Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, and formerly known as Siam until 1939, is a country located in Mainland Southeast Asia. It shares land borders with Myanmar to the west and northwest, Laos to the east and northeast, Cambodia to the southeast, and Malaysia to the south. Its maritime boundaries include the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, as well as maritime borders with Vietnam, Indonesia, and India. Thailand has a population of nearly 66 million people and covers an area of approximately 513,115 km<sup>2</sup> (198,115 sq mi). The country's capital and largest city is Bangkok.
Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have inhabited the area of present-day Thailand for at least 40,000 years. Indigenous ethnic groups include the Mon, Khmer, and Malay people. The Tai people are believed to have originated from the Điện Biên Phủ region since the 5th century and began migrating into the territory of modern Thailand between the 8th and 10th centuries. During the classical historical period, major kingdoms such as Sukhothai, Lan Na, and Ayutthaya were established. The Sukhothai Kingdom is regarded as the beginning of Thai history, while the Ayutthaya Kingdom, founded in 1350 CE, became a regional power replacing the Khmer Empire. European contact began in 1511 CE when Portuguese envoys arrived in Ayutthaya. The Ayutthaya Kingdom flourished until its complete destruction during the 1765–1767 Burmese–Siamese War by the Burmese forces under the Konbaung dynasty in 1767.
After the fall of Ayutthaya, King Taksin reunified the kingdom and established the Thonburi Kingdom, which lasted only 15 years before he was overthrown by Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I), the founder of the Chakri dynasty. King Rama I established the Rattanakosin Kingdom and moved the capital to Bangkok in 1782. During the era of Western imperialism, Siam remained the only country in Southeast Asia to avoid colonisation by European powers, although it ceded territory, trade rights, and legal privileges through several unequal treaties. The governance system evolved into an absolute monarchy centralised under the rule of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). Siam adapted to international relations during the imperialist era and joined World War I on the side of the Allies, a political decision aimed at revising the effects of unequal treaties and enhancing Siam's international status.
Following the Siamese revolution of 1932 by the Khana Ratsadon (), Siam transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary constitutional monarchy and was officially renamed Thailand. During World War II, the country was under the military dictatorship of Plaek Phibunsongkhram and allied with the Empire of Japan as part of the Axis powers, but Thailand did not become a defeated nation due to the underground Free Thai Movement's "Declaration of Peace", which was recognised by the Allies. During the Cold War, Thailand became a key major non-NATO ally of the United States and played a major role in countering communism in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and other proxy wars. Thailand also joined the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Despite brief periods of liberal democracy in the 1970s and 1990s, Thailand alternated between liberal democracy and military dictatorship.
Since the 2000s, Thailand has experienced political conflict between supporters and opponents of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (in office 2001–2006), leading to the 2006 and 2014 coup d'états. Today, Thailand operates under the 2017 Constitution and a coalition government following the 2019 Thai general election, as well as political demonstrations demanding democracy and monarchy reform. The current constitutional structure still allows de facto political influence by the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Thailand has also faced border tensions from the 2008–2011 Cambodian–Thai border crisis extending to the 2025 Cambodia–Thailand border crisis involving territorial disputes and military clashes.
Currently, Thailand is recognised as a developing country and holds significant geopolitical importance in Southeast Asia. It is a unitary state governed under a parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature comprising the elected House of Representatives and the appointed Senate. Thailand is a member of the United Nations, a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as a regional power. The Royal Thai Armed Forces are among the largest military forces in Southeast Asia. Thailand's economy is the second-largest in the region and the 23rd globally by purchasing power parity, ranking 29th by gross domestic product. Thailand is classified as a newly industrialised country, with manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism being the main economic sectors.
Etymology
Thailand was known by outsiders before 1939 as Siam. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai () means 'free man' in the Thai language, "differentiating the Thai from the natives encompassed in Thai society as serfs". According to Chit Phumisak, Thai () simply means 'people' or 'human being'; his investigation shows that some rural areas used the word "Thai" instead of the usual Thai word khon () for people. According to Michel Ferlus, the ethnonyms Thai-Tai (or Thay-Tay) would have evolved from the etymon *k(ə)ri: 'human being'.
Thais often refer to their country using the polite form prathet Thai (). They also use the more colloquial term mueang Thai () or simply Thai; the word mueang, archaically referring to a city-state, is commonly used to refer to a city or town as the centre of a region. Ratcha Anachak Thai () means 'kingdom of Thailand' or 'kingdom of Thai'.
Etymologically, its components are: ratcha (, rājan, 'king, royal, realm'), ana- (Pali āṇā 'authority, command, power', itself from the Sanskrit , ājñā, of the same meaning), and -chak (from Sanskrit cakra- 'wheel', a symbol of power and rule).
The Thai National Anthem (), written by Luang Saranupraphan during the patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as prathet Thai (). The first line of the national anthem is: prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai (), 'Thailand is founded on blood and flesh'.
The former name Siam may have originated from Sanskrit श्याम (śyāma, 'dark') The word Śyâma is possibly not the true origin, but a pre-designed deviation from its proper, original meaning. Another theory is the name derives from the Chinese calling this region 'Xian'.
thumb|SPPM Mongkut Rex Siamensium, [[King Mongkut's signature]]
The signature of King Mongkut (r. 1851–1868) reads SPPM (Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha) Mongkut Rex Siamensium (Mongkut, King of the Siamese). This usage of the name in the country's first international treaty gave the name Siam official status, until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand.
