THAILAND 2002

Introduction

In roughly 3000 BCE, people cultivated rice within the boundaries of modern Thailand, but the ancestors of the Thai people began to move into modern Thailand from southern China only at the beginning of the Common Era, arriving between the 7th to 13th centuries CE. In 1351, a unified Thai kingdom known as Ayutthaya -- after its capital city -- was created by a Thai kingdom, and despite despite intermittent warfare with the Cambodians and the Burmese, Ayutthaya flourished for more than four hundred years. In 1767, Burmese troops sacked Ayutthaya and annexed the kingdom, but two years later, the Burmese were expelled when General Pya Taksin proclaimed himself king. After Taksin was executed by his ministers, the crown passed to General Pya Chakri, who went on to found the present Chakri dynasty of Thai kings and who ruled from 1782 to 1809 as Rama I. Under his reign, the country's name was changed from Ayutthaya to Siam, and the capital was moved to Bangkok.

Over the course of the 19th century, Siam was threatened by Western imperialism. Unlike Siam's Southeast Asian neighbours, the Siamese kingdom managed to remain independent thanks to the efforts at modernization begun in the reign of King Mongkut (1851-1879) and Mongkut's son King Chulalongkorn (1879-1920) and a policy of playing the major imperialist powers of Britain and France against each other. Although Siam was forced to cede Cambodia and Vientiane to French Indochina and north Malaya to Britain, Siam survived as a prosperous and rapidly modernizing state. In July of 1916, Siam entered the First World War on the side of the Allies, and it subsequently became a founding member of the League of Nations. After a revolt by Western-educated Thai military and political leaders in 1932, Siam became a constitutional monarchy. In November of 1936, Siam invalidated its treaties with foreign nations; and under the provisions of new treaties negotiated in the following years, the Siamese government obtained complete autonomy over its internal and external affairs. Siam was officially renamed Thailand in keeping with a new sense of Thai nationalism.

Over the quarante glorieuses, Thailand enjoyed a period of unparalleled prosperity, driven by its abundant rice exports, its budding industrialism, and its relative political stability. Despite military coups, Thailand remained a functioning pluralistic society, and did not suffer the same massive political instability as Indonesia in the 1950's or Indochina in the 1960's. Over the 1970's, Thailand took great care to avoid the political authoritarianism and xenophobic militarism of Thailand's Southeast Asian neighbours. Rather, Thailand took care to continue its historical policies of economic and political modernization along with ethnic tolerance, and likewise avoided too close an association with either China or the Manila Pact states. Consequently, Thailand -- unique among Southeast Asian nation-states -- avoided involvement in the Third World War, and survived as a functioning society.

Since 1982, Thailand has undergone considerable changes. By the mid-1980's, Thailand regained most of the territories that it had lost to British and French imperialists and then some, while massive foreign investment in the productive rice paddies of Central Thailand drove an economic renaissance. As Thailand's Southeast Asian neighbours lie in ruins, Thailand is enjoying a renewed economic boom; indeed, Thailand might manage to emulate Korea's rise to the Second World. In the meantime, Thailand's historical tradition of pluralism and its many cultural, architectural, and natural attractions makes this country a highly popular destination for local tourists, and an increasing number of offworlders.

Visiting Thailand

While comparatively few Thai citizens have traveled outside of their country, Thailand has attracted substantial numbers of tourists from elsewhere in Asia, Australia, and northern Europe for the better part of three decades. Consequently, Thailand has signed League agreements regarding free travel.

Visitors should familiarize themselves with entry requirements, especially customs requirements, and be sure to check their visa status before entering. Thai customs officers restrict the entry of firearms and many drugs, and check arrivals and their belongings for these. If such are found, at the minimum the visitor will be summarily deported; more likely, the visitor will be charged with a criminal offense.

Parts of northern and western Thailand are unsafe for visitors, while there is considerable street crime in Bangkok. On the whole, though, Thailand is a safe country for visitors, who should not encounter many problems in major tourist areas.

Money

Thailand's foreign trade is conducted equally in the écu and the yen, but Thailand's baht remains the main currency of domestic use. The baht is divided into 100 satang (41.80 baht equal 1 écu as of 10 January 2002). The Bank of Thailand, established in 1927, issues all currency. Banks and government exchanges in major cities and the north will convert foreign currencies to dinars automatically, extracting a 10% service charge.

Natural Environment

Climate

Thailand has a moist, tropical climate, influenced chiefly by monsoon winds that vary in direction according to the season. From April to October the winds are mainly from the southwest and are moisture laden; during the rest of the year they blow from the northeast. Temperatures are higher, ranging from about 26° to 37° C, while the country is under the influence of the southwestern winds. During the remainder of the year the range is from about 13° to 33° C. Temperatures are somewhat higher inland than they are along the coast, except at points of great elevation.

