Thailand Map

Thailand at a glance

Thailand covers 513,120 km² at the centre of mainland Southeast Asia and has about 71.6 million people (UN World Population Prospects, 2025 estimate). Its outline is often compared to an elephant's head, with the long peninsular "trunk" reaching south down the Malay Peninsula to Malaysia. Myanmar lies to the west, Laos to the north-east across much of the Mekong, Cambodia to the east, and the country has two coasts: the Gulf of Thailand, an arm of the South China Sea, and the Andaman Sea on the Indian Ocean side. It is a constitutional monarchy under King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) of the Chakri dynasty, which has reigned since Bangkok became the capital in 1782, and it is the only country in the region that was never colonised by a European power.

Five landscapes

• The North - Forested ranges running north-south along the Myanmar and Laos borders, including Doi Inthanon (2,565 m), the country's highest peak, south-west of Chiang Mai. The Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet on the Mekong, is in the far north at Chiang Rai.
• The Central Plain - The flat, rice-growing basin of the Chao Phraya, formed where the Ping, Wang, Yom and Nan rivers meet at Nakhon Sawan. Bangkok and the old capital Ayutthaya both stand on it, and both are prone to flooding, as in 2011.
• Isan (the North-East) - The Khorat Plateau, a low, dry sandstone plateau bounded by the Mekong and drained by the Mun and Chi rivers. It holds about a third of Thailand's people, many of them Lao-speaking, and is the poorest region.
• The East - The coast south-east of Bangkok, with Pattaya, the deep-sea port of Laem Chabang and the factories of the Eastern Economic Corridor, then the fruit orchards and gem towns of Chanthaburi and Trat on the Cambodian border.
• The South - The peninsula, narrowing to just over 40 km at the Isthmus of Kra. The Andaman side has the limestone islands of Phang Nga Bay, Phuket, Krabi and the Similan Islands; the Gulf side has Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao.

Seasons and when to visit

Most of Thailand has three seasons: cool and dry from about November to February, hot from March to May (April often tops 40°C in the Central Plain and Isan), and rainy from about June to October as the south-west monsoon arrives. November to February is the peak travel season, and the north can be chilly at night. The two coasts differ: the Andaman side around Phuket is wettest from May to October, while the lower Gulf, around Ko Samui, gets its heaviest rain from October to December. In the north, smoke from crop burning often causes heavy air pollution in March and April.

Major Cities

• Bangkok (Krung Thep) - The capital, on the lower Chao Phraya, with about 5.5 million registered residents and more than 10 million in the wider metropolitan region; home to the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew and two international airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang.
• Chiang Mai - Founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna kingdom, it is the hub of the north, with a moated old city and Doi Suthep temple on the mountain behind.
• Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) - Gateway to Isan on the edge of the Khorat Plateau, a road and rail junction near Khao Yai National Park.
• Hat Yai - The commercial centre of the deep south in Songkhla province, close to the Malaysian border and on the railway to Kuala Lumpur.
• Phuket - Thailand's largest island and its biggest beach destination after Bangkok, connected to the mainland by bridge.

The country is divided into 76 provinces (changwat) plus Bangkok, which is governed as a special administrative area with an elected governor.

Borders and recent tensions

Thailand's borders were largely fixed by treaties with Britain and France between 1893 and 1909, when Siam gave up territory in what are now Laos, Cambodia and northern Malaysia. Parts of the line with Cambodia are still disputed, including land around the Preah Vihear temple, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cambodia in 1962. In July 2025 border fighting broke out near the temples of Ta Muen Thom and spread along the frontier; a ceasefire mediated by Malaysia followed after five days. Fighting resumed in December 2025 before a new ceasefire was signed on 27 December, and the two sides' clashes that year killed well over 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Many crossing points remained closed into 2026. In the far south, an insurgency in the Malay-Muslim provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat has continued since 2004.

Politics has swung between elected governments and military rule, with coups in 2006 and 2014. After the Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in August 2025, Anutin Charnvirakul of the Bhumjaithai Party became prime minister; his party won the most seats in the February 2026 general election, and he was re-elected by parliament in March 2026. Voters in a referendum held alongside the election backed drafting a new constitution.

Economy and heritage

Thailand is one of the larger economies in ASEAN and a regional base for car and electronics manufacturing, with GDP per capita of about US$8,100 in 2025 (World Bank). It is among the world's top rice exporters, behind India, and a leading producer of natural rubber. Tourism brought nearly 40 million foreign visitors in 2019, before the pandemic. Theravada Buddhism is followed by more than 90% of the population, and the country has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among them the historic cities of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, the Bronze Age site of Ban Chiang, the forests of Khao Yai and Kaeng Krachan, and, inscribed in 2026, Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan in Nakhon Si Thammarat, the first in the south. For straight-line distances to neighbouring capitals, see Bangkok to Hanoi and Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur.