Thailand

I

Introduction

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Prathet Thai, or “Land of the Free”), country in Southeast Asia. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been occupied by any European or other foreign power, except in war. The country was an absolute monarchy from 1782 until 1932, when rebels seized power in a coup and established a constitutional monarchy. Since then, Thailand has come under the rule of many governments, both civil and military. The country was known as Siam until 1939 (when it was renamed Thailand), and again for a few years in the late 1940s. In 1949 the name Thailand was adopted a second time.

Central Thailand is dominated by a large fertile plain, formed by the country’s chief river, the Chao Phraya, and its tributaries. Much of the country’s rice and other crops are grown in this region. Mountains and plateaus surround the central plain on the west, north, and east. The western mountain ranges extend south onto the Malay Peninsula (Malaya). Bangkok, located on the Chao Phraya near the Gulf of Thailand, is Thailand’s capital and largest city.

Thai people form the large majority of Thailand’s population, and most of them practice Theravada Buddhism. Other ethnic groups within the population include Chinese, Malays, and indigenous hill peoples, such as the Hmong and Karen. Thailand is known for its highly refined classical music and dance and for a wide range of folk arts. Traditionally based on agriculture, Thailand’s economy began developing rapidly in the 1980s.

The Introduction to this article was contributed by Philip Stott.

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II

Land and Resources of Thailand

Thailand is bordered on the west and northwest by Myanmar (formerly Burma); on the northeast and east by Laos and Cambodia; and on the south by the Gulf of Thailand (also known as the Gulf of Siam, the northwestern portion of the South China Sea), peninsular Malaysia, and the Andaman Sea. With an area of 513,115 sq km (198,115 sq mi), Thailand is similar in size to France. Its distinctive shape is often compared to an elephant’s head, with the “trunk” extending south into the slender Malay Peninsula. This unusual shape means that Thailand is more than twice as long from north to south (about 1,770 km/1,100 mi) as it is wide from east to west (about 800 km/500 mi). The country as a whole pivots around the Gulf of Thailand.

A

Natural Regions

Thailand comprises five major natural regions. The first is the country’s heartland: a wide alluvial plain whose fertile soils are replenished by the Chao Phraya and other rivers flowing out of the northern mountains. This central plain has been described as one of the “rice bowls” of Asia because of its high agricultural productivity. The plain was originally a swamp, created by a much older river system that was partially submerged when the sea level rose at the end of the last Ice Age (about 10,000 years ago). The plain is still subject to severe flooding during the wet season of the southwest monsoon (approximately April to September).

Thailand’s second natural region consists of mountain ranges lying north of the central plain. Oriented on a north-south axis, the ranges are formed of granite and limestone. Separating them are valleys, where the first Thai settled between the 9th and the 14th centuries. Thailand’s highest mountain, Doi Inthanon, rises among the northern mountains southwest of the city of Chiang Mai to a height of 2,595 m (8,514 ft). The northern ranges are part of a wider mountain system that was created when sections of the Indo-Australian plate moved north, pressing against the Eurasian continental plate and forcing up the Himalayas and the mountains of Indonesia. See also Plate Tectonics.

Thailand’s third natural region, which lies to the west along the border with Myanmar, is also marked by north-south trending mountains. These mountains create a natural frontier that is breached at Three Pagodas Pass, which has been a strategic crossing point and defense outpost throughout Thailand’s history.

To the east of the central plain, the Khorat Plateau, an undulating sandstone area that rarely rises above 200 m (660 ft), forms the fourth natural region. Dry and infertile, the plateau is drained by tributaries of the Mekong River.

Lastly, a long peninsula—part of the greater Malay Peninsula—makes up the south of the country, forming the fifth region. Although dominated by north-south mountains, this region is also noted for its coastal beaches and its many islands, some formed of limestone.

B

Rivers

The central river of Thailand is the Chao Phraya, also known in Thailand as Menam (“Mother of Waters”) Chao Phraya. Along with a number of shifting, unstable distributaries, the Chao Phraya drains the central plain into the Gulf of Thailand. The river forms at Nakhon Sawan, the head of the central plain, where it receives the waters of four other important rivers, the Nan, Ping, Wang, and Yom. These rivers flow out from the northern mountains. Downstream, the Chao Phraya is fed by waters from the Pa Sak River flowing from the edge of the Khorat Plateau in the east. At its mouth, the Chao Phraya is tidal and is fringed with nipa palms. The river is subject to both flooding and drought. In areas subject to such frequent flooding, the inhabitants adapted by developing the traditional Thai stilt house. Thailand’s other important rivers are the Chi and the Mun, which drain the Khorat Plateau eastward into the Mekong River.

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