History
Prehistory and origins
There is evidence of continuous human habitation in present-day Thailand from 20,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest evidence of rice growing is dated at 2,000 BCE. Areas comprising what is now Thailand participated in the Maritime Jade Road, as ascertained by archeological research. The trading network existed for 3,000 years, between 2000 BCE to 1000 CE. Bronze appeared –1,000 BCE. Iron appeared around 500 BCE.
The Thai people are of the Tai ethnic group, characterised by common linguistic roots. Chinese chronicles first mention the Tai peoples in the 6th century BCE. While there are many assumptions regarding the origin of Tai peoples, David K. Wyatt, a historian of Thailand, argued that their ancestors who at present inhabit Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, India, and China came from the Điện Biên Phủ area between the 5th and the 8th century. Thus Thai culture was influenced by Indian, Mon, and Khmer cultures. Tai people intermixed with various ethnic and cultural groups in the region, resulting in many groups of present-day Thai people. Genetic evidences suggested that ethnolinguistics could not accurately predict the origins of the Thais.
According to French historian George Cœdès, "The Thai first enter history of Farther India in the eleventh century with the mention of Syam slaves or prisoners of war in Champa epigraphy", and "in the twelfth century, the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat" where "a group of warriors" are described as Syam, The origins and ethnicity of the Syam remain unclear, with some literature suggesting that Syam refers to the Shan people, the Bru people, or the Brau people. However, Mainland Southeast Asian sources from before the fourteenth century primarily used the word Syam as an ethnonym, referring to those who belonged to a separate cultural category different from the Khmer, Cham, Bagan, or Mon. This contrasts with the Chinese sources, where Xian was used as a toponym. However, after several bloody centuries against Chinese influence in Guangxi between 333 BCE and the 11th century, hundreds of thousands of Tais were killed, thus, Tai people began to move southwestward along the rivers and over the lower passes into the mountain north of Southeast Asia and river valleys in present-day Assam of India. Some evidence indicates that the ancestors of Tai people migrated en masse southwestwards out of Yunnan only after the 1253 Mongol invasion of Dali; however, it is not generally accepted.
Tais defeated indigenous tribes and emerged as the new power in the new region. As a result, several Tai city-states were established, scattered from Điện Biên Phủ in present-day northwestern Vietnam and highland Southeast Asia to northeastern India.
According to the Simhanavati legend given in several chronicles, the first Tai city-state in northern Thailand, Singhanavati, was founded around the 7th century. However, several modern geology and archaeology studies found that its centre, Yonok Nahaphan, dates from 691 BCE–545 CE; this roughly coincides with the establishment of Shan States, another Tai's federated principalities in the present-day northeast Myanmar. as well as Muang Sua (Luang Prabang) in the east.
After Singhanavati was submerged below Chiang Saen Lake due to an earthquake in 545, the survivors then founded a new seat at . The kingdom lasted for another 93 years.
In addition to Singhanavati, another northern principality probably related to the Tai people, Ngoenyang, was established as the successor of Singhanavati in 638 by , also centred in (present-day Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai).
In the late tenth century, Tai people began to migrate further south to the present-day upper central Thailand. Around the 1100s period, several cities in this area, such as Songkwae, Sawankhalok, and Chakangrao, were ruled by the Tai people, eventually launching several battles against the pre-existing Mon of Lavo, who had been falling under Chenla and Khmer influences since the 7th century, thus bringing the establishment of the Tai people's independent state, Sukhothai Kingdom, in the upper Chao Phraya River valley in 1238. Phrom also marched the troops south to occupy Chakangrao from the enemy as well as founding the city of Songkwae. In contrast, Tai people instead established relationships with Mon via royal intermarriages. Samuel Beal discovered the polity among the Chinese writings on Southeast Asia as "Duoluobodi". During the early 20th century, archaeological excavations led by George Coedès found Nakhon Pathom Province to be a centre of Dvaravati culture. The two most important sites were Nakorn Pathom and U Thong (in modern Suphan Buri Province). The inscriptions of Dvaravati were in Sanskrit and Mon using the script derived from the Pallava alphabet of the South Indian Pallava dynasty.
It is believed that the Dvaravati borrowed Theravada Buddhism through its contacts with Sri Lanka, while the ruling class participated in Hindu rites. Dvaravati art, including the Buddha sculptures and stupas, showed strong similarities to those of the Gupta Empire of India. The eastern parts of the Chao Phraya valley were subjected to a more Khmer and Hindu influence as the inscriptions are found in Khmer and Sanskrit.
Dvaravati was a network of city-states paying tribute to more powerful ones according to the mandala political model. Dvaravati culture expanded into Isan as well as south as far as the Kra Isthmus. Dvaravati culture lost its influence around the tenth century when they submitted to the more unified Lavo-Khmer polity.
Around the tenth century, the city-states of Dvaravati merged into the mandalas of: Lavo (modern Lopburi) and Suvarnabhumi (modern Suphan Buri). According to a legend in the Northern Chronicles, in 903, a king of Tambralinga invaded and took Lavo and installed a Malay prince on the Lavo throne. The Malay prince was married to a Khmer princess who had fled an Angkorian dynastic bloodbath. The son of the couple contested the Khmer throne and became Suryavarman I (1006–1050), thus bringing Lavo under Khmer domination through marital union. Suryavarman I also expanded into the Khorat Plateau (later styled "Isan"), constructing many temples.
thumb|240px|Wat [[Phra Prang Sam Yod, a 13th-century Angkorian temple in Lopburi.]]
