Country Facts - Thailand

The People

Thai (singular and plural)

Ethnic Composition

Thai	75%
Chinese	14%
Other	11%

Religious Composition

Buddhist	95.0%
Muslim	3.8%
Christian	0.5%
Hindu	0.1%
Other	0.6%

Languages Spoken

Thai (official), English, regional and ethnic dialects.

Education and Literacy

Education accounts for 16 percent of total government expenditures. Six years of education are compulsory beginning at age seven. Currently, 93.8 percent of the population is considered literate.

Labor Force

Total: 33.4 million (2001)
By occupation:

Agriculture	54%
Government and services	31%
Industry	15%

Geography

Land Mass Total

198,456 sq mi (514,000 sq km)

Land

197,595 sq mi (511,770 sq km)

Water

861 sq mi (2,230 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 3,021 mi (4,863 km)

Border countries: Burma 1,118 mi (1,800 km), Cambodia 498 mi (803 km), Laos 1,089 mi (1,754 km), Malaysia 314 mi (506 km)

Coastline

2,000 mi (3,219 km)

Maritime claim

Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

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: Gulf of Thailand 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Doi Inthanon 8,451 ft (2,576 m)

Natural Resources

Tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

Land use

Arable land	33%
Permanent crops	7%
Other	60%

(1998)

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.

Geography Note

Controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia and Singapore.

Demographics

Population

62,354,402 (July 2002)
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.

Age structure

0-14 years:	23.3%	Male: 7,404,227	Female: 7,121,083
15-64 years:	69.9%	Male: 21,469,186	Female: 22,090,520
65 years and over:	6.8 %	Male: 1,868,632	Female: 2,400,754

(2002))

Growth Rate

0.88% (2002)

Life Expectancy

69.18 years (2002)
Female: 72.51 years
Male: 66 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$6,600 (2001)

Infant Mortality

29.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

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

(2002)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

After enjoying the world's highest growth rate from 1985 to 1995 - averaging almost 9 percent 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 percent that same year. Thailand entered a recovery stage in 1999, expanding 4.2 percent and grew 4.4 percent in 2000, largely due to strong exports - which increased about 20 percent in 2000. An ailing financial sector and the slow pace of corporate debt restructuring, combined with a softening of global demand, however, slowed growth in 2001 to 1.4 percent. Thailand's fortunes began to change in 2002 as GDP growth surpassed 4 percent, but it is expected to taper off in 2003-2004 unless the region experiences a general increase. Thailand imports all of its oil and is especially sensitive to global petroleum prices. The government launched an anti-drug campaign in January of 2003, but its methods began to be questioned when over 1000 people were killed in police custody in what were dubbed "extra-judicial" acts. Thailand's fortunes began to change in 2002 as GDP growth surpassed 4 percent, but it is expected to taper off in 2003-2004 unless the region experiences a general increase. Thailand imports all of its oil and is especially sensitive to global petroleum prices..

Unemployment

3.9% (2001)

Inflation Rate

1.6% (2001)

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

Exports

US$65.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$62.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$410 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 23%, Japan 14%, Singapore 8%, China 6%, Hong Kong 5%, Malaysia 4% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Japan 24%, US 11%, Singapore 10%, Malaysia 6%, China 4%, Taiwan 4% (2000)

Top Exports

Computers, transistors, seafood, clothing, rice

Top Imports

Capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials, consumer goods, fuels

Debt - external

US$69.4 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$131.5 million (1998)

Fiscal Year:

October 1 to September 30

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 6p.m.	A few offices will have shortened weekend hours.
Retail	9a.m. to 9p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 9p.m. Only a very few retail outlets are open on Sunday.
Banks	9a.m. to 5p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to noon.
Government	8:30a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Chinese New Year¹	February 1 to 3	January 22 to 24	February 9
Chakri Day	April 6	April 6	April 6
Songkran, Water Festival²	April 13	April 13	April 13
Labor Day (banks only)	May 1	May 1	May 1
Coronation Day	May 5	May 5	May 5
Mid Year (banks only)	July 1	July 1	July 1
Queen Sirikit's Birthday	August 12	August 12	August 12
Chulalongkorn Day	October 23	October 23	October 23
King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Birthday	December 5	December 5	December 5
Constitution Day	December 10	December 10	December 10
New Year's Eve	December 31	December 31	December 31

¹	Celebrations denoting the beginning of the New Year based on the exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and phases of the moon according to the Chinese calendar. Holidays can last up to five days.
²	Buddhist washing ceremony to cleanse the soul. The Water Festival lasts for five days, and takes place four days before the Thai New Year.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press