THAILAND Country Profile
Info4Migrants THAILAND Country profile Project number: UK/13/LLP-LdV/TOI-615 AREA 513,120 km2 POPULATION 66,720 mln GDP per capita $ 5,675 CURRENCY Baht (฿) (THB) Language THAI 2 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileTHAILAND COUNTRY BACKGROUND BURMA LAOS THAILAND Bangkok CAMBODIA Official name: the Kingdom of Thailand. The country’s offi- cial name was Siam until 23 June 1939, when it was changed to Thailand; it was renamed Siam between 1945 and 1949, after which the name Thailand was once again adopted. Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma National Flag Capital: Bangkok Climate: tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (No- vember to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid Ethnic Make-up: Thai 75%, Thai Chinese 14%, other 11% (Malay, Mon, Khmer, mountain folks) Religions: Buddhism 94%, Islam 4.6%, Christianity 0.7%, Hin- National emblem duism 0.1% 3 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileTHAILAND THAILAND FACTS Languages The Thai language is comprised of 44 consonants, 32 vow- els and five tones in Thai pronunciation, along with a script that has Indian origins. The Thai language, belonging to the Tai family, is the main language in Thailand, although there are several regional dialects as well. Other languages spo- ken in Thailand are Chinese, Lao, Malay and Mon-Khmer, while using English is becoming more prevalent in govern- ment and commerce. English is also being taught as a sec- ond language in secondary school and universities, which means that an English-speaking visitor in Thailand has little trouble conversing.
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