Thailand

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

• central plain;
• Khorat Plateau in the east;
• mountains elsewhere

agricultural land:

41.2%;

• arable land 30.8%;
• permanent crops 8.8%;
• permanent pasture 1.6%

forest:

37.2%

other:

21.6% (2011 est.)

• highest population density is found in and around Bangkok;
• significant population clusters found throughout large parts of the country, particularly north and northeast of Bangkok and in the extreme southern region of the country

• air pollution from vehicle emissions;
• water pollution from organic and factory wastes;
• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Law of the Sea

• controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia and Singapore;
• ideas for the construction of a canal across the Kra Isthmus that would create a bypass to the Strait of Malacca and shorten shipping times around Asia continue to be discussed

noun:

Thai (singular and plural)

adjective:

Thai

• highest population density is found in and around Bangkok;
• significant population clusters found througout large parts of the country, particularly north and northeast of Bangkok and in the extreme southern region of the country

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.89 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.78 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria (2016)

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Thailand

conventional short form:

Thailand

local long form:

Ratcha Anachak Thai

local short form:

Prathet Thai

former:

Siam

etymology:

"Land of the Tai [People]"; the meaning of "tai" is uncertain, but may originally have meant "human beings," "people," or "free people"

name:

Bangkok

geographic coordinates:

13 45 N, 100 31 E

time difference:

UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• many previous;
• draft of latest completed 29 March 2016, approved by referendum 7 August 2016, signed by the king 6 April 2017;
• note - the final version has several changes not reflected in the one passed by referendum (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Thailand

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

description:

• in transition;
• following the May 2014 military coup, a National Legislative Assembly or Sapha Nitibanyat Haeng Chat of no more than 220 members replaced the bicameral National Assembly;
• expanded to 250 members in September 2016;
• elections for a permanent legislative body are scheduled for November 2018;
• the 2017 constitution calls for a 250-member military-appointed Senate with 5-year terms and a 500-member elected House of Representatives with 4-year terms

elections:

• Senate - last held on 30 March 2014 but invalidated by the coup (in future, members will be appointed);
• House of Representatives - last held on 2 February 2014 but later declared invalid by the Constitutional Court (next to be held in November 2018)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court of Justice (consists of court president, 6 vice-presidents, and 60-70 judges, and organized into 10 divisions);
• Constitutional Court (consists of court president and 8 judges);
• Supreme Administrative Court (number of judges determined by Judicial Commission of the Administrative Courts)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges selected by the Judicial Commission of the Courts of Justice and approved by the monarch;
• judge term determined by the monarch;
• Constitutional Court justices - 3 judges drawn from the Supreme Court, 2 judges drawn from the Administrative Court, and 4 judge candidates selected by the Selective Committee for Judges of the Constitutional Court and confirmed by the Senate;
• judges appointed by the monarch to serve single 9-year terms;
• Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the Judicial Commission of the Administrative Courts and appointed by the monarch;
• judges appointed for life

subordinate courts:

courts of first instance and appeals courts within both the judicial and administrative systems; military courts

• Chat Thai Phatthana Party or CTP (Thai Nation Development Party)
• Phumchai (Bhumjai) Thai Party or PJT (Thai Pride) [ANUTHIN Chanwirakun]
• Prachathipat Party or DP (Democrat Party) [ABHISIT Wechachiwa, also spelled ABHISIT Vejjajiva]
• Puea Thai Party (For Thais Party) or PTP [acting leader WIROT Paoin]

• New Democracy Movement
• People's Democratic Reform Committee or PDRC
• United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship or UDD

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires PHATTHARAWAN Wetchasat (since 27 October 2017)

chancery:

1024 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 401, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 944-3600

FAX:

[1] (202) 944-3611

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Glyn T. DAVIES (since 28 November 2015)

embassy:

95 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330

mailing address:

APO AP 96546

telephone:

[66] (2) 205-4000

FAX:

[66] (2) 254-2990, 205-4131

consulate(s) general:

Chiang Mai

• five horizontal bands of red (top), white, blue (double width), white, and red;
• the red color symbolizes the nation and the blood of life;
• white represents religion and the purity of Buddhism;
• blue stands for the monarchy

note: similar to the flag of Costa Rica but with the blue and red colors reversed

tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing such as jewelry and electric appliances, computers and parts, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics, automobiles and automotive parts, agricultural machinery, air conditioning and refrigeration, ceramics, aluminum, chemical, environmental management, glass, granite and marble, leather, machinery and metal work, petrochemical, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, printing, pulp and paper, rubber, sugar, rice, fishing, cassava, world's second-largest tungsten producer and third-largest tin producer

agriculture:

31.8%

industry:

16.7%

services:

51.5% (2015 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.8%

highest 10%:

31.5% (2009 est.)

general assessment:

high quality system, especially in urban areas like Bangkok

domestic:

fixed-line system provided by both a government-owned and commercial provider; wireless service expanding rapidly

international:

