Thailand
The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia, bordering Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Myanmar to the west. more...
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The country's official name was Siam (Thai: สยาม; IPA: ), until May 11, 1949. The word Thai (ไทย) means "freedom" in the Thai language and is also the name of the majority ethnic group.
History
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According to archeological evidence various indigenous cultures have existed in Thailand from the time of the Ban Chiang culture (4420 BC-3400 BC) onwards, but due to its geological location, Thai culture has always been greatly influenced by China and India.
The first Siamese/Thai state is traditionally considered the Buddhist kingdom Sukhothai founded in 1238 by Pho Khun Si Indrathit, following the decline and fall of the Khmer Empire in the 13th - 15th century.
A Century later, Sukhothai's power was overshadowed by the larger Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya, established in the mid-14th century. After Ayutthaya sacked Angkor itself in 1431, much of the Khmer court and its Hindu customs were brought to Ayuthaya, and Khmer customs and rituals were adopted into the courtly culture of Siam.
After Ayuthaya fell in 1767, Thonburi was the capital of Thailand for a brief period under King Taksin the Great, until a coup d'etat in 1782. The current (Ratthanakhosin) era of Thai history began in 1782 following the establishment of Bangkok as capital of the Chakri dynasty under King Rama I the Great.
Contact with various European powers began in the 16th century. Despite continued pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. There are two main reasons for this. First, Thailand had a series of very able rulers in the 1800s. Secondly, it was able to utilise the rivalry and tension between the French and the British and thus remained as a buffer state between parts of Southeast Asia that were colonised by the two colonial powers. Yet Western influence, including the threat of force, led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions to British trading interests. This included the loss of the three southern provinces, which later became Malaysia's three northern states.
A mostly bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. Previously named Siam, the country changed its name from to Thailand in 1939, back to Siam after World War II, and again to Thailand in 1949. During the war, it was loosely allied with Japan; after the war, it became an ally of the United States. Thailand then saw a series of military coups d'état, but progressed towards democracy since the 1980s.
In 1997, Thailand was hit with the Asian financial crisis and the Thai baht was soon worth 56 baht to the US Dollar compared to about 25 baht to the dollar before 1997. Since then the baht has regained some strength and currently trades around 36-38 baht to the dollar.
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