# The World Factbook (1990)/Thailand

pages 305–307
​Thailand
See regional map IX
Geography
Total area: 514,000 km²; land area: 511,770 km²
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries: 4,863 km total; Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km
Coastline: 3,219 km
Maritime claims:
    Continental shelf: not specific
    Extended economic zone: 200 nm
    Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: boundary dispute with Laos
Climate: tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid
Terrain: central plain; eastern plateau (Khorat); mountains elsewhere
Natural resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite
Land use: 34% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 30% forest and woodland; 31% other; includes 7% irrigated
Environment: air and water pollution; land subsidence in Bangkok area
Note: controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia and Singapore
People
Population: 55,115,683 (July 1990), growth rate 1.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 34 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
​Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Thai (sing. and pl.); adjective—Thai
Ethnic divisions: 75% Thai, 14% Chinese, 11% other
Religion: 95.5% Buddhist, 4% Muslim, 0.5% other
Language: Thai; English is the secondary language of the elite; ethnic and regional dialects
Literacy: 82%
Labor force: 26,000,000; 73% agriculture, 11% industry and commerce, 10% services, 6% government (1984)
Organized labor: 300,000 union members (1986)
Government
Long-form name: Kingdom of Thailand
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Bangkok
Administrative divisions: 73 provinces (changwat, singular and plural); Ang Thong, Buriram, Chachoengsao, Chai Nat, Chaiyaphum, Chanthaburi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chon Buri, Chumphon, Kalasin, Kamphaeng Phet, Kanchanaburi, Khon Kaen, Krabi, Krung Thep Mahanakhon, Lampang, Lamphun, Loei, Lop Buri, Mae Hong Son, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Fathom, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Nan, Narathiwat, Nong Khai, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Pattani, Phangnga, Phatthalung, Phayao, Phetchabun, Phetchaburi, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Phrae, Phuket, Prachin Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ranong, Ratchaburi, Rayong, Roi Et, Sakon Nakhon, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Sara Buri, Satun, Sing Buri, Sisaket, Songkhla, Sukhothai, Suphan Buri, Surat Thani, Surin, Tak, Trang, Trat, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Uthai Thani, Uttaradit, Yala, Yasothon
Independence: 1238 (traditional founding date); never colonized
Constitution: 22 December 1978
Legal system: based on civil law system, with influences of common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Birthday of His Majesty the King, 5 December (1927)
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, three deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet), Privy Council
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Ratha Satha) consists of an upper house or Senate (Woothi Satha) and a lower house or House of Representatives (Satha Poothan)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Sarn Dika)
Leaders: Chief of State—King BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ (since 9 June 1946); Heir Apparent Crown Prince VAJIRALONGKORN (born 28 July 1952);
Head of Government—Prime Minister Maj. Gen. CHATCHAI CHUNHAWAN (since 9 August 1988); Deputy Prime Minister CHUAN LIKPHAI
Political parties and leaders: Democrat Party (DP), Social Action Party (SAP), Thai Nation Party (TNP), People's Party (Ratsadon), People's Party (Prachachon), Thai Citizens Party (TCP), United Democracy Party, Solidarity Party, Thai People's Party, Mass Party, Force of Truth Party (Phalang Dharma)
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: House of Representatives—last held 24 July 1988 (next to be held within 90 days of July 1992); results—TNP 27%, SAP 15%, DP 13%, TCP 9%, others 36%; seats—(357 total) TNP 96, Solidarity 62, SAP 54, DP 48, TCP 31, People's Party (Ratsadon) 21, People's Party (Prachachon) 17, Force of Truth Party (Phalang Dharma) 14, United Democracy Party 5, Mass Party 5, others 4
Communists: illegal Communist party has 500 to 1 ,000 members (est.); armed Communist insurgents throughout Thailand total 300 to 500 (est.)