Annual rainfall is about 1 520 mm in the northern, western, and central regions, about 2 540 mm or more on the Thai portion of the Malay Peninsula, about 1 780 mm in Laos, and about 1 400 mm on the Cambodian plains. Exceptionally, more than 3 800 mm falls in Cambodia's mountainous areas and along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand.

Geography

Thailand lies in mainland Southeast Asia, save for the south which occupies part of the Malay Peninsula. The country's extreme dimensions are about  2300 km from north to south and about 900 km from east to west. The physiography is highly diversified, but the mountain systems are the predominant feature of the terrain.

The western frontier of Thailand is formed by a vast mountain range that stretches north in the direction of Tibet to the Andaman Sea. It is divided into two general geographical features: the Shan Plateau, which originates in China and has an average elevation of about 910 metres, and the Bilauktaung Range, the southern extension of the Shan Plateau. The highest point in this western range is Doi Inthanon, which reaches a height of 2 595 metres above sea level. As the Bilauktaung descends to the Andaman Sea, it creates the rocky and island-fringed Tenasserim coast, best known for its many excellent natural harbors.

The northeastern frontier is formed by a practically impassable mountain range. Xishuangbanna district, in the far north, is a collection of deep mountain valleys, while further south is Luang Prabang and Vientiane, which together form a very mountainous area that extends north and south, forming a frontier with the League mandate of Indochina. Phou Bia, in the northeastern range, is the highest point in Thailand at an elevation of 2 820 m above sea level.

To the west of Thailand's mountainous northeastern frontier lies the Mekong River, which enters Thailand via Xishuangbanna, traces the length of the former Thai-Indochinese border, and descends to the former Cambodia. The tributaries of the Mekong River in Vientiane, on the eastern shore of the Mekong, flow through deep valleys that cut through heavily forested mountains ranges and sparsely forested limestone terraces. There is only a small area of lowland in southern and southwestern Vientiane. On the west shore of the Mekong River lies a low, barren plateau, called the Khorat Plateau and known as Isaan. Isaan is separated from the rest of Thailand to its west by a low mountain system extending north-west.

Downstream of Isaan and Vientiane lies Cambodia, whose terrain is dominated by a large, low-lying alluvial plain that occupies most of the central part of the country. The main features of the plain are the Mekong River, which flows from north to south through Cambodia, and the Tônlé Sap (Great Lake), which covers an area of about 2 600 square kilometres in the dry season but expands to about 10 400 square kilometres in the rainy season. The outlet of Tônlé Sap is a river of the same name, which during the dry season flows south into the Mekong River. During the rainy season the floodwaters of the Mekong River back into the Tônlé Sap, inundating the central part of the country. To the east of the alluvial plain lies an undulating plateau region. Mountain ranges fringe the plain on the southwest along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand and on the northern frontier with Isaan.

In the centre of Thailand lies a vast alluvial plain traversed by the Chao Phraya, the chief river of Thailand. This central plain, together with the fertile delta formed by the Chao Phraya near Bangkok, is the richest agricultural and most densely populated section of the kingdom.

The south of Thailand is occupied by the Thai section of the Malay peninsula. With a mountainous spine bordered on either side by narrow coastal plains, the highest elevation of this region is 1 786 metres atop Khao Luang.

The Chao Phraya and Mekong rivers are the largest rivers in Thailand. The Chao Phraya rises in the northern hills and flows south about 225 km, past Bangkok, into the Gulf of Thailand, and waters an important rice-producing region. The Mekong River is the longest river in Southeast Asia, running from Tibet southeast to the South China Sea for about 4 184 km. Below the city of Louangphrabang, the river is navigable, but the confused situation in Cochin China limits the use of the Mekong to a purely internal role. The water of the Mekong provides the irrigation necessarily for rice cultivation during the long dry season, and plans are being made to improve flood control, navigation and irrigation, and to develop hydroelectric power plants along the river.

The People

Demography

Prior to the Third World War, in 1981 the population of the regions now included in Thailand amounted to a total of approximately 62.5 million people, including 46.1 million people in Thailand proper. These regions were ethnically heterogenous -- Tai-speakers amounted to roughly 38 million people, forming majority populations in Thailand, Indochinese Vientiane, Chinese Xishuangbanna and Burmese Shan, but there were also large Chinese populations in Thailand and Xishuangbanna, an overwhelming Khmer majority in Indochinese Cambodia, and Burmese and other related peoples in Burma outside of Shan.

