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General Information about Thailand
Roughly the size of France, Thailand is situated at the geographical heart of South East Asia. A central river basin runs through the center of the country whilst mountains line the long border with Myanmar from Ranong in the far south to Mae Sai in the far north. The whole of the north is mountainous, part of a range which stretches through Laos and into Vietnam. The flat plateau of Isaan in the north east borders the Mekong River on the other side of which is Laos. South of Isaan and east of Bangkok is Cambodia. The southern part of Thailand is a long isthmus with the Andaman Sea on one side and the Gulf of Thailand on the other. There are 3,219 km of coastline altogether.
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Lying at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River basin Bankok, or Krung Thep, is the capital city with a population of about 6 million out of a total in the whole country of 62 million. The other major cities are Chiang Mai in the North, Songkla, in the South, Ayutthaya and Chonburi in the Central region and Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) and Khon Kaen in the North East.
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The weather is tropical and it is hot all year round. There are three seasons; the cool, the hot and the wet. From November to late January the weather is usually cool, dry and clear. It starts to heat up in February and by April and May it is sweltering. The rains tend to break in July when it becomes sweltering and humid before beginning to cool down a little bit as October approaches. It rarely rains continually. Normally there will be an hour or two's downpour and then the rain will stop. In the south the monsoon season varies.
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Thailand is a democracy with a constitutional monarchy. King Bhumibol Adulyadej is one of the world's longest reigning monarchs and is universally revered by all Thais as a national symbol and the embodiment of all that is dear to them about their country. Informal dress is widely acceptable and men rarely need to wear suits. It is, however, deemed to be rude to appear scruffy and unkempt or display too much flesh. Beachwear should be confined to the seaside and generally people value politeness in formal dealings.
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95% of the Thai population are Theravada Buddhists with a smaller Muslim population scattered around the country. There is also a tiny minority of Christians of various denominations.
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Thailand is both advanced in technology and industry whilst retaining a bedrock of agriculture particularly in the north east which remains overwhelmingly rural. Exports include electronic goods, rubber, motor vehicles, plastic, seafood and rice.
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The official language is Thai while English is generally well understood in big cities and is used widely in business circles. Although the dialect of Central Thai predominates, Northern Thai is a distinctly different dialect as is Southern Thai.
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The electricity supply is 220 volts, 50 cycles throughout the country and standard plugs are two pin. These may be flat or round so an adaptor is always useful.
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Thailand's central bank is the Bank of Thailand. Other larger commercial banks include the Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Kasikorn Bank and Thai Military Bank. Business hours are 08:30 - 15:30 hours, Monday to Friday. There are also a number of foreign banks with offices in Thailand, particularly in Bangkok. The currency is the Thai baht in note denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 baht. Coin denominations are of 1, 5, and 10 baht. 1baht is equal to 100 satang.
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The two major English language daily newspapers are The Bangkok Post and the Nation. The Nation is often better on breaking news and analysis of local issues whilst the Bangkok post is better on international affairs. There are eight Thai language TV channels and in most hotels and many apartment blocks it is possible to get foreign channels through satellite. These include BBC, CNN, Fox News and Al Jazeera. The choice varies between locations depending on the service provider and the package they have chosen.
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The telephone system is good. To dial abroad use 009 or 001 and then the country code of the destination to which you are calling. Mobile phones are ubiquitous and roaming from foreign networks works well. It is possible to find internet in the smaller towns as well as the larger ones. Wi-Fi is on the increase and most towns catering to tourists and business people will have a plethora of Wi-Fi hotspots.
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About The Author
Alex Smith maintains and manages the Cheap Thailand Travel website at http://www.cheapthaitravel.com - All of the materials on this site are the sole property and responsibility of Cheapthaitravel.com. This material may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission.
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