Thailand           Introduction        

Background:        A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century; it was known as Siam until 1939. Thailand is the only southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict.

Thailand           Geography

Location:         Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma

Geographic coordinates:        15 00 N, 100 00 E

Map references:         Southeast Asia

Area: total:  514,000 sq km

land:  511,770 sq km

water:  2,230 sq km

Area - comparative:        slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming

Land boundaries:         total:  4,863 km

border countries:  Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km

Coastline:         3,219 km