The demographic cataclysm of the Third World War devastated greater Thailand. The emergency census of 1985 shows that 14% of Thailand's population died, mostly as a result of post-War famines and epidemics although nuclear fallout contributed to deaths in eastern Thailand. Most of Thailand's war dead were peasants living on marginal land, particularly in the northeastern provinces -- the more prosperous peasant farmers of central and south Thailand and the urban population of Bangkok were partly protected from famine by Thailand's large (if stunted) rice crop of autumn 1982. Surveys in Thailand's newly-acquired territories suggest that on average, approximately 80% of the pre-War populations were killed, whether by the weapons of mass destruction and their aftereffects, by post-War famine, or by post-War epidemics and civil strife. (In Cambodia, for instance, the relentless brutal assaults and purges of the Khmer Rouge may have been responsible for the deaths of almost 1.5 million people added to the War dead.)

In 1985, the National Statistical Office suggested that the Kingdom of Thailand had a total population of 41 million people, including 37.3 million residents of Thailand within its pre-War frontiers. Over the 1980's, as the Thai government asserted its control over most of Thailand and foreign investment in Thai agriculture began on a large scale, conditions stabilized and allowed for a resurgence of population growth. Annual growth rates were 3.5% in the second half of the 1980's, 2.8% in the first half of the 1990's, and 2.5% in the second half of the 1990's. Preliminary census results suggest that Thailand in 2001 has a total population of some 65.8 million in 2002, representing net growth of almost 60% over the past 15 years.

All long-term projections are uncertain. Although the Thai government has been encouraging birth control and there has been a decline in birth rates over the past generation, the continued availability of agricultural land and the growth of industrial employment in Bangkok has allowed Thais to afford large families. Moreover, migrational trends remain unclear; while more than two million Thais have emigrated over the 1990's, the large majority to Japan and to Cochin China, over the same time period Thailand has also begun to attract economic migrants from the Bengali, Burmese, and Indochinese mandates. Current League projections suggest that Thailand's population will reach almost 120 million by 2050, and that it may eventually stabilize at some 140 million by 2075.

The Thai population is relatively homogeneous -- an estimated 85% of Thailand's population uses a language of the Tai family as their main language, while almost all Thai practice Theravada Buddhism and share various other cultural attributes. Nonetheless, Thailand's historical regionalism remains an important factor, and the Thai people are divided into four major groups outside of the hill tribes of the North and Northwestern regions: the Laotians, the Isaan, the Southern Thai, and the Central Thai. The Central Thai are the economically and politically dominant group, bearing a relationship to the other Thai people akin to the relationship of the Home Counties of England to the rest of the English nation, and the Central Thai variant of the Thai language is the prestige dialect and the literary standard. With increased migration, the penetration of modern media, and near-universal education, Central Thai is becoming the dominant language of the entire country.

Non-Thais are estimated to constitute one-fifth of the Thai population, though this and other minority-related figures are uncertain. The largest minority group consists of the Chinese, who make up about 11 percent of the total population; almost all Sino-Thai hold Thai citizenship, and most are highly assimilated into Thai society. Other large minority groups include the Malay-speaking Muslims in the far south, Khmer in the Lower Mekong region, and small Burmese and Karen minorities in the Western region. Smaller minorities include Vietnamese in the Lower Mekong region and a half-million Indian migrants dispersed across Thailand, where they play an important role in manufacturing and trade.

Culture

Although Thailand has never been colonized, Thai culture has always been permeable to foreign influences. For instance, early Thai culture was influenced by India, from which Thailand acquired its national epic, the Ramakien (the Thai version of the Hindu epic Ramayama), the devanagari script from which the modern Thai script is derived, temple architecture and sculpture, and institutions of government, among other features. In more recent centuries, Thailand has been influenced by Chinese culture; although Thais never adopted Confucianism, early Chakri-dynasty Thailand did adopt some administrative innovations of China, while Thailand's large Sino-Thai population has served to introduce many elements of Chinese popular culture to Thais. More recently, Thai culture has been heavily influenced by Western cultural trends. Nonetheless, Thai culture retains numerous distinct elements. The Sukhotai kingdom of the 14th and 15th centuries codified a distinct Thai version of Theravada Buddhism and established the direct predecessor of the modern Thai alphabet, while Thai women have historically been quite autonomous.