After the Angkor lost Lavo to Suphannabhum princes in 1052, the younger prince Chandrachota claimed the throne. His son, Narai I, moved Lavo's seat to Ayodhya in the 1080s. This resulted in the throne of Lavo's Lavaburi being vacant from 1087 to 1106 (or ruled by unknown kings), Si Satchanalai king, Kesariraja who is of Mon's Chaliang and Tai's Chiang Saen lineages, took over the seat. An attempt to re-expand influence to Lavo by the Angkor occurred in 1181 when Jayavarman VII appointed his lineage Narupatidnavarman to govern Lavapura. Due to this political pressure, a Tai ruler Sri Thammasokkarat
(), who was also from Si Satchanalai, fled to Nakhon Si Thammarat. Sri Thammasokkarat married to princess of Dhanyapura (Dong Mae Nang Mueang in the present-day Nakhon Sawan province), and their descendants ruled Tambralinga until the late 13th century. The Customs of Cambodia of Zhou Daguan, as an official delegation sent by the Yuan dynasty to Angkor from 1296 to 1297, says the Siamese people exerted significant influence over Lavo's Lavapura and appeared in huge numbers in the Angkorian capital of Yaśodharapura.
Prang Sam Yot was built during this period.
All of the turmoil, as mentioned earlier, also led to the independence declaration of the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238.
The earliest evidence mentioning the Siamese
The earliest evidence to mention the Siam people are stone inscriptions found in Angkor Borei of Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 661 CE, the slave's name is mentioned as "Ku Sayam" meaning "Sayam female slaves" (Ku is a prefix used to refer to female slaves in the pre-Angkorian era), and the Takéo inscriptions (K.79) written in 682 during the reign of Bhavavarman II of Chenla also mention Siam Nobel: Sāraṇnoya Poña Sayam, which was transcribed into English as: the rice field that was given to the poña (noble rank) who was called Sayam (Siam).
The Song Huiyao Jigao (960–1279) indicate Siamese people settled in the west central Thailand and their state was called Xiān guó (), while the eastern plain belonged to the Mon of Lavo (), who later fell under the Chenla and Khmer hegemony around the 7th–9th centuries. Those Mon political entities, which also included Haripuñjaya in the north and several city-states in the northeast, are collectively called Dvaravati.
However, the states of Siamese and Lavo were later merged via the royal intermarriage and became Ayutthaya Kingdom in the mid-14th century, The remaining principal city-states in Isan region became Lan Xang around 1353 after the twin cities of Muang Sua (Luang Prabang) and Vieng Chan Vieng Kham (Vientiane) became independent following the death of the Sukhothai king Ram Khamhaeng.
According to the Wat Kud Tae inscription (K.1105), dated c. 7th century, during the period that the eastern Mon entity, Lavo, was strongly influenced by the Chenla, the Siamese in the west also established a royal intermarriage with Chenla as Sri Chakatham, prince of Sambhuka (ศามภูกะ, in the present-day Ratchaburi province), married to a princess of Isanavarman I, and two mandalas then became an ally. After Chenla sieged Funan and moved the centre to Angkor, both Siamese and the Angkorian eventually marched the troops to attack Vijaya of Champa in 1201 during the reign of Jayavarman VII, as recorded in the Cho-Dinh inscription (C.3).
Sukhothai Kingdom (1238–1438)
After the decline of the Khmer Empire and Kingdom of Pagan in the early 13th century, various states thrived in their place. The domains of Tai people existed from the northeast of present-day India to the north of present-day Laos and to the Malay Peninsula. Its initial expansion was through conquest and political marriage.
Before the end of the 15th century, Ayutthaya invaded the Khmer Empire three times and sacked its capital Angkor. The steady rise of the Ayutthaya Kingdom marked a major geopolitical shift, eventually allowing Ayutthaya to eclipse the Khmer Empire and assume the mantle of regional dominance in mainland Southeast Asia. Constant interference of Sukhothai effectively made it a vassal state of Ayutthaya and it was finally incorporated into the kingdom. Borommatrailokkanat brought about bureaucratic reforms which lasted into the 20th century and created a system of social hierarchy called sakdina, where male commoners were conscripted as corvée labourers for six months a year. Ayutthaya was interested in the Malay Peninsula but failed to conquer the Malacca Sultanate, which was supported by the Chinese Ming dynasty. The Portuguese were followed in the 17th century by the French, Dutch, and English. Rivalry for supremacy over Chiang Mai and the Mon people pitted Ayutthaya against the Burmese Kingdom. Several wars with its ruling Taungoo dynasty starting in the 1540s in the reign of Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung were ultimately ended with the capture of the capital in 1570.
Ayutthaya sought to improve relations with European powers for many successive reigns. The kingdom especially prospered during cosmopolitan Narai's reign (1656–1688), when some European travellers regarded Ayutthaya as an Asian great power, alongside China and India. The Burmese under the new Alaungpaya dynasty quickly rose to become a new local power by 1759. After a 14-month siege, the capital city's walls fell and the city was burned in April 1767.
