Thailand was formerly known as Siam and presently qualifies as a socalled NIC with a fast growing economy based on export
of goods and services and tourism.
The country sits on the Indochinese Peninsula and hugs the Gulf of Thailand in the south
and west.
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy but politically unstable, with the military forces playing a stabilizing role.
The
region
has a long and rich history, starting with the Lampang Man who left his fossils 1 million years ago. Cave paintings are
date at 10.000 BP.
The Khmer Empire. with Angor as capital, was founded in 802 AD and lasted till the 15th century. .
From
the 14th to the 18th century the city state of Ayutthaya flourished and by 1700 may have been the largest city in the
world with 1 million inhabitants. But after a Burmese invasion in 1765 the state collapsed and fell into chaos.
King Rama I founded
the Chakri dynasty in 1782 with Bangkok as capital and this dynasty has provided all the monarchs ever since, with kingVajiralongkorn presently sitting on the Thai throne.
During WW II Thailand's military sided with Japan and declared
war to the USA and the UK. Tens of thousands Asian laborers and Allied POW's died working as slaves on the infamous Burma
Railway.
The country was hit hard by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami which caused 9000 dead and missing people.
In
2018 12 boys got trapped in a flooded cave and their rescue was world news.