Thai classical music is intricate. The woodwind and percussion instruments favoured are usually grouped in five- or ten-piece ensembles. Thai music does not have a system of notation, and accordingly Thai musicians play by ear or from memory. In recent years, the rapid diffusion of cheap cassette players and transistor radios has provided a market for Thai popular music, whether in the form of Westernized Thai pop, the folk-infused luk thung country music that became internationally famous with the Japanese success of Pompuang Duangjan, and the strong narratives and regular beats of Isaan's mor lam folk music. Although traditional instrumentation remains common and the distinct vocal styles of Thai singers remain well-known, Thai music has become influenced by Western and Japanese models.

Traditional Thai literature was largely religious in nature, centering upon the Ramakien. In the 20th century, the emergence of a Westernized middle class has encouraged the development of a Western-style Thai literature, often socially conscious and critical of the established order. There are numerous newspapers and magazines throughout Thailand, all providing a platform for aspiring writers. Major contemporary Thai writers include the famous novelist Kukrit Pramoj and the short-story satirist Khamsing Srinawk.

Among the most celebrated works of architecture in Thailand are the wats in Bangkok. Thai sculpture, dating from the 14th century, is a mixture of Chinese, Burmese, Hindu, and Khmer influences and is best seen in the temples and representations of Buddha. Thai religious paintings have been less well preserved; paintings are rarely older than 150 years. Thailand is known for producing beautiful silk textiles.

Religion

Buddhism is the dominant religion of Thailand, practiced by 93 percent of all Thai. The country has approximately 18 000 Buddhist temples and 140 000 Buddhist priests, and nearly all Buddhist men in Thailand enter a wat (monastery) for at least a few days or months. Most Thai adhere to Theravada or Hinayana Buddhism, as opposed to the Mahayana Buddhism practiced in China, Korea, and Japan. The majority of Muslims live in the area just north of Malaya and constitute 4 percent of Thailand's population. There are also some small Christian and Hindu communities.

Cities

The 1996 census suggested that only 23% of the Thai population (11.1 million people) lived in urban areas. While the League Statistical Bureau and Royal Thai Census Administration suggest that this figure may have risen to 28% (almost 15 million people) the fact remains that Thailand is fundamentally a rural nation. To the extent that Thailand is urban, it is centered on vast Bangkok, which is by far the largest city in Southeast Asia and is home to most of Thailand's urban residents.

Bangkok (Thai Krung Thep) is the primate city of Thailand. Located on the Chao Phraya River near the Gulf of Thailand, in the central part of the country, Bangkok is the dominant administrative, commercial, cultural, economic, and educational center of not only Thailand but all Southeast Asia. Founded only in 1782 as a capital defensible from Burmese threats, over the 19th century Bangkok evolved into the main port of the Siamese kingdom and became a bustling commercial center, where traders and visitors came increasingly from all parts of the world. Bangkok continued to grow in the 19th and 20th centuries, and now the city -- called Krung Thep Mahanakhon, or Bangkok Metropolis -- has an area of almost 1 400 square kilometres and an estimated population of 5.2 million people. Bangkok's population is cosmopolitan, including not only Central Thai but large numbers of migrants from Isaan and Vientiane, a very large (if mostly assimilated) Sino-Thai population, and growing Indian, Japanese, and Western communities. After its foundation, Bangkok grew in all directions, radiating outward from a royal and religious core (home to many Thai national institutions, including the royal Grand Palace, many important Buddhist temples, and cultural institutions that include the National Museum, the National Theater, the National Gallery, the National Library, and the National Archives), through a government or bureaucratic ring to an outer ring. It is in this outer ring that most of Bangkok's industry is located, including the port, agricultural processing, and the manufacture of textiles and electronic components. Further outside are located new sprawling residential suburbs. Bangkok draws millions of visitors each year, and tourism is a major source of capital. Major problems include overcrowding, heavy vehicle traffic, and pollution.

Chiang Mai is the second-largest city of Thailand, with a total population of 280 thousand people. Located in the north, Chiang Mai is the chief economic center for the northern part of the country and the northern railroad terminus. Many tourists are attracted by the ruins of 13th- and 14th-century temples in the old section of the city, on the western bank of the river, and by the nearby Wat Phra Dhat Doi Suthep temple complex, believed to contain relics of Buddha. Besides tourism, industries include trade in locally produced agricultural products, and the production of traditional silverware, lacquerware, pottery, and other crafts. Historically on the fringes of Thailand, Chiang Mai was semi-independent until it was incorporated into the Siamese kingdom in the late 19th century.

Nakhon Ratchasima is located in the Isaan district of northeastern Thailand, and is home to approximately 200 thousand people. This city is the transportation and trade center of Isaan, and is home to rice and sugar mills, textile-weaving industries, and agricultural trade fairs.