Thonburi Kingdom (1767–1782)
The capital and many of its territories lay in chaos after the war. The former capital was occupied by the Burmese garrison army and five local leaders declared themselves overlords, including the lords of Sakwangburi, Phitsanulok, Pimai, Chanthaburi, and Nakhon Si Thammarat. Chao Tak, a capable military leader, proceeded to make himself a lord by right of conquest, beginning with the legendary sack of Chanthaburi. Based at Chanthaburi, Chao Tak raised troops and resources, and sent a fleet up the Chao Phraya to take the fort of Thonburi. In the same year, Chao Tak was able to retake Ayutthaya from the Burmese only seven months after the fall of the city.
Chao Tak then crowned himself as Taksin and proclaimed Thonburi as temporary capital in the same year. He also quickly subdued the other warlords. His forces engaged in wars with Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, which successfully drove the Burmese out of Lan Na in 1775,
Rattanakosin Kingdom and modernisation (1782–1932)
Under Rama I (1782–1809), Rattanakosin successfully defended against Burmese attacks and put an end to Burmese incursions. He also created suzerainty over large portions of Laos and Cambodia. In 1821, Briton John Crawfurd was sent to negotiate a new trade agreement with Siam – the first sign of an issue which was to dominate 19th century Siamese politics. Bangkok signed the Burney Treaty in 1826, after the British victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War. The unexpected death of Mongkut from malaria led to the reign of underage King Chulalongkorn, with Somdet Chaophraya Sri Suriwongse (Chuang Bunnag) acting as regent. in part because Britain and France agreed in 1896 to make the Chao Phraya valley a buffer state. Not until the 20th century could Siam renegotiate every unequal treaty dating from the Bowring Treaty, including extraterritoriality. The advent of the monthon system marked the creation of the modern Thai nation-state.
The Thai government then declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom. The Free Thai Movement was launched both in Thailand and abroad to oppose the Thai government and Japanese occupation.
Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat took power by coup in 1957, and he proceeded to reverse Phibun's democratic reforms and ban the Khana Ratsadon party from politics. His rule from 1959 to 1963 was autocratic; he built his legitimacy around the god-like status of the monarch and by channelling the government and public's loyalty to the king. The aftermath of the event marked a short-lived parliamentary democracy,
Military figure Prem Tinsulanonda was appointed Prime Minister from in 1980. He oversaw the beginning of a period of significant economic growth and democratisation throughout the 1980s. Prem's premiership was often referred to as "premocracy" because it involved semi-democratic practices such as a Parliament composed of an all-elected House and an all-appointed Senate. Prem's constitutionalist political approach aided with a transition away from military rule and a negotiated end to the Communist insurgency by 1983. He maintained political stability via a close relationship with King Bhumibol, who helped to foil two military coups in attempts against Prem in 1981 and in 1985.
In 1988, Thailand saw its first freely-elected prime minister since the 1976 coup. Chatichai Choonhavan ruled for 3 years before being overthrown in a coup that ushered in two years of military rule under the National Peace Keeping Council. One of the coup leaders, Suchinda Kraprayoon, was nominated as prime minister for the majority coalition government after the March 1992 general election. This caused a popular demonstration in Bangkok, which ended with a bloody military crackdown known as Black May. The King intervened in the event, granting amnesty to the belligerents and forcing the resignation of Suchinda.
Free elections were once again held in September 1992, bringing the neoliberal Democrat Party to power. Power passed between various neoliberal parties throughout the decade, who all had a hand in drafting the 1997 "People's Constitution." Spurred on by the events of Black May, the constitution explicitly acknowledged several human rights and established several government and electoral accountability measures, including the creation of a fully-elected bicameral legislature.
Shinawatra era (2001–present)
The neoliberal government's attempt to peg the Thai baht to the United States dollar induced the 1997 Asian financial crisis, crashing regional economies and ending nearly 40 years of uninterrupted economic growth in Thailand. To cover a shortage of foreign currency and investments, which had come primarily from Japan, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's government took out a $17 billion International Monetary Fund loan in US dollars. To satisfy the conditions of the loan, Thailand underwent a series of austerity measures until the loan was repaid in 2003.
The crisis brought on the ascendancy of the populist Thai Rak Thai party, whose base consisted primarily of indebted rural workers. Its prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra governed from 2001 until 2006. His policies were successful in reducing rural poverty and providing universal healthcare. However, Thaksin was viewed by opponents among the Thai upper and upper middle classes as a corrupt populist who was destroying the middle class in order to favour himself and the rural poor. Additionally, his rural poverty policies directly conflicted with King Bhumibol's recommendations, drawing the ire of royalists, a powerful faction in Thailand. Thaksin also faced crises in the form of the South Thailand insurgency, which escalated starting from 2004, and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which claimed around 8,000 lives in Thailand.
Massive protests against Thaksin led by the reactionary People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) started in his second term as prime minister, and the monarchy and the military eventually agreed to oust him. The crisis peaked in 2005 with a series of controversies surrounding Buddhist and monarchic institutions, and the army dissolved Thaksin's party with a coup d'état in 2006 and banned over a hundred of its executives from politics. After the coup, a military government was installed for one year.
right|thumb|[[United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, Red Shirts, protest in 2010]]
The military government faced significant resistance, with protesters frequently storming government buildings and elements within the military threatening yet another coup.
After the general election of 2011, the populist Pheu Thai Party won a majority. Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's younger sister, became prime minister. The People's Democratic Reform Committee organised another anti-Shinawatra protest after the ruling party proposed an amnesty bill which would benefit Thaksin. Yingluck dissolved parliament and a general election was scheduled, but her decision was invalidated by the Constitutional Court. The crisis ended with another coup d'état in 2014.
