Capital =Bangkok
Time=Thailand Standard time is GMT +7. Thailand does not observe daylight savings.
Population=The population of Thailand comprises of roughly 65 million citizens, the majority of whom are ethnically Thai, though peoples of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Mon, Khmer, Burmese, and Lao origin are also represented to varying degrees. Approximately 7 million citizens live in the capital city, Bangkok, though this number varies seasonally and is otherwise difficult to accurately count.
Area=Thailand has a rough geographical area of 514,000 sq km (200,000 sq miles). This makes Thailand roughly equivalent in size to France or Texas.
POPULATION. =The country's population in 2000 stood at 61.2 million, compared to 55.2 million in 1989, according to the CIA World Factbook. The country's population growth rate from 1988 to 1998 has been estimated at an average of 1.05 percent, according to the Asian Economic Survey . The population is expected to increase by 0.93 percent by 2010. The population is predominantly composed of young people, with 70 percent between the ages of 15 and 64, 24 percent below 15 years old, and only 6 percent older than 64 years. =The majority of the population still resides in rural areas. In 2000, the World Bank reported that approximately 40 percent of the country's population, or 25 million Thais, lived in urban areas and estimates that this will increase to 53 percent by 2010. Bangkok hosts about 12 million Thais. =The majority of the Thai population—75 percent— is of the Thai ethnic group, while 14 percent are Chinese and 11 percent are other ethnic groups. Fully 95 percent of the population is Buddhist, while 3.8 percent are Muslims and the remainder represent a variety of religions.
AIR TRANSPORTATION. Thailand is working on its goal to become the aviation hub of Southeast Asia. It is expanding its existing international airport to accommodate 36 million people by 2003. At the same time, a second international airport, 30 kilometers east of Bangkok, is currently under construction. Presently, Thailand has a total of 106 airports. Of these, 6 are international airports while 29 are domestic airports, with several more provincial airports in the offing.
WATER TRANSPORTATION. There are 8 international deep seaports in different parts of Thailand, with the major ports in Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Phuket, and Songkhla. In order to reduce the traffic in the over-utilized main port in Bangkok's Klong Toey district, the government is upgrading and constructing additional ports, particularly in the Eastern Seaboard and southern region, along the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. The importance of the Eastern Seaboard is increasing due to the establishment of industrial parks and export processing zones around the sea port in Laem Chabang. The government foresees that the port areas in the south will grow in importance to equal existing main ports.
Capital =Bangkok
Time=Thailand Standard time is GMT +7. Thailand does not observe daylight savings.
Population=The population of Thailand comprises of roughly 65 million citizens, the majority of whom are ethnically Thai, though peoples of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Mon, Khmer, Burmese, and Lao origin are also represented to varying degrees. Approximately 7 million citizens live in the capital city, Bangkok, though this number varies seasonally and is otherwise difficult to accurately count.
Area=Thailand has a rough geographical area of 514,000 sq km (200,000 sq miles). This makes Thailand roughly equivalent in size to France or Texas.
POPULATION. =The country's population in 2000 stood at 61.2 million, compared to 55.2 million in 1989, according to the CIA World Factbook. The country's population growth rate from 1988 to 1998 has been estimated at an average of 1.05 percent, according to the Asian Economic Survey . The population is expected to increase by 0.93 percent by 2010. The population is predominantly composed of young people, with 70 percent between the ages of 15 and 64, 24 percent below 15 years old, and only 6 percent older than 64 years. =The majority of the population still resides in rural areas. In 2000, the World Bank reported that approximately 40 percent of the country's population, or 25 million Thais, lived in urban areas and estimates that this will increase to 53 percent by 2010. Bangkok hosts about 12 million Thais. =The majority of the Thai population—75 percent— is of the Thai ethnic group, while 14 percent are Chinese and 11 percent are other ethnic groups. Fully 95 percent of the population is Buddhist, while 3.8 percent are Muslims and the remainder represent a variety of religions.
AIR TRANSPORTATION. Thailand is working on its goal to become the aviation hub of Southeast Asia. It is expanding its existing international airport to accommodate 36 million people by 2003. At the same time, a second international airport, 30 kilometers east of Bangkok, is currently under construction. Presently, Thailand has a total of 106 airports. Of these, 6 are international airports while 29 are domestic airports, with several more provincial airports in the offing.
WATER TRANSPORTATION. There are 8 international deep seaports in different parts of Thailand, with the major ports in Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Phuket, and Songkhla. In order to reduce the traffic in the over-utilized main port in Bangkok's Klong Toey district, the government is upgrading and constructing additional ports, particularly in the Eastern Seaboard and southern region, along the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. The importance of the Eastern Seaboard is increasing due to the establishment of industrial parks and export processing zones around the sea port in Laem Chabang. The government foresees that the port areas in the south will grow in importance to equal existing main ports.