Vientiane is the fourth-largest city of Thailand by population and the largest city in the former Indochinese province of Vientiane, and is home to 190 thousand people. Vientiane is the major port of Thailand on the Mekong River, and is a major marketing center for Laotian teak and other hardwoods, textiles, and various other forestry and agricultural products. The city has little manufacturing. Vientiane is renowned for its collection of antiquities, including the 16th-century That Luang temple, a museum of antiquities, and the old royal residence of the Laotian royal family.

Tavoy is a town once located in the Tenasserim Division of Burma, and is now the main centre of the Western Region, home to 110 thousand people. Located at the head of the Tavoy River estuary on the Andaman Sea, Tavoy is Thailand's main port on the Andaman Sea and is located in the midst of innumerable rice paddies and forests exploited for their hardwood. Tavoy's population is equally divided between recent Thai immigrants and the indigenous Mon and Burmese peoples.

Udon Thani is located in Isaan on the main route between Vientiane and Central Thailand, and is home to 90 thousand people. Udon Thani is a commercial and transportation center for the surrounding agricultural region.

Battambang is the largest city in the former Indochinese province of Cambodia, now the Lower Mekong Region of Thailand, and is home to 70 thousand people. Battambang lies in the middle of Thailand's expanding agricultural frontier along the fertile shores of the Tonlé Sap, and is a major transit point for Thai colonists. There is little industry in Battambang, but the Royal Thai Defense Forces maintains its regional headquarters in this city.

The Thai Government

The Kingdom of Thailand is defined by the Constitution of 1992 as a "unitary and democratic monarchical state," in theory akin to that of Japan. In practice, the differences between the Thai and Japanese systems of government outnumber the similarities.

Structure

The 1932 revolution transformed Thailand into a constitutional monarchy after centuries of rule by absolute monarchs, and such it has remained to this day. King Phumiphon Adunyadet has little direct power, but he retains immense personal power stemming from the general respect of the Thai people for the historical and cultural role played by his position. There is practically no republicanism inside Thailand.

The Thai monarch receives recognition of his authority from the bicameral National Assembly, which consists of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The 300 members of the House of Representatives are popularly elected from one-member ridings in the different provinces, while the 150 Senators are jointly appointed by the monarch and the military. Members of both houses serve four-year terms. A cabinet (Council of Ministers) is headed by a prime minister, who serves as the country's chief executive official and who must be an elected member of the House of Representatives. The prime minister is charged with maintaining the stability of the Thai nation, its political institutions, and its cultural principles. In practice, the modernized and powerful bureaucratic elite in Bangkok dominates the governmental process along with the Prime Minister and leading military officials, aided by the conservative Secretariat of the Interior.

The 1992 Constitution includes in its preamble an enunciation of basic national principles, which include the obligations of the state to maintain the monarchy, to encourage rapid and sustainable economic growth, to provide compulsory and free education and basic health care as part of an on-going program of social reform, and to promote public understanding of and belief in a democratic form of government with the king as its head. Following this preamble, the rights and liberties of the people are guaranteed, as is the due process of law, save when these freedoms are used in contravention of Thailand's national principles. A Constitutional Tribunal is charged with interpreting this Constitution.

Under constitutional amendments that took effect in 1995, Thai citizens are guaranteed due process and equal justice under the law. The highest court is the Sarn Dika (Supreme Court), sitting in Bangkok, which is the court of final appeal in all civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases. A single court of appeals (Sarn Uthorn) has appellate jurisdiction in all cases. Courts of first instance include magistrates' courts with limited civil and criminal jurisdiction, provincial courts with unlimited jurisdiction, and civil and criminal courts with exclusive jurisdiction in Bangkok proper and Thon Buri. The 1991 constitution recognizes the independence of the judiciary.

Provincial Governments

Thailand is divided into 88 provinces, known as changwats. Each of Thailand's provinces are under the control of a governor appointed by the Ministry of Interior, except Bangkok where the governor is elected by popular vote. District (amphur) officials are also appointed. Larger towns are governed by a mixture of elected and appointed officials, while elected heads hold power at local levels.

The Thai Military

Under the constitution the king is Thailand's head of state and commander in chief of the Royal Thai Defense Forces. Generals commanding nine regional armies -- the Central, the Lower Mekong, the Isaan, the Northeastern, the Northern, the Northwestern, the Western, and the Southern -- the admiral of the Thai navy, and the commander of the Thai air force operate under the surveillance and control of the Ministry of Defense. Military service is compulsory for two years for all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 30. In the early 1990's the armed forces included the nine regional armies with a total of 190 000 members, an air force of 43 000, and a navy of 50 000.

