Thailand

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Country summary

Capital

Bangkok

Borders

Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km

Government type

constitutional monarchy

Population

65,998,436[1]

Population growth

0.626% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

73.1 years[1]

Unemployment

1.5% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

66[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

84[3]

Doing Business ranking

12[4]


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 taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US treaty ally following the conflict. A military coup in September 2006 ousted then Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat. The interim government held elections in December 2007 that saw the former pro-THAKSIN People's Power Party (PPP) emerge at the head of a coalition government. The anti-THAKSIN People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in May 2008 began street demonstrations against the new government, eventually occupying the prime minister's office in August and Bangkok's two international airports in November. The PAD ended their protests in early December 2008 following a court ruling that dissolved the ruling PPP and two other coalition parties for election violations. The Democrat Party then formed a new coalition government and ABHISIT Wetchachiwa became prime minister. In October 2008 THAKSIN went into voluntary exile to avoid imprisonment for a corruption conviction, and has since agitated his followers from abroad. THAKSIN supporters re-organized into the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and rioted in April 2009, shutting down an ASEAN meeting in Phuket, and in early 2010 protested a court verdict confiscating most of THAKSIN's wealth. Since January 2004, thousands have been killed as separatists in Thailand's southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces increased the violence associated with their cause.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Baht (ISO code: THB)
  • Central bank discount rate: 1.75% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 6.05% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $35.35 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $283.6 billion (31 December 2009)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 122 630 122 725 115 536 126 877 142 640 161 340 176 352 207 228 247 111 272 429
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 28.874 26.144 27.330 26.090 24.467 24.012
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 19.547 19.615 21.103 20.059 19.434 20.128
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 15.858 16.601 16.441 16.121 17.611 18.246
Debt to revenue (years) 1.477 1.333 1.295 1.301 1.259 1.193

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Thailand", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Thailand", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "Thailand", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "Thailand", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 385. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  6. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 109. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Thailand: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Thailand: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Thailand: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  10. ↑ World Bank. "Thailand: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

Links

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