Land of Buddhism



Thailand



Thailand for a very long has been a very crucial and vital advocate and supporter of India. Both the countries share very cordial and amicable relationship and show a docile and benign behaviour towards each other. Both the countries are also emerging out as promising nations helping each develop and grow up in this competitive world. In many fields like Pharmaceuticals, business etc. both the countries are working with each other to help each other grow. So, we should also have some knowledge about India's this friend.
Thailand, officially Kingdom Of Thailand is a wonderful country located in the center of Indochina Peninsula. Formerly known as Siam, it shares boundaries with Burma(Myanmmar), Laos and Cambodia.
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy being headed by King Rama IX. King of Thailand and having Yinguluck Shinawatra as the prime minister. The contemporary king of Thailand has been serving as the head of state from the year 1946, is the world's longest serving head of the state and also the longest serving ruler in Thai History and is titled as head of state, head of the armed forces and with many other titles.
Thailand being the world's 51th largest country covers an area of approximately 513,000 km² and is also the 20th most populous country of the world having a population of near about 64million people.
 Out of these 64 million people 75% follow Thai religion, 14% are of Chinese origin while 3% are Malays. Thailand, having Thai as its official language  has 95% of people practicing Buddhism.
The country has exhibited tremendous improvement and development in its business sector. It's improvement in Business field is also enticing and alluring many global multi-national companies from around the globe. Thailand is having Baht($1=30.61Thai Baht) as its official currency.

Thailand has been immensely influenced by indian culture. Thailand's history dates back to 40,000 years from today.

After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 13th century, various states thrived there, such as the various Tai, Mon, Khmer and Malay kingdoms, as seen through the numerous archaeological sites and artifacts that are scattered throughout the Siamese landscape. Prior to the 12th century however, the first Thai or Siamese state is traditionally considered to be the Buddhist kingdom of Sukhothai, which was founded in 1238.

Following the decline and fall of the Khmer empire in the 13th–15th century, the Buddhist Tai kingdoms of Sukhothai, Lanna and Lan Xang (now Laos) were on the ascension. However, a century later, the power of Sukhothai was overshadowed by the new kingdom of Ayutthaya, established in the mid-14th century in the lower Chao Phraya River or Menam area.

But in 1767 Ayutthaya kingdom was defeated by Burmese forces which led to its downfall.

The current Rattanakosin era of Thai history began in 1782, with the establishment of Bangkok as its capital. Thailand is the only country in south east asia that has never been colonized.

 After that many changes came but Thailand is still emerging fast as a very powerful nation.

  Since 1932 Thailand has had 17 constitutions and various types of government. It had democracy, monarchy,  dictatorship etc..

The 1997 Constitution was the first constitution to be drafted by popularly elected Drafting Assembly, and was Constitutional popularly called the "People's Constitution". This constitution established a bicameral legislature  consisting of 500 seats of House of Representatives and 200 seat senate. The two houses of the National Assembly have two different terms. In accordance with the constitution the Senate is elected to a six-year term, while the House is elected to a four year term. Overall the term of the National Assembly is based on that of the House. The National Assembly each year will sit in two sessions an "ordinary session" and a "legislative session". The first session of the National Assembly must take place within thirty days after the general election of the House of Representatives. The first session must be opened by the king in person by reading a Speech from the Throne; this ceremony is held in the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall. He may also appoint the crown prince or a representative to carry out this duty. It is also the duty of the king to prorogue sessions through a Royal Decree when the House term expires. The king also has the prerogative to call extraordinary sessions and prolong sessions at his discretion. The January 2001 general election were the first free elections to be conducted under the 1997 constitution and were the most uncorrupted elections ever conducted in Thailand's history. Inspite of the efforts to clean up the system, vote buying and electoral violence remained problems of electoral quality in 2005.

But in 2006 the military of Thailand without much resistance overthrew the interim government of Prime Minister Thakshin Shinawatra (Brother of present PM Yingluck Shinawatra). The junta government abrogated the constituion and dissolved the parliament and drafted an interim constitution for the country which was later changed on 24 August 2007 by the permanent constitution and now there is a constitutional monarchy in the country.

The country has now developed itself into the field of education, science etc. Various observatories have been made in the country and level of education has also enhanced.

Its economy is reviving and the country is having a very good HDI(Human Developement Index) of 0.682(103rd in the world) which is of a medium range. Its nominal GDP is of  $345.689 billion and its PPP GDP is $616.783 billion.

The country is also enhancing its horizons in field of sports.Muai Thai, is a native form of kickboxing and Thailand's national sport. It incorporates kicks, punches, knees and elbow strikes in a ring with gloves similar to those used in Western boxing and this has led to Thailand gaining medals at the Olympic Games in boxing. Basketball is also a growing sport in Thailand, especially on the professional sports club level. The Chang Thailand Slammers won the 2011 Asean Basketball League Championship. The Thailand national basketball team had its most successful year at the 1966 Asian Games where it won the silver medal.
Hope that this country will continue to be a good friend of India and will emerge out will flying colours.