Although the primary directive of the Royal Thai Defense Forces is to deter foreign aggression, the annihilation of any regional threats in the Third World War has made the role of the Thai military one of providing support to the Thai state. The Thai military has engaged in a series of campaigns against rural insurgents operating on the frontiers of the Thai state, very often drawing support from non-Thai peoples such as the Burmese and the Khmers. Thai military policy has been to combine the relentless pursuit of armed insurgent forces with aiding the integration of outlying regions into the Thai state. This integration has taken the form of the military's construction of extensive road networks on the frontiers, both providing easier access for security forces to border regions and integrating outlying villages through policies of social, economic, and political development through community development projects.

The Thai military also plays a major political role, as the three coups since 1982 have testified. As elsewhere in the Third World, the Thai military sees itself as the vanguard of Thailand's development. While there are no army radicals who seek to enforce radical social revolution, there are clearly-identifiable liberal and conservative pro-development factions inside the military. This politicization of the Thai military has seriously affected its effectiveness in large-scale combat situations.

Thai Foreign Relations

Since the 1850's, Thailand has found itself deeply enmeshed in a Western-dominated international system. Under successive kings and regimes, Thailand has adopted a consistent policy of avoiding overly close relations with any one major power, while trying to maintain Thailand's territorial and political integrity and encouraging Thailand's social and economic development. The Third World War has not affected Thailand's basic policies, although it has made the Thai Foreign Ministry aware of Thailand's potential dominance in Southeast Asia.

Regional

Australia: This country is Thailand's third-largest trading partners behind only the European Confederation and Japan, and has also been a significant source of foreign investment and development aid. As part of its post-Third World War foreign policy, Australia has been content to treat Thailand as its proxy in mainland Southeast Asia, despite the irritation of Thailand's trade surplus with Australia, founded mainly on Thai exports of electronic goods. Some Australians are concerned by the prominent role of the military in Thailand's still-authoritarian domestic politics, but this humanitarian concern has not threatened the generally intimate relationship between Bangkok and Canberra. Australia maintains an embassy in Bangkok, while Thailand maintains an embassy in Canberra and consulates in Darwin, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

China: Since the beginning of large-scale Chinese immigration into Thailand in the mid-19th century, diplomatic relations between Thailand and various Chinese regimes have been hindered by Thai fears of potential Chinese hegemony. In the 1970's, Thailand took care to distance itself from the anti-Sinitic policies of its Southeast Asian neighbours and to develop a trade relationship with the People's Republic; this policy likely spared Thailand from nuclear bombardment. Relations with the Agrarianist Republic are strained, owing to Thailand's post-War sovereignty over the formerly Chinese but Tai-populated Xishuangbanna district and the vociferous support of the Sino-Thai middle class for Cantonese and Fujianese separatists in south China. Thailand maintains a consulate in Chongqing, while China has a minimally-functional embassy in Bangkok.

Indian States: Thailand's humane treatment of Tamil and Malayalam refugees fleeing Malaya following the 1971 Indonesian annexation of that country helped establish Thailand in the minds of Indians as a suitable ally. In the post-War environment, Thailand has maintained minimal though friendly diplomatic relations with the independent states of south India, particularly Tamilnad. Thailand is concerned by the rapid repopulation of Burma by Indian immigrants, though, and this concern may impact Thai relations with the Indian successor states. Thailand maintains embassies in the capitals of the independent south Indian states, which reciprocate with embassies or consulates in Bangkok.

Japan: Thailand and Japan have maintained diplomatic relations since 1887, when Japan was the first country to set up a foreign embassy in Bangkok. Japan is by far the largest investor and trade partner of Thailand, and has historically sought to cultivate Thailand as a stable and prosperous ally in mainland Southeast Asia. Thai-Japanese relations have been marred by Thailand's trade deficit with Japan and by the poor treatment of Thai immigrants in Japan, but the Japanese government's recent reform of citizenship legislation and new investments in modernizing Thai agriculture and establishing export-oriented industries in Thailand have helped improve relations significantly. Japan maintains an embassy in Thailand and consulates in most of Thailand's other major cities, while Thailand has a large embassy in Tôkyô and consulates in the cities of Kyûshû and western Honshû where most Thai immigrants live.

Korea: Korea views Thailand as a potential third indigenous Asian industrial power, based on Thailand's historically rapid economic growth and the stability of a basically humane regime. Korean chaebol are one of the major sources of foreign investment in Thailand, while the Korean government has offered substantial amounts of development and military aid to the Thai government. Most Thai appreciate the role of Korea in offsetting the potential threat of Japanese dominance, but the Thai government has refused to commit to an unambiguously pro-Korean foreign policy. Korea maintains a large embassy in Bangkok and a consulate in Chiang Mai, while Thailand maintains an embassy in Seoul and consulates in Pusan and Taegu.