The ensuing National Council for Peace and Order, a military junta led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, led the country until 2019. Civil and political rights were restricted, and the country saw a surge in lèse-majesté cases. Political opponents and dissenters were sent to "attitude adjustment" camps; this was described by academics as indicating the return of fascism to Thailand. Bhumibol, the longest-reigning Thai king, died in 2016, and his son Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne. The referendum and adoption of Thailand's current constitution happened under the junta's rule. The junta bound future governments to a 20-year national strategy 'road map' it laid down, effectively locking the country into military-guided democracy.
In 2019, the junta agreed to schedule a general election. An extended two-year period of pro-democracy protests were subsequently triggered by distrust in the election as well as increasing royal prerogative, democratic and economic regression under monarchy-supported military rule, retaliatory dissolution of the pro-democracy Future Forward Party, regressive policies on political issues like women's and labour rights, forced disappearances and deaths of political activists like Wanchalearm Satsaksit, and various political corruption scandals including 1MDB. The protests brought forward unprecedented demands to reform the monarchy and the highest sense of republicanism in the country's history.
In May 2023, Thailand's reformist opposition – the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) and Thaksin's populist Pheu Thai Party – won the general election, ending 9 years of royalist-military rule under Prayut. On 22 August 2023, Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai party became Thailand's new prime minister, while the ex-PM and party figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand after years in self-imposed exile from the military regime. Thavisin was later dismissed from his prime ministerial role on 14 August 2024 by the Constitutional Court for "gross ethics violations". He was succeeded by Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who spent a year in office before the Constitutional Court ordered her removal over a controversial phone call with Cambodia's president. The Court then ordered the arrest of Thaksin in September 2025.
Geography
thumb|[[Ko Tarutao, Satun]]
Totalling , Thailand is the 50th-largest country by total area.
Climate
thumb|Thailand map of Köppen climate classification
Thailand's climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast monsoon). Most of the country is classified as Köppen's tropical savanna climate. The majority of the south, as well as the eastern tip, have a tropical monsoon climate. Parts of the south also have a tropical rainforest climate.
A year in Thailand is divided into three seasons.
Biodiversity and conservation
thumb|The population of [[Asian elephants in Thailand's wild has dropped to an estimated 2,000–3,000.]]
National parks in Thailand are defined as an area that contains natural resources of ecological importance or unique beauty, or flora and fauna of special importance. Thailand's protected areas include 156 national parks, 58 wildlife sanctuaries, 67 non-hunting areas, and 120 forest parks. They cover almost 31 per cent of the kingdom's territory. The parks are administered by the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE). The Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi is the second largest zoo in Asia. The largest national park of Thailand is Kaeng Krachan National Park.
Thailand has a mediocre but improving performance in the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI), with an overall ranking of 91 out of 180 countries in 2016. The environmental areas where Thailand performs worst (i.e., highest-ranking) are air quality (167), environmental effects of the agricultural industry (106), and the climate and energy sector (93), the later mainly because of a high CO<sub>2</sub> emission per kWh produced. Thailand performs best (i.e., lowest-ranking) in water resource management (66), with some major improvements expected for the future, and sanitation (68). The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.00/10, ranking it 88th globally out of 172 countries.
The population of elephants, the country's national symbol, has fallen from 100,000 in 1850 to an estimated 2,000. Young elephants are often captured for use in tourist attractions or as work animals, where there have been claims of mistreatment. In 1989, the government banned the use of elephants for logging, leading many elephant owners to move their domesticated animals to the tourism industry.
Poaching of protected species remains a major problem. Tigers, leopards, and other large cats are hunted for their pelts. Many are farmed or hunted for their meat, which supposedly has medicinal properties. Although such trade is illegal, the well-known Bangkok market Chatuchak is still known for the sale of endangered species. The practice of keeping wild animals as pets affects species such as Asiatic black bear, Malayan sun bear, white-handed lar, pileated gibbon, and binturong.
Politics and government
Prior to 1932, Thai kings were feudal or absolute monarchs. During Sukhothai Kingdom, the king was seen as a Dharmaraja or 'king who rules in accordance with Dharma'. The system of government was a network of tributaries ruled by local lords. Modern absolute monarchy and statehood was established by Chulalongkorn when he transformed the decentralised protectorate system into a unitary state. On 24 June 1932, Khana Ratsadon (People's Party) carried out a bloodless revolution which marked the beginning of constitutional monarchy.
Thailand has had 20 constitutions and charters since 1932, including the latest and current 2017 Constitution. All constitutions state that the politics is conducted within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, but the de facto form of government has ranged from military dictatorship to electoral democracy. Thailand's current form of government is part democracy and part dictatorship; many terms are used to describe it. Thailand has had the fourth-most coups in the world. "Uniformed or ex-military men have led Thailand for 55 of the 83 years" between 1932 and 2009. Most recently, the military junta self-titled as the National Council for Peace and Order ruled the country between 2014 and 2019.
thumb|[[Sappaya-Sapasathan is the current Parliament House of Thailand|alt=]]
Government is separated into three branches:
- The legislative branch: the National Assembly is composed of the Senate, the 200-member indirectly elected upper house and House of Representatives, the elected 500-member lower house. Its most recent election is the 2023 general election. The coalition led by Pheu Thai Party currently holds the majority. The 2024 Thai Senate election was the first senate election held under the current constitution in the process criticised as "the most complicated election in the world". The senate is allegedly dominated by Bhumjaithai Party-affiliated senators.
