Thailand

Thailand, formally known as the Kingdom of Thailand and previously known as the Kingdom of Siam, is a nation in Southeast Asia. There are almost 70 million people living in this country, which spans 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 square miles) and is situated in the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula. Myanmar and Laos border Thailand on the north, while Laos and Cambodia border Thailand on the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia border Thailand on the south, and the Andaman Sea border Thailand on the west. Thailand is the most populous country in Southeast Asia. It also has marine boundaries with Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, as well as with Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest, as well as with the Philippines to the northwest. Bangkok is both the nation's capital and its most populous city. However, Thailand's government has been subjected to many coups and periods of military dictatorship in recent history, despite the fact that the country is nominally a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy.

Beginning in the 11th century, the Tai people began migrating from southern China to the mainland of Southeast Asia; the first documented reference of their presence in the area by the exonym Siamese goes back to the 12th century. In the area, many Indianized kingdoms such as the Mon kingdoms, the Khmer Empire, and Malay states reigned alongside Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na and Ayutthaya, who were fierce rivals. In 1511, a Portuguese diplomatic expedition to Ayutthaya established the first documented European contact with the country, which developed into a regional power by the end of the 15th century. The city of Ayutthaya reached its zenith under the reign of the cosmopolitan Narai, and then began a slow decline that culminated in its destruction during the Burmese–Siamese War in 1767. Taksin reunified the divided region in a short period of time and created the Thonburi Kingdom, which lasted just a brief time. Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, the first king of the present Chakri dynasty, ascended to the throne in 1782, succeeding him.

Thailand is a middle-power in international affairs and a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It ranks well on the Human Development Index. It has the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 20th-largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. In terms of economic development, Thailand is considered a recently industrialised country; manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are the country's most important industries.