League of Nations mandates: Thailand's relations with the shattered mandates held by the League of Nations in Southeast Asia, Bengal, and north India are generally friendly. Bangkok serves as the main base for the League of Nations bureaucracy in southern Asia, and mandate administrators are trying to apply the Thai model of economic development to the decimated mandates. Thailand has some concerns over the League of Nations policies, in particular as regards to the repopulation of neighbouring Burma by Indian immigrants and the status of Cochin China, now in the process of acquiring a Thai majority through agricultural colonization. On the whole, though, relations are friendly.

Non-Regional

Brazil: Brazilian interest in Thailand is a post-War artifact, as Brazilians have become aware of the existence of a stable, tolerant, and hopeful Thai nation-state in the middle of ruined Southeast Asia. As yet, bilateral ties are minimal, limited to a Thai embassy in Rio de Janeiro and a Brazilian embassy in Bangkok, but both sides are hopeful.

Egypt: Modern Thai-Egyptian relations are predicated on Thai gratitude for Egypt's championing of the Trade and Migration Pacts. Both countries are too concerned with their domestic problems to conduct a more intensive diplomatic relationship, and maintain consulates in the other's capital.

European Confederation: The development of Thai nationalism was predicated on general resentment of European (particularly Franco-British) violations of Thailand's territorial and political integrity. Following British withdrawal from Burma and French withdrawal from Indochina, European-Thai relations have improved dramatically as Thailand has come to appreciate the possibilities of European investment in Thai agriculture and industry. The European Confederation is Thailand's second-largest trading partner, but there is growing Thai criticism that the Confederation has become protectionist in trade relations with Thailand. Nonetheless, Thailand maintains an embassy in Paris and consulates in London, Frankfurt, and Madrid, while the European Confederation maintains an extensive network of diplomatic outposts and development-aid missions throughout Thailand.

League of Nations: Thailand maintains a friendly relationship with the League of Nations' central bureaucracy, which is appreciated as a source of substantial development aid. Conversely, the League of Nations appreciates the stability and prosperity of Thailand in the midst of Southeast Asia. Bangkok and Genève keep up numerous links, and the League maintains an extensive presence across Thailand.

South Africa: The interest of this country in Thailand began only in the 1970's, as the rising generation of South African foreign-policy experts saw in Thailand a peaceful enclave in the midst of a militarizing Southeast Asia. South African interest was diverted by Africa's post-War reconstruction, but in the late 1990's Gauteng again began to take an interest in providing development aid to Thailand. Bilateral relations are currently limited to a Thai embassy in Gauteng and a South African embassy in Bangkok.

Economy

As even the Thai government recognizes, Thailand is a Third World country. Nonetheless, throughout the 20th century prior to the Third World War Thailand ranked as one of the most prosperous countries in all of Asia, thanks to Thailand's abundant exports of processed rice. Though Thailand's monocrop of rice left the Thai economy vulnerable to fluctuations in the world price of rice and to variations in the harvest, Thailand shared in the prosperity of the quarante glorieuses. By the early 1980's, Thailand was on the verge of rapid industrialization. Although incomes were unequally distributed between the different regions of Thailand--central Thailand remained, and remains, far richer than its impoverished northern hinterlands--all Thais enjoyed some kind of improvement in their standards of livings. By the late 1970's, Thailand ranked alongside the Philippines as the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia, while Thailand's superior rate of economic growth promised to elevate Thailand into the ranks of the Second World.

The aftermath of the Third World War ended this. Over the 1980's, a generation's worth of economic growth was destroyed. Thailand enjoyed something of an economic renaissance in the 1990's, driven by foreign investment in Thai agriculture and industries, but Thailand's GDP per capita remains low. Continuing labour shortages do allow many Thais to earn high wages, but the Thai economy's vulnerability has been highlighted by its post-ITA recession, caused by the abundance of rice offworld. Although Japanese and Korean investments in manufacturing plants have given Thailand a comparatively modern industrial base, while the country remains a major tourist destination and source of foreign capital, Thailand is still far from achieving even Second World status.

