Thailand

Thailand is a state in Southeast Asia. Located in the center of the Indo-China Peninsula, it covers an area of ​​513,120 square kilometers (198,120 sq mi) and has a population of nearly 70 million. Thailand borders on Myanmar and Laos in the north, in the east with Laos and Cambodia. in the south - the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and in the west - the Andaman Sea and Myanmar. It also shares maritime borders with Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest. Bangkok is the country's capital and largest city. Thailand is nominally a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy; however, in recent history, his government has experienced several coups and periods of military dictatorship. Thai peoples have migrated from Southwest China to mainland Southeast Asia since the 11th century; The oldest known mention of their presence in the region under the exonym Siamese dates back to the 12th century. Various Indianized kingdoms such as the Mon kingdoms, the Khmer Empire, and the Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na, and Ayutthaya, which vied with each other. Documented European contacts began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission in Ayutthaya, which became a regional power by the end of the 15th century. Ayutthaya reached its peak during the reign of the cosmopolitan Narai, after which it gradually fell into decay until it was finally destroyed in the Burmese-Siamese war of 1767. Thaksin quickly reunited the fragmented territory and founded the short-lived Thonburi Kingdom. He was succeeded in 1782 by Buddha Yodfa Chulalok, the first monarch of the current Chakri dynasty. Throughout the era of Western imperialism in Asia, Siam remained the only country in the region that escaped colonization by foreign powers, although it was often forced to cede both territory and trade concessions in unequal treaties. The Siamese system of government was centralized and transformed into a modern unitary absolute monarchy during the reign of Chulalongkorn. In World War I, Siam sided with the Allies, making the political decision to amend unequal treaties. After the bloodless revolution of 1932, it became a constitutional monarchy and changed its official name to Thailand, which was Japan's ally in World War II. In the late 1950s, a military coup under Field Marshal Sarita Tanarat revived the historically influential role of the monarchy in politics. Thailand became a major ally of the United States and played an anti-communist role in the region as a member of the failed SEATO, but since 1975 has sought to improve relations with communist China and Thailand's neighbors. With the exception of a brief period of parliamentary democracy in the mid-1970s, democracy and military rule have alternated periodically in Thailand. Since the 2000s, he has been involved in a series of violent political conflicts between supporters and opponents of Thaksin Shinawatra, which culminated in two coups, the last of which took place in 2014, and the adoption of the country's current and 20th constitution, and faced ongoing pro-democracy protests. ... Thailand is a middle power in world affairs and one of the founders of ASEAN; ranks high in the Human Development Index. It has the second largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 20th largest in the world for PPPs. Thailand is classified as a new industrial economy; manufacturing, agriculture and tourism are the leading sectors of the economy.