Member of: ADB, ANRPC, ASEAN, ASPAC, Association of Tin Producing Countries, CCC, Colombo Plan, GATT, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INRO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador VITTHYA VEJJAJIVA; Embassy at 2300 Kalorama Road NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-7200; there are Thai Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York; US—Ambassador Daniel O'DONAHUE; Embassy at 95 Wireless Road, Bangkok (mailing address is APO San Francisco 96346); telephone [66](2) 252-5040; there is a US Consulate General in Chiang Mai and Consulates in Songkhla and Udorn
Flag: five horizontal bands of red (top), white, blue (double width), white, and red
Economy
Overview: Thailand, one of the more advanced developing countries in Asia, enjoyed its second straight exceptionally prosperous year in 1989. Real output again rose about 11%. The increasingly sophisticated manufacturing sector benefited from export-oriented investment, and agriculture grew by 4.0% because of improved weather. The trade deficit of $5.2 billion was more than offset by earnings from tourism ($3.9 billion), remittances, and net capital inflows. The government has followed a fairly sound fiscal and monetary policy, aided by increased tax receipts from the fast-moving economy. In 1989 the government approved new projects—roads, ports, electric power, communications needed to refurbish the now overtaxed infrastructure. Although growth in 1990-91 must necessarily fall below the 1988-89 pace, Thailand's immediate economic outlook is good, assuming the continuation of prudent government policies in the context of a private-sector-oriented development strategy.
GNP: $64.5 billion, per capita $1,160; real growth rate 10.8% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.4% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 6% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $12.1 billion; expenditures $9.7 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (FY89)
Exports: $19.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—textiles 12%, fishery products 12%, rice 8%, tapioca 8%, jewelry 6%, manufactured gas, corn, tin; partners—US 18%, Japan 14%, Singapore 9%, Netherlands, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China (1988)
Imports: $25.1 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities—machinery and parts 23%, petroleum products 13%, chemicals 11%, iron and steel, electrical appliances; partners—Japan 26%, US 14%, Singapore 7%, FRG, Malaysia, UK (1987)
External debt: $18.5 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 12.5% (1989)
Electricity: 7,100,000 kW capacity; 28,000 million kWh produced, 500 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism is the largest source of foreign exchange; textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, other light manufacturing, such as jewelry; electric appliances and components, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics; world's second-largest tungsten producer and third-largest tin producer
Agriculture: accounts for 16% of GNP and 73% of labor force; leading producer and exporter of rice and cassava (tapioca); other crops—rubber, corn, sugarcane, coconuts, soybeans; except for wheat, self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 2.2 million tons (1987)
Illicit drugs: a minor producer, major illicit trafficker of heroin, particularly from Burma and Laos, and cannabis for the international drug market; eradication efforts have reduced the area of cannabis ​cultivation and shifted some production to neighboring countries; opium poppy cultivation has been affected by eradication efforts, but unusually good weather boosted output in 1989
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $828 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $7.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $19 million
Currency: baht (plural—baht); 1 baht (B) = 100 satang
Exchange rates: baht (B) per US$1—25.726 (January 1990), 25.699 (1989), 25.294 (1988), 25.723 (1987), 26.299 (1986), 27.159(1985)
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
Communications
Railroads: 3,940 km 1.000-meter gauge, 99 km double track
Highways: 44,534 km total; 28,016 km paved, 5,132 km earth surface, 11,386 km under development
Inland waterways: 3,999 km principal waterways; 3,701 km with navigable depths of 0.9 m or more throughout the year; numerous minor waterways navigable by shallow-draft native craft
Pipelines: natural gas, 350 km; refined products, 67 km
Ports: Bangkok, Pattani, Phuket, Sattahip, Si Racha
Merchant marine: 122 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 483,688 GRT/730,750 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 70 cargo, 8 container, 27 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8 liquefied gas, 1 chemical tanker, 3 bulk, 1 refrigerated cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off, 1 combination bulk
Civil air: 41 (plus 2 leased) major transport aircraft
Airports: 127 total, 103 usable; 56 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 13 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 26 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: service to general public adequate; bulk of service to government activities provided by multichannel cable and radio relay network; 739,500 telephones (1987); stations—over 200 AM, 100 FM, and 11 TV in government-controlled networks; satellite earth stations 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT; domestic satellite system being developed
Defense Forces
Branches: Royal Thai Army, Royal Thai Navy (includes Royal Thai Marine Corps), Royal Thai Air Force; paramilitary forces include Border Patrol Police, Thahan Phran (irregular soldiers), Village Defense Forces
Military manpower: males 15-49, 15,617,486; 9,543,119 fit for military service; 610,410 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.9% of GNP, or $1.9 billion (1989 est.)