- The executive branch consisting of the Prime Minister of Thailand, the head of government, and other cabinet members of up to 35 people. The Prime Minister was elected by the House of Representatives. The current constitution mandates that prime ministers are to be considered from candidates nominated by political parties before the election. The current prime minister is Anutin Charnvirakul, a member of the Bhumjaithai Party.
- The judiciary is supposed to be independent of the executive and the legislative branches, although judicial rulings are suspected of being based on political considerations rather than on existing law.
Military and bureaucratic aristocrats fully controlled political parties between 1946 and the 1980s. Most parties in Thailand are short-lived. Later constitutions created a multi-party system where a single party cannot gain a majority in the house.
A hereditary monarch serves as Thailand's head of state. The current King of Thailand is Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), who has reigned since October 2016. The powers of the king are limited by the constitution and he is primarily a symbolic figurehead. However, the monarch still occasionally intervenes in Thai politics, as all constitutions pave the way for customary royal rulings. Some academics outside Thailand, including Duncan McCargo and Federico Ferrara, noted extraconstitutional role of the monarch through a "network monarchy" behind the political scenes. The monarchy is protected by the severe lèse majesté law, even though the people's attitude towards the institution varies from one reign to another.
thumb|Timeline of Prime Ministers
The kings are protected by lèse-majesté laws which allow critics to be jailed for three to fifteen years. After the coup d'état in 2014, Thailand had the highest number of lèse-majesté prisoners in the nation's history. Human rights in Thailand has been rated not free on the Freedom House Index since 2014. On August 7, 2024, Thailand's Constitutional Court banned the victors of the 2023 parliamentary elections, the Move Forward Party and all of its leaders from politics for its proposal to reform the lèse-majesté law, arguing it posed a threat to the constitutional order. The Economist criticised the move as an example of "lawfare" and pointed to the dissolution of its predecessor party, Future Forward in 2020, as the latest example of how an "alliance of conservative forces in Thailand—including monarchists, the army and a handful of business tycoons—has sought to suppress opposition".
On the Freedom in the World 2024 Report for Thailand, their status improved from not free to partly free due to competitive parliamentary elections and the formation of a new governing coalition by what had been a major opposition party, though unelected senators ensured that the party with the most votes was excluded.
Administrative divisions
Thailand is a unitary state; the administrative services of the executive branch are divided into three levels by National Government Organisation Act, BE 2534 (1991): central, provincial and local. Thailand is composed of 76<!--not 77, Bangkok is not a province, see next sentence!--> provinces (, changwat), which are first-level administrative divisions. There are also two specially governed districts: the capital Bangkok and Pattaya. Bangkok is at provincial level and thus often counted as a province. Each province is divided into districts (, amphoe) and the districts are further divided into sub-districts (, tambons). The name of each province's capital city (, mueang) is the same as that of the province. For example, the capital of Chiang Mai Province (Changwat Chiang Mai) is Mueang Chiang Mai or Chiang Mai. All provincial governors and district chiefs, which are administrators of provinces and districts respectively, are appointed by the central government. Thailand's provinces are sometimes grouped into four to six regions, depending on the source.
Foreign relations
thumb|King [[Bhumibol Adulyadej in a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, 18 November 2012]]
Siam's and Thailand's way of conducting foreign relations has long been described as "bamboo bending with the wind", of policies that are "always solidly rooted, but flexible enough to bend whichever way the wind blows in order to survive", or adaptable and pragmatic. In order to secure independence, it sought to pit one great power against the others so that it would be dominated by none.
During the Cold War, Thailand sought to prevent the spread of communism so it joined the United States, including participating in SEATO alliance, sending expeditions to Korea and Vietnam, and offering the US to use its base. Thailand is one of the five founding members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), initially to safeguard against communism. The end of Vietnam War was a turning point in Thai foreign policy and afterwards it sought to improve relations with Communist China and its now-Communist neighbours. Thailand remains an active member of ASEAN and seek to project its influence in it. Thailand has developed increasingly close ties with other members, with progressing regional co-operation in economic, trade, banking, political, and cultural matters.
In the 2000s, Thailand had taken an active role on the international stage and participated fully in international and regional organisations. It is a major non-NATO ally and Priority Watch List Special 301 Report of the United States. When East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, Thailand contributed troops to the international peacekeeping effort. As part of its effort to increase international ties, Thailand had reached out to such regional organisations as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
During Thaksin Shinawatra's premiership, negotiations for several free trade agreements with China, Australia, Bahrain, India, and the US were initiated. Thaksin sought to position Thailand as a regional leader, initiating various development projects in poorer neighbouring countries. More controversially, he established close, friendly ties with the Burmese dictatorship. Thailand joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, sending a humanitarian contingent until September 2004. Thailand also had contributed troops to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
In April 2009, the 2008–2013 Cambodian–Thai border crisis brought troops on territory immediately adjacent to the 900-year-old ruins of Cambodia's Preah Vihear Hindu temple near the border.
After the 2014 coup, Thailand leaned more towards China. Growing Chinese influence and capital inflow caused some members of parliament to raise the concern about "economic colony" under China after many concessions.
During the Israel-Gaza war in 2023, at first Thailand's prime minister stated that his government strongly condemns the attack against Israel and extends its deepest condolences to the government and the people of Israel but the government later changed its position and announced that Thailand adopted a neutral stance in this conflict. 28 Thai nationals were killed in this conflict.
