion
expenditures: $21 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries: tourism; textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing, such as jewelry; electric appliances and components, computers and parts, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics; world's second-largest tungsten producer and third-largest tin producer

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 89.431 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 91.17%
hydro: 3.81%
nuclear: 0%
other: 5.02% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 83.991 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 200 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 1.02 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: rice, cassava (tapioca), rubber, corn, sugarcane, coconuts, soybeans

Exports: $68.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: computers and parts, textiles, integrated circuits, rice

Exports - partners: US 22%, Japan 14%, Singapore 9%, Hong Kong 5%, Netherlands 4%, Malaysia 4%, UK 4% (1999)

Imports: $61.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials, consumer goods, fuels

Imports - partners: Japan 26%, US 14%, Singapore 6%, China 5%, Malaysia 5%, Taiwan 5% (1999)

Debt - external: $90 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $131.5 million (1998 est.)

Currency
The unit of currency in Thailand is the Baht, which is worth a little less than a US dollar. It is divided into 100 satang. There is no currency black market in Thailand. Traveler's checks can be cashed at banks throughout the country - even small town s have foreign exchange services. Visitors are allowed to bring up to B2,000 per person and unlimited foreign currency, although amounts exceeding US$10,000 must be declared. A maximum amount of B500 per person is allowed to be taken out of the country.

Copper coins are valued at 25 and 50 satang while silver coins are in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 Baht. A 10-Baht coin is composed of both silver and copper.

Bank notes come in denominations of 10 Baht (brown), 20 Baht (green), 50 Baht (blue), 100 Baht (red), 500 Baht (purple) and 1000 Baht (gray).

40 Baht = US$1

Communication

Telephones - main lines in use: 5.4 million (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.3 million (1998)

Telephone system:
general assessment: service to general public adequate, but investment in technological upgrades reduced by recession; bulk of service to government activities provided by multichannel cable and microwave radio relay network
domestic: microwave radio relay and multichannel cable; domestic satellite system being developed
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 204, FM 334, shortwave 6 (1999)

Radios: 13.96 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 5 (all in Bangkok; plus 131 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 15.19 million (1997)

Internet country code: .th

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 15 (2000)

Internet users: 1 million (2000)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 3,940 km
narrow gauge: 3,940 km 1.000-m gauge (99 km double track)

Highways:
total: 64,600 km
paved: 62,985 km
unpaved: 1,615 km (1996)

Waterways: 4,000 km
note: 3,701 km are navigable throughout the year by boats with drafts up to 0.9 meters; numerous minor waterways serve shallow-draft native craft

Pipelines: petroleum products 67 km; natural gas 350 km

Ports and harbors: Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Pattani, Phuket, Sattahip, Si Racha, Songkhla

Merchant marine: total: 294 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,845,972 GRT/2,923,914 DWT

Ships by type: bulk 36, cargo 133, chemical tanker 3, combination bulk 1, container 14, liquefied gas 20, multi-functional large-load carrier 3, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 61, refrigerated cargo 13, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 5 (2000 est.)

Airports: 110 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 59
over 3,047 m: 6
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 21
914 to 1,523 m: 17
under 914 m: 4 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 51
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 16
under 914 m: 34 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 2 (2000 est.)

International Affairs
Disputes - international: parts of the border with Laos are indefinite; parts of border with Cambodia are indefinite; sporadic border hostilities with Burma over border alignment and ethnic Shan rebels operating in cross-border region

Illicit drugs: a minor producer of opium, heroin, and marijuana; illicit transit point for heroin en route to the international drug market from Burma and Laos; eradication efforts have reduced the area of cannabis cultivation and shifted some production to neighboring countries; opium poppy cultivation has been reduced by eradication efforts; also a drug money-laundering center; minor role in amphetamine production for regional consumption; increasing indigenous abuse of methamphetamine