Thailand

constitutional monarchy

name: Bangkok geographic coordinates: 13 45 N, 100 31 E time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: the name is from the Thai words bang (region) and kok (olive trees); the city's full ceremonial name holds the world record for longest place name, Krungthepmahanakhon amonrattanakosin mahintharayutthaya mahadilokphop noppharatratchathaniburirom udomratchaniwetmahasathan amonphimanawatansathit sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit, which means "City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest"

chief of state: King WACHIRALONGKON; also spelled Vajiralongkorn (since 1 December 2016) head of government: Prime Minister ANUTIN Charnvirakul (since 5 Sep 2025) cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, appointed by the king; a Privy Council advises the king election/appointment process: the monarchy is hereditary; prime minister candidate approved by House of Representatives and appointed by the king

legislature name: National Assembly (Rathhasapha) legislative structure: bicameral

highest court(s): Supreme Court of Justice (consists of the court president, 6 vice presidents, 60-70 judges, and organized into 10 divisions); Constitutional Court (consists of the court president and 8 judges); Supreme Administrative Court (number of judges determined by Judicial Commission of the Administrative Courts) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges selected by the Judicial Commission of the Courts of Justice and approved by the monarch; judge term determined by the monarch; Constitutional Court justices - 3 judges drawn from the Supreme Court, 2 judges drawn from the Administrative Court, and 4 judge candidates selected by the Selective Committee for Judges of the Constitutional Court, and confirmed by the Senate; judges appointed by the monarch serve single 9-year terms; Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the Judicial Commission of the Administrative Courts and appointed by the monarch; judges serve for life subordinate courts: courts of first instance and appeals courts within both the judicial and administrative systems; military courts

history: many previous; latest drafted and presented 29 March 2016, approved by referendum 7 August 2016, signed into law by the king on 6 April 2017 amendment process: amendments require a majority vote in a joint session of the House and Senate and further require at least one fifth of opposition House members and one third of the Senate vote in favor; a national referendum is additionally required for certain amendments; all amendments require signature by the king

ADB, APEC, ARF, ASEAN, BIMSTEC, BIS, CD, CICA, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, PIF (partner), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMOGIP, UNOOSA, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

1.1% of GDP (2024 est.) 1.3% of GDP (2023 est.) 1.3% of GDP (2022 est.) 1.3% of GDP (2021 est.) 1.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF): Royal Thai Army (RTA), Royal Thai Navy (RTN; includes Royal Thai Marine Corps), Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) Office of the Prime Minister: Royal Thai Police (2025) note: official paramilitary forces in Thailand include the Thai Rangers (Thahan Phran or "Hunter Soldiers") under the Army; the Paramilitary Marines under the Navy; the Border Patrol Police (BPP) under the Royal Thai Police; the Volunteer Defense Corps (VDC or O So ) and National Defense Volunteers (NDV), both under the Ministry of Interior; there are also several government-backed volunteer militias created to provide village security against insurgents in the Deep South or to assist government security forces

18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; all men register at 17 years of age and are subject to selective compulsory military service at 21; volunteer service obligation may be as short as 6-18 months, depending on educational qualifications; conscript service obligation also varies by educational qualifications, but is typically 24 months (2025) note: serving in the armed forces is a national duty of all Thai citizens; conscription was introduced in 1905; it includes women, however, only men over the age of 21 who have not gone through reserve training are conscripted; conscripts are chosen by lottery (on draft day, eligible draftees can request volunteer service, or they may choose to stay for the conscription lottery)