Armed forces
thumb|right|The [[HTMS Chakri Naruebet|HTMS Chakri Naruebet, an aircraft carrier of the Royal Thai Navy]]
The Royal Thai Armed Forces (กองทัพไทย; ) constitute the military of the Kingdom of Thailand. It consists of the Royal Thai Army (กองทัพบกไทย), the Royal Thai Navy (กองทัพเรือไทย), and the Royal Thai Air Force (กองทัพอากาศไทย). It also incorporates various paramilitary forces.
The head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย, Chom Thap Thai) is the king, although this position is only nominal. The armed forces are managed by the Ministry of Defence of Thailand, which is headed by the Minister of Defence (a member of the cabinet of Thailand) and commanded by the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, which in turn is headed by the Chief of Defence Forces of Thailand. Thai annual defence budget almost tripled from US$1.98 billion in 2005 to US$5.88 billion in 2016, accounting for approximately 1.4% of GDP. Thailand ranked 16th worldwide in the Military Strength Index based on the Credit Suisse report in September 2015.
thumb|right|A Royal Thai Air Force [[JAS 39 Gripen]]
The military is also tasked with humanitarian missions, such as escorting Rohingya to Malaysia or Indonesia, ensuring security and welfare for refugees during Indochina refugee crisis.
According to the constitution, serving in the armed forces is a duty of all Thai citizens. Thailand still use active draft system for males over the age of 21. They are subjected to varying lengths of active service depending on the duration of reserve training as Territorial Defence Student and their level of education. Those who have completed three years or more of reserve training will be exempted entirely. The practice has long been criticised, as some media question its efficacy and value. It is alleged that conscripts end up as servants to senior officers or clerks in military cooperative shops. In a report issued in March 2020, Amnesty International charged that Thai military conscripts face institutionalised abuse systematically hushed up by military authorities.
Critics observed that Thai military's main objective is to deal with internal rather than external threats. Internal Security Operations Command is called the political arm of the Thai military, which has overlapping social and political functions with civilian bureaucracy. It also has anti-democracy mission. and nepotism in promotion of high-ranking officers. The military is deeply entrenched in politics. Most recently, the appointed senators include more than 100 active and retired military.
Thailand is the 75th most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index.
Economy
{| class="wikitable" style="border: 1px solid #999; float: right; margin-left: 1em; width:300px"
|+ Economic indicators
|-
! scope="row" | Nominal GDP
| ฿14.53 trillion
|-
! scope="row" | GDP growth
| 3.9%
|-
! scope="row" | Total public debt
| ฿6.37 trillion
|-
! scope="row" | Poverty
| 8.61%
|-
! scope="row" | Net household worth
| ฿20.34 trillion
|}
thumb|[[Sathorn in Bangkok is a skyscraper-studded business district that is home to major hotels and embassies.]]
The economy of Thailand is heavily export-dependent, with exports accounting for more than two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP). Thailand exports over US$105 billion worth of goods and services annually. Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Thailand ranks midway in the wealth spread in Southeast Asia as it is the fourth richest nation according to GDP per capita, after Singapore, Brunei, and Malaysia.
Thailand functions as an anchor economy for the neighbouring developing economies of Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. In the third quarter of 2014, the unemployment rate in Thailand stood at 0.84% according to Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).
In 2017, the Thai economy grew an inflation-adjusted 3.9%, up from 3.3% in 2016, marking its fastest expansion since 2012. High public spending, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompted the authorities to raise Thailand's public debt ceiling from 60% to 70% of GDP.
, Thailand struggles with low productivity, poor education, high household debt, low private investment and slow economic growth, with an economic research group forecasted an annual GDP growth of below 2% in the next decades without structural reforms.
As of 2025, The Bank of Thailand's economic outlook page projects Thai GDP growth of around 2.2% in 2025 and 1.6% in 2026, noting that growth in the first half of 2025 was supported by front‑loaded exports to the U.S. ahead of tariff hikes, while the second half is expected to slow as higher U.S. tariffs bite.
Income and wealth disparities
thumb|Development of real GDP per capita, 1890 to 2022
Thais have median wealth per one adult person of $1,469 in 2016, increasing from $605 in 2010.
In 2017, Thailand's median household income was ฿26,946 per month. Top quintile households had a 45.0% share of all income, while bottom quintile households had 7.1%.
In 2014, Credit Suisse reported that Thailand was the world's third most unequal country, behind Russia and India. Bank of Thailand reported that during 2006–16, Thailand's top 5% largest companies had 85% of all corporate revenue in the nation, and only 6% of the country's companies were in export industries, which made up 60% of the country's GDP.
In 2016, 5.81 million people lived in poverty, or 11.6 million people (17.2% of population) if "near poor" is included. The proportion of the poor relative to total population in each region was 12.96% in the Northeast, 12.35% in the South, and 9.83% in the North. In 2016, there were estimated 30,000 homeless persons in the country.
Exports and manufacturing
The economy of Thailand is heavily export-dependent, with exports accounting for more than two-thirds of gross domestic products (GDPs). Major exports include cars, computers, electrical appliances, rice, textiles and footwear, fishery products, rubber, and jewellery.
