Thailand

Country Summary

2022 population pyramid

Introduction

Background

A unified Thai Kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been colonized by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.

Geography

Area

total: 513,120 sq km

land: 510,890 sq km

water: 2,230 sq km

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

Natural resources

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

People and Society

Population

69,648,117 (2022 est.)

Ethnic groups

Thai 97.5%, Burmese 1.3%, other 1.1%, unspecified <0.1% (2015 est.)

Languages

Thai (official) only 90.7%, Thai and other languages 6.4%, only other languages 2.9% (includes Malay, Burmese); note - data represent population by language(s) spoken at home; English is a secondary language of the elite (2010 est.)

Religions

Buddhist 94.6%, Muslim 4.3%, Christian 1%, other <0.1%, none <0.1% (2015 est.)

Population growth rate

0.23% (2022 est.)

Government

Government type

constitutional monarchy

Capital

name: Bangkok

Executive branch

chief of state: King WACHIRALONGKON, also spelled Vajiralongkorn (since 1 December 2016)

head of government: Prime Minister PRAYUT Chan-ocha (since July 2019)

Legislative branch

description: bicameral National Assembly or Ratthasapha consists of:
Senate or Wuthisapha (250 seats; members appointed by the Royal Thai Army to serve 5-year terms)
House of Representatives or Saphaphuthan Ratsadon (500 seats; 375 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 150 members elected in a single nationwide constituency by party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

Economy

Economic overview

upper middle-income Southeast Asian economy; substantial infrastructure; major electronics, food, and automobile parts exporter; globally used currency; extremely low unemployment, even amid COVID-19; ongoing Thailand 4.0 economic development

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$1,206,620,000,000 (2020 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$17,300 (2020 est.)

Agricultural products

sugar cane, cassava, rice, oil palm fruit, rubber, maize, tropical fruit, poultry, pineapples, mangoes/guavas

Industries

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

Exports

$258.42 billion (2020 est.)

Exports - partners

United States 13%, China 12%, Japan 10%, Vietnam 5% (2019)

Exports - commodities

office machinery/parts, cars and vehicle parts, integrated circuits, delivery trucks, gold (2019)

Imports

$233.75 billion (2020 est.)

Imports - partners

China 22%, Japan 14%, United States 7%, Malaysia 6% (2019)

Imports - commodities

crude petroleum, integrated circuits, natural gas, vehicle parts, gold (2019)

Exchange rates

baht per US dollar -


Page last updated: Friday, October 14, 2022