the missions of the Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF) include defending the country s territory and sovereignty, protecting the monarchy, ensuring internal security, and responding to natural disasters; key areas of emphasis are disputed international borders and a low-level insurgency in the country's south; the military has historically had a large role in domestic politics and has attempted as many as 20 coups since the fall of absolute monarchy in 1932, the most recent being in 2014 in July 2025, following months of rising tensions, the RTARF and Cambodian military forces clashed in multiple locations along their disputed border; both sides blamed the other for provoking the five-day conflict, which included cross-border artillery shelling by both sides and air attacks by RTARF fighter aircraft and drones; since 2004, the RTARF and Thai paramilitary forces have combated a separatist insurgency in the southern Thailand provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, as well as parts of Songkhla; the insurgency is rooted in ethnic Malay nationalist resistance to Thai rule that followed the extension of Siamese sovereignty over the Patani Sultanate in the 18th century; the insurgency consists of several armed groups, the largest of which is the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Koordinasi (BRN-C): insurgent attacks have largely involved bombings; since 2020, Thai officials have been negotiating with BRN, and has parallel talks with an umbrella organization, MARA Pattani, that claims to represent the insurgency groups (2025)

280 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2025)

$1.558 trillion (2024 est.) $1.519 trillion (2023 est.) $1.489 trillion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$21,700 (2024 est.) $21,200 (2023 est.) $20,800 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

2.5% (2024 est.) 2% (2023 est.) 2.6% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

1.4% (2024 est.) 8.5% (2023 est.) -1.6% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

61.1% of GDP (2023 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP

$369.191 billion (2024 est.) $337.45 billion (2023 est.) $324.111 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

$351.419 billion (2024 est.) $327.008 billion (2023 est.) $334.44 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

0.7% (2024 est.) 0.8% (2023 est.) 1% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

revenues: $102.84 billion (2023 est.) expenditures: $114.521 billion (2023 est.) note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenditures converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing such as jewelry and electric appliances, computers and parts, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics, automobiles and automotive parts, agricultural machinery, air conditioning and refrigeration, ceramics, aluminum, chemical, environmental management, glass, granite and marble, leather, machinery and metal work, petrochemical, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, printing, pulp and paper, rubber, sugar, rice, fishing, cassava, world's second-largest tungsten producer and third-largest tin producer

sugarcane, rice, cassava, oil palm fruit, maize, rubber, tropical fruits, chicken, mangoes/guavas, fruits (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

total: 70,025,248 (2025 est.) male: 34,101,016 female: 35,924,232

0.13% (2025 est.)

0-14 years: 15.8% (male 5,669,592/female 5,394,398) 15-64 years: 69% (male 23,681,528/female 24,597,535) 65 years and over: 15.1% (2024 est.) (male 4,714,191/female 5,863,754)

9.82 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

8.08 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

total population: 78.2 years (2024 est.) male: 75.2 years female: 81.3 years

urban population: 53.6% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 1.43% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Thai 97.5%, Burmese 1.3%, other 1.1%, unspecified 0.1% (2015 est.) note: data represent population by nationality

Thai (official) only 90.7%, Thai and other languages 6.4%, only other languages 2.9% (includes Malay, Burmese); English is a secondary language among the elite (2010 est.) major-language sample(s): สารานุกรมโลก - แหล่งข้อมูลพื้นฐานที่สำคัญ (Thai) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. note: data represent population by language(s) spoken at home

Buddhist 92.5%, Muslim 5.4%, Christian 1.2%, other 0.9% (includes animist, Confucian, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh, and Taoist) (2021 est.)

total population: 91.1% (2022 est.) male: 90.7% (2022 est.) female: 91.5% (2022 est.)

tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

USG identification: major precursor-chemical producer (2025)

refugees: 87,025 (2024 est.) IDPs: 19 (2023 est.) stateless persons: 612,524 (2024 est.)

105 (2025)

total: 4,127 km (2017) standard gauge: 84 km (2017) 1.435-m gauge (84 km electrified) narrow gauge: 4,043 km (2017) 1.000-m gauge

total: 884 (2023) by type: bulk carrier 28, container ship 28, general cargo 88, oil tanker 251, other 489

total subscriptions: 115 million (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 161 (2024 est.)

percent of population: 90% (2023 est.)