Substantial industries include electric appliances, components, computer components, and vehicles. Thailand's recovery from the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis depended mainly on exports, among various other factors. , the Thai automotive industry was the largest in Southeast Asia and the 9th largest in the world. The Thailand industry has an annual output of near 1.5 million vehicles, mostly commercial vehicles. As of 2012, due to its favourable taxation for 2-door pick-ups at only 3–12% against 17–50% for passenger cars, Thailand was the second largest consumer of pick-up trucks in the world, after the US. In 2014, pick-ups accounted for 42% of all new vehicle sales in Thailand. and was the fourth highest in international tourism earning 60.5 billion US dollars.
Thailand was the most visited country in Southeast Asia in 2013, according to the World Tourism Organisation. Estimates of tourism receipts directly contributing to the Thai GDP of 12 trillion baht range from 9 per cent (1 trillion baht) (2013) to 16 per cent. When including the indirect effects of tourism, it is said to account for 20.2 per cent (2.4 trillion baht) of Thailand's GDP.
Asian tourists primarily visit Thailand for Bangkok and the historical, natural, and cultural sights in its vicinity. Western tourists not only visit Bangkok and surrounding areas; many travel to the southern beaches and islands. The north is the chief destination for trekking and adventure travel with its diverse ethnic minority groups and forested mountains. The region hosting the fewest tourists is Isan. To accommodate foreign visitors, a separate tourism police with offices were set up in the major tourist areas and an emergency telephone number.
Thailand ranks as the worlds fifth largest medical tourism destination in spending, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, attracting over 2.5 million visitors in 2018, and is number one in Asia. The country is popular for the growing practice of sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and cosmetic surgery. In 2010–2012, more than 90% of medical tourists travelled to Thailand for SRS. Prostitution in Thailand and sex tourism also form a de facto part of the economy. Campaigns promote Thailand as exotic to attract tourists. One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$4.3 billion per year or about 3% of the Thai economy. It is believed that at least 10% of tourist dollars are spent on the sex trade.
Agriculture and natural resources
thumb|upright=1.35|Thailand has long been [[Rice production in Thailand|one of the largest rice exporters in the world. Forty-nine per cent of Thailand's labour force is employed in agriculture. Thailand has the highest percentage of arable land, 27.25%, of any state in the Greater Mekong Subregion. About 55% of the arable land area is used for rice production.
Agriculture has been experiencing a transition from labour-intensive and transitional methods to a more industrialised and competitive sector. Between 1962 and 1983, the agricultural sector grew by 4.1% per year on average and continued to grow at 2.2% between 1983 and 2007. of biocapacity per person within its territory, a little less than world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In contrast, in 2016, they used 2.5 global hectares of biocapacity—their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use about twice as much biocapacity as Thailand contains, resulting in a deficit. Between 1993 and 1995, ten per cent of the Thai labour force moved from the agricultural sector to urban and industrial jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector. It is estimated that between 1988 and 1995, the number of factory workers in the country doubled from two to four million, as Thailand's GDP tripled.
While the Asian financial crisis that followed in 1997 hit the Thai economy hard, the industrial sector continued to expand under widespread deregulation, as Thailand was mandated to adopt a range of structural adjustment reforms upon receiving funding from the IMF and World Bank. These reforms implemented an agenda of increased privatisation and trade liberalisation in the country, and decreased federal subsidisation of public goods and utilities, agricultural price supports, and regulations on fair wages and labour conditions. Many migrant farmers took jobs in sweatshops and factories with few labour regulations and often exploitative conditions. Those that could not find formal factory work, including illegal migrants and the families of rural Thai migrants, are under the regulation imposed by the structural adjustment programmes. Scholars argue that the economic consequences and social costs of Thailand's labour reforms in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis fell on individuals and families rather than the state. especially in fishing where slave-like conditions have been reported.
Science and technology
Thailand ranked 45th in the Global Innovation Index in 2025. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation and its agencies oversees the development of science, technology, and research in Thailand. According to the National Research Council of Thailand, the country devoted 1.1% of its GDP to the research and development of science in 2019, with over 166,788 research and development personnel in full-time equivalent that year.
Infrastructure
Transportation
left|thumb|The [[BTS Skytrain is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok.]]
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) operates all of Thailand's national rail lines. Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal and Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) are the main termini of intercity routes. Phahonyothin and ICD Lat Krabang are the main freight terminals. SRT had of track, all of it metre gauge. Nearly all is single-track (2702.1 km), although some important sections around Bangkok are double () or triple-tracked (), and there are plans to extend this.
Rail transport in Bangkok includes long-distance services. There are four rapid transit rail systems in the capital: the BTS Skytrain, MRT, SRT Red Lines, and the Airport Rail Link. In Bangkok, there were two failed rapid rail projects Lavalin Skytrain and Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System, before Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan in Bangkok Metropolitan Region was endorsed by the cabinet on 27 September 1994 and implemented from 1995 to the present.
Thailand has of highways. , Thailand has over 462,133 roads and 37 million registered vehicles, 20 million of them motorbikes. A number of undivided two-lane highways have been converted into divided four-lane highways. Within the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, there are a number of controlled-access highways. There are 4,125 public vans operating on 114 routes from Bangkok alone. Other forms of road transport includes tuk-tuks, taxis—with over 80,647 registered taxis nationwide as of 2018, vans (minibus), motorbike taxis, and songthaews.
, Thailand has 103 airports with 63 paved runways, in addition to 6 heliports. The busiest airport in the country is Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Energy
75% of Thailand's electrical generation is powered by natural gas in 2014. Coal-fired power plants produce an additional 20% of electricity, with the remainder coming from biomass, hydro, and biogas. In 2022, Thailand's oil and gas production dropped by 19% and 17%, respectively.