Portal:Thailand

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สถานีย่อยประเทศไทย/The Thailand Portal

The Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย) is a country in Southeast Asia. The country traces its origin to the Sukhothai Kingdom founded in 1238 and its successive Ayutthaya Kingdom.

The heart-land of the country is the Chao Phraya plain around its capital Bangkok. It has a coast to both the Gulf of Thailand as well as the Andaman Sea, bordering the countries Malaysia to the south, Myanmar to the west and Laos and Cambodia to the east.

The Thai political system is a Constitutional Monarchy with HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej as the head of the state and Samak Sundaravej as the prime minister. With a population of more than 60 million, Thailand's GDP is ranked 21st in the world. The people speak Thai and the overwhelming majority are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition.

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The South Thailand insurgencyis a separatistcampaign which took place in the Pattani region, the three southernmost provinces of Thailand, with violence increasingly spilling over into neighboring provinces and threatening to extend up to the national capital in Bangkok. A long series of conflicts has resulted in over 2,500 deaths in the past decade, with more than 2,300 occurring since an escalation of violence in January of 2004.

In July 2005 Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra assumed wide-ranging emergency powers to deal with the insurgency. In September 2006, Army Commander Sonthi Boonyaratkalin was granted extraordinary increase in executive powers to combat the unrest. On September 19, Sonthi and the Thai military seized power from Thaksin. Despite reconciliatory gestures from the junta, the insurgency continued.

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Credit: User:Terence Ong

Aerial view of Lumphini Park, Bangkok taken from The Dusit Thani Hotel.

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List of birds of Thailand

Thailand is home to 982 species of birds that have been recorded in the wild, of which three are endemic, one has been introduced by humans, and 45 are rare or accidental. Seven species listed are extirpated in Thailand and are not included in the species count. Forty-nine species are globally threatened.

In 1991, it was estimated that 159 resident and 23 migratory species were endangered or vulnerable, due to forest clearance, illegal logging, hunting, and habitat degradation, especially in the lowlands. Those species most affected are large water birds, whose wetland habitat is lost to agriculture, and forest species, where deforestation for agriculture and logging have removed or degraded the woodlands.

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Enlarge the articles listed in Thailand-related stub, Thai biography stubs or geographical stubs
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Thailand news

January

28: People's Power Party leader Samak Sundaravej is named prime minister of Thailand in a 310-163 vote by the National Assembly
21: The National Assembly of Thailand convenes for the first time since the 2006 coup d'état. The majority of seats are held by the People's Power Party, which is allied with ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. It has formed a coalition government with five smaller parties.
14: South Thailand insurgency: Eight soldiers are killed when their vehicle is hit by a roadside bomb in Chanae, Narathiwat. One soldier is beheaded.
14: Television station TITV is closed. The channel will become a public broadcasting station as part of the Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act. In the interim, commercial-free programming will be provided by Channel 11.
2: Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana (pictured) dies at age 84. She had been treated cancer since June 15 at Siriraj Hospital. Government workers are ordered to wear black for a 15-day mourning period. The palace will observe a 100-day mourning period.

December 2007

31: South Thailand insurgency: Three men are arrested in a series of blasts at two hotels and a disco in Amphoe Su-ngai Kolok, Narathiwat. At least 58 people are injured.
29: Thailand wins the 38th King's Cup, defeating Iraq 1-0.
23: The People Power Party, led by Samak Sundaravej, wins a plurality in the general election.
21: A bridge is opened on the Malaysia-Thailand border between Bukit Bunga, Kelantan and Ban Buketa, Amphoe Waeng, Narathiwat.
20: The junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly passes a measure giving increased powers to the military's Internal Security Operations Command.

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Did you know...

... that the 2003 Bangkok International Film Festival hosted the world premiere of Ong-Bak, the lead-acting debut by Thai action star Tony Jaa?

... that Scouting in Thailand (Scouts pictured) was introduced on July 1, 1911 by King Vajiravudh, who is known as the "Father of Thai Scouting"?

... that the Church of Christ in Thailand is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Thailand?

... that painter Chalermchai Kositpipat is the designer of Wat Rong Khun (pictured) in Chiang Rai Province, on which construction was started in 1998 and is expected to be complete in 2008?

... that the wildly popular Jatukham Rammathep amulet was created by a policeman in 1987 who believed the amulet's spirit helped him solve a murder case?

... that the neighborhood Phahurat, before it became Bangkok's Little India, was an enclave of Vietnamese immigrants until a fire burned it down in 1898?

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