• country code - 66;
• connected to major submarine cable systems providing links throughout Asia, Australia, Middle East, Europe, and US;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean) (2016)

• 26 digital TV stations in Bangkok broadcast nationally, 6 terrestrial TV stations in Bangkok broadcast nationally via relay stations - 2 of the stations are owned by the military, the other 4 are government-owned or controlled, leased to private enterprise, and all are required to broadcast government-produced news programs twice a day;
• multi-channel satellite and cable TV subscription services are available;
• radio frequencies have been allotted for more than 500 government and commercial radio stations;
• many small community radio stations operate with low-power transmitters (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

19; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 276

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

54,259,629

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

2,134,149,001 mt-km (2015)

• condensate 2 km;
• gas 5,900 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 85 km;
• oil 1 km;
• refined products 1,097 km (2013)

total:

4,127 km

standard gauge:

84 km 1.435-m gauge (84 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

4,043 km 1.000-m gauge (2017)

country comparison to the world: 43

total:

781

by type:

bulk carrier 25, container ship 23, general cargo 94, oil tanker 240, other 399 (2017)

country comparison to the world: 27

major seaport(s):

Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Map Ta Phut, Prachuap Port, Si Racha

container port(s) (TEUs):

Bangkok (1,559,000), Laem Chabang (6,780,000) (2015)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Map Ta Phut

• 21 years of age for compulsory military service;
• 18 years of age for voluntary military service;
• males register at 18 years of age;
• 2-year conscript service obligation (2012)

• separatist violence in Thailand's predominantly Malay-Muslim southern provinces prompt border closures and controls with Malaysia to stem insurgent activities;
• Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu;
• talks continue on completion of demarcation with Laos but disputes remain over several islands in the Mekong River;
• despite continuing border committee talks, Thailand must deal with Karen and other ethnic rebels, refugees, and illegal cross-border activities;
• Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of boundary;
• in 2011, Thailand and Cambodia resorted to arms in the dispute over the location of the boundary on the precipice surmounted by Preah Vihear temple ruins, awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in 1962 and part of a planned UN World Heritage site;
• Thailand is studying the feasibility of jointly constructing the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween river near the border with Burma;
• in 2004, international environmentalist pressure prompted China to halt construction of 13 dams on the Salween River that flows through China, Burma, and Thailand;
• approximately 105,000 mostly Karen refugees fleeing civil strife, political upheaval and economic stagnation in Burma live in remote camps in Thailand near the border

refugees (country of origin):

102,633 (Burma) (2016)

IDPs:

35,000 (resurgence in ethno-nationalist violence in south of country since 2004) (2016)

stateless persons:

• 487,741 (2016);
• note - about half of Thailand's northern hill tribe people do not have citizenship and make up the bulk of Thailand's stateless population;
• most lack documentation showing they or one of their parents were born in Thailand;
• children born to Burmese refugees are not eligible for Burmese or Thai citizenship and are stateless;
• most Chao Lay, maritime nomadic peoples, who travel from island to island in the Andaman Sea west of Thailand are also stateless;
• stateless Rohingya refugees from Burma are considered illegal migrants by Thai authorities and are detained in inhumane conditions or expelled;
• stateless persons are denied access to voting, property, education, employment, healthcare, and driving

note: Thai nationality was granted to more than 18,000 stateless persons in the last 3 years (2015)

current situation:

• Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• victims from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and India, migrate to Thailand in search of jobs but are forced, coerced, or defrauded into labor in commercial fishing, fishing-related industries, factories, domestic work, street begging, or the sex trade;
• some Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, and Indonesian men forced to work on fishing boats are kept at sea for years;
• sex trafficking of adults and children from Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Burma remains a significant problem;
• Thailand is a transit country for victims from China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Burma subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Russia, South Korea, the US, and countries in Western Europe;
• Thai victims are also trafficked in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Thailand does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• in 2014, authorities investigated, prosecuted, and convicted fewer traffickers and identified fewer victims;
• some cases of official complicity were investigated and prosecuted, but trafficking-related corruption continues to hinder progress in combatting trafficking;
• authorities’ efforts to screen for victims among vulnerable populations remained inadequate due to a poor understanding of trafficking indicators, a failure to recognize non-physical forms of coercion, and a shortage of language interpreters;
• the government passed new labor laws increasing the minimum age in the fishing industry to 18 years old, guaranteeing the minimum wage, and requiring work contracts, but weak law enforcement and poor coordination among regulatory agencies enabled exploitive labor practices to continue;
• the government increased efforts to raise public awareness to the dangers of human trafficking and to deny entry to foreign sex tourists (2015)

• a minor producer of opium, heroin, and marijuana;
• transit point for illicit 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 methamphetamine production for regional consumption;
• major consumer of methamphetamine since the 1990s despite a series of government crackdowns