Agriculture

As an overwhelmingly rural country, by necessity Thailand's economy is driven by agriculture, which employs three-quarters of the Thai population and produces two-thirds of Thailand's GDP. Thailand is the single largest exporter of processed rice on Tripartite Alliance Earth. Most of this rice is grown in the fertile and well-watered Chao Phraya valley in Central Thailand, conveniently close to the processing plants and ports of Bangkok. Massive investment from the rest of Asia beginning in the late 1980's promoted the adoption of scientific methods of farming by Thai peasant farmers and the construction of a modern irrigation system. Even though yield per hectare remains low, in 1999 Thailand produced roughly 24 million metric tons of rice, including five million tons for export. Efforts are being made to open up Vientiane, Isaan, and the Lower Mekong as modern rice-growing agricultural areas. Other major crops include rubber, cassava, sesame, peanuts, sugarcane, maize, pineapples, coconuts, and kenaf, a fiber used in making canvas. Thai livestock -- including cattle, buffalo, pigs, and poultry -- is exclusively of domestic consumption. Opium is a major illegal export; indeed, Thailand is the major world supplier of opium and opiates. The progressive legalization of opium and opium derivatives has led to declining prices for this drug, and a shift towards crops for export.

42 percent of the total land area of Thailand is forested. In 1999, 37.6 million cubic metres were harvested, of which five-sixths were burned for fuel but one-tenth was exported. Teak is the major wood exported, while Thailand is also beginning to export forest products like paper, rubber, and quinine. There are concerns about deforestation and plans to create a regulatory body.

Fishing is becoming increasingly important for the Thai economy. In 1999, 3.2 million metric tons of prawns, fish, and shellfish were caught, mostly in the Gulf of Thailand although the fresh water Tonlé Sap is also a major source of fish for domestic consumption. Large amounts of prawns are exported, mainly to points elsewhere in Asia and to Australia, and provide a major source of foreign exchange.

Manufacturing and Services

Manufacturing employs about 10 percent of Thailand's labour force, but the manufacturing sector plays a central component in Thailand's economic expansion. Food-processing industries, especially rice milling and sugar refining predominate, but foreign investors taking advantage of Thailand's low labour costs for export goods -- one-tenth those of Japan and one-half those of Korea -- have funded the creation of a modern manufacturing base, centered in the Bangkok area, that focuses upon the manufacture of electronics components and textiles. Other important manufactured goods include cement, cigarettes, and petroleum refineries.

Mining and Petrochemicals

Gemstones, particularly diamonds, are the principal mineral export of Thailand, producing about 2 percent of export revenues since first contact with the ITA. Other major mineral products include lignite, zinc ore, lead concentrates, phosphates, tin, bauxite, gypsum, rock salt, and iron ore.

In the 1970's, Thailand developed the extensive natural gas reserves of the Gulf of Thailand. As a consequence, Thailand has enjoyed near-complete energy independence from the outside world save for petroleum imports from the Middle East. Annual production of natural gas in 2000 is estimated to be 7.1 thousand million cubic metres.

Transportation

The Thai railroad system, which totals about 4 960 km of track, is owned and operated by the state. Consisting of a network of lines radiating from Bangkok, the system extends as far north as Chiang Mai, southward to the frontier of Malaya, eastward to Ubon and Battambang, and  northeastward towards Vientiane. Another line extends northwestward to the Burmese frontier. The highway system was improved in the 1970's and now includes 98 700 km of roads, of which 35 percent are paved. Thai Airways operates both domestic and international services. Don Muang International Airport in northern metropolitan Bangkok is the largest airport. In addition, there are more than 20 smaller airports located throughout the country. Thailand is also planning a second international airport for the Bangkok area; it is expected to be completed around 2000.  

Problems

Perhaps the preeminent problem facing Thailand is that of economic growth. Prior to first contact with the ITA, it seemed possible that Thailand might begin rapid industrialization on the models of Korea or Mexico. The post-contact deterioration of the terms of trade for Thailand's agricultural and mineral exports has brought about a sharp recession from which Thailand is only now recovering. In order to achieve a GDP per capita of 10 thousand écus by 2010, the Thai economy will have to grow at a rate of more than 9% per annum. Barring massive and unexpected foreign investment, this growth rate is completely unachievable. At best, Thai GDP per capita will increase over the next decade at a rate of 5 to 6% per annum, placing Thailand in the upper ranks of the Third World, far from the Second World. Thai politics and society will be focused upon the need to accelerate Thai economic growth.

Next to this, Thailand's other problems are secondary. Thailand does need to limit population growth in the long-term; such a deceleration would likely be achieved by a combination of family planning and emigration. Similarly, the Thai political system needs to broaden participation in order to more effectively include Thailand's new middle class. Further, there lurks over Thailand the possibility, distant as it may be, of the adoption of discriminatory policies aimed against unpopular minority ethnic groups akin to those adopted elsewhere in Southeast Asia towards Chinese prior to the Third World War. All of these questions, however, are dependent upon Thailand's future economic progress.