Thailand is a peninsular country in Southeast Asia sharing boundaries with Myanmar in the west, Laos and Cambodia in the northeast, and Malaysia in the south. The South China Sea touches the east coast, while the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea border the west coast. Thailand has a land area of 51 million ha, of which one-third is cultivated for annual crops and about 7% is under permanent crops.
Four seasons are recognized: southwest monsoon from May through September, a transition period from the southwest to the northeast monsoon during October, the northeast monsoon from November through February, and a premonsoon hot season during March and April.
Temperatures in the Central Plain during the rainy season (May to November) average 27 °C, with only 8–10 °C between the daily minimum and maximum. There is a brief cool period (December and January) with temperatures as low as 2–3 °C in the northern highlands.
Economic growth in nonagricultural sectors over the past three decades greatly reduced the relative importance of agriculture as a contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) and export earnings. However, agriculture remains a significant economic activity in rural Thailand. In spite of having an industrialized economy, 66% of the population in Thailand is still rural. The country’s population was 69.1 million in 2010 and grew at 0.76% per year in 2005-10. The population density was 132 per km² in 2010.
The Thai economy is export dependent, in which exports—which include rice—account for more than half of GDP. Aside from rice, the country’s major agricultural exports are tapioca, rubber, maize, pineapple, durian, longan, palm oil, and herbs. The leading manufactured exports are computers and computer accessories, integrated circuits, textiles, electronics, automobiles and spare parts, gems and jewelry, and televisions and television accessories. GDP fell to –2.3% in 2009 during the global economic crisis but rebounded to 7.8% in 2010. However, in 2011, growth was again low at 0.1%. In 2010, industry accounted for 44.6% of GDP, services shared 43%, while agriculture contributed 12.4%. Although agriculture has the lowest contribution to GDP, it employs about 42% of the total labor force.