Thailand

Geography

Thailand is a small country just North East of Australia. It is 513,120 km2. It has a population of approximately 70 million people making it the 19th most populous country in the world. Thailand is famous for its beautiful wildlife, lookout spots and markets. Bangkok or the City of Angels is Thailands capital city. By itself, Bangkok is 1, 569 km2 and is home of 32 million people. It is where Parliament House stands and where they hold all the major events. Wang Lang market is one of the biggest markets in Thailand. It is an extremely popular tourist attraction and is one of the first places many people would go to.

Economy
Baht is the main currency used throughout Thailand. $1 in Australian currency is equivalent to 30.73. Thailand is definitely not a poor country. The average person makes 12,000 baht a month which is about $400. If you are an English teacher in Thailand, you make around 30,000-40,000 baht a month. The majority of the population work in an office, or in manufacturing companies. Within 22 years, the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line decreased from 42.2 in 1988 to 7.8 in 2010. This had a huge impact on the health of the country. Thailand is part of the Trade system and mainly exports electronics and clothing. They often import oil or other everyday needs. The average life expectancy is 74 years from birth, but it depends on their health and lifestyle.

Culture
Thai or Siamese is spoken by 40% of the population. 50% of the population speak other languages such as Lao, English and Japanese. Thailand is multicultural, but 95% of Thai people follow the Theravada Buddhist religion. 4% are Muslims, 0.5% are Christians and the remaining 0.5% dont follow a religion. No matter what religion, Thai people often like to express themselves in sculpting and painting. Many ornaments are handmade and put on top of palaces and temples. Muay Thai is another thing Thai people enjoy which is a form of Kickboxing. In this sport, two men punch and kick each other until one of them surrenders.

Curry is something that most Thai people would eat for any meal of the day. Anything with rice is often a common food. At Thai restaurants or markets, there are always unique tastes and smells. For example, there is a soup made entirely out of pig parts. Fancy finger foods are the main meal for special occasions or festivals. Some of these main festivals are Loy Krathong, the festival of lights and Songkran, the festival of water.

Politics/History
On December 26, 2004 the biggest earthquake in 40 years struck the Indian Ocean. It had a magnitude of 9.0. The earthquake caused a massive tsunami that crashed down on the coasts of 14 countries from Southeast Asia to the east of Africa. Over 250,000 lives were lost from the Tsunami and Earthquake combined. Thailand's prime minister is Yingluck Shinawatra. A prime minister is appointed by a vote in the Thai House of Representatives. She has been prime minister of Thailand for 4 years. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy. They became a constitution on June 28th, 1932. Before this, they were an absolute monarchy. Their parliament consists of 500 Representatives and 150 Senators. Thailands king is Bhumibol Adulyadej. He has been King since the 9th of June 1946. He is the longest serving King in Thai history!

Environment
Thailand's deforestation rate has fallen to 0.2% a year, but still only 25% of the country is covered by forest. In Thailand there are three types of tropical forest including monsoon forest, rain forest and mangrove forest. In the North and on high peaks you can also find pine forests. The country is famous for its flora with almost every tropical fruit tree in its grounds and you can find many different bamboo species and over 27,000 different types of flowers. The wildlife variety is amazing with 300 mammal species, 313 reptiles, 107 amphibians, more than 1000 bird species (10% of the world total known species), and, at an estimate, 1000 insect species!

Bibliography
Microsoft Students with Encarta- Thailand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand http://worldpopulationreview.com/thailand-population-2012/ http://www.dahlfred.com/en/component/content/article/55-what-kind-of-government-doesthailand-have http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Thailand http://www.thaifocus.com/thaifood.htm http://www.thai-language.com/id/801644 www.hostlesworldwide.com http://images.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=active&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih= 466&q=Thailand&oq=Thailand&gs_l=img.3..0l10.359.1184.0.2113.4.2.0.2.2.1.227.401.0j1j1.2.0...0.0. ..1ac.1.7.img.ZQafH2_MXag#hl=en&safe=active&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=thailand+flag&oq=thailand+flag &gs_l=img.3..0l10.105393.115988.7.116903.18.12.2.4.4.1.507.2441.3j2j3j2j0j1.11.0...0.0...1c.1.7.im g.8leA4umtVdc&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44158598,d.dGI&fp=62bc9d5407ae12b&biw=1024&bih =466 www.youtube.com