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Thailand
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Thailand
One of the most popular tourist stops in Asia, the proud,
independent Kingdom of Thailand was never a colony. Thailand was long known as Siam. The
Siamese of the Central Plains, however, are only one of the broader Tai peoples. In 1939
the country's name was changed to the more nationalistic Muang Thai, or Land of the Thais,
a name that itself means "free."
In the centre of mainland Southeast Asia, Thailand extends for about 985 miles (1,585
kilometres) from north to south and about 510 miles (821 kilometres) from east to west.
Its area is nearly 200,000 square miles (518,000 square kilometres). It is bordered on the
north and west across the Salween River by Myanmar (Burma), on the north and east across
the Mekong River by Laos, on the Southeast by Cambodia (Kampuchea), and on the south
across the Isthmus of Kra by Malaysia. It also has 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometres) of
coastline along the Gulf of Thailand, an inlet of the South China Sea. The western side of
the Malay Peninsula fronts on the Andaman Sea.
The Thais often describe their land as an elephant's head. The trunk is the south; the
elephant's ear is the Northeast; the bristling top of the head is the mountainous north;
the mouth is the delta and harbour of the Chao Phraya River. The Central Plains of the
Chao Phraya Basin also contain the eyes and much of the brain. The living skin, stretched
across the entire country, is composed of rice plants, more than 250 varieties of bamboo,
coconut palms, banana plants, and orchards of durian, mango, rambutan,
litchi, mangosteen, papaya, and other tropical fruits.
The Central Plains, the region formed by deposits of sediments from the Chao Phraya River,
is the core of the country. It contains the highest density of population and the great
metropolis of Bangkok. The river has provided irrigation water and fertile silt for
intensive rice cultivation. Fruits and vegetables also thrive. Tapioca is grown in the
Southeast, while corn is a major crop in the bordering hills.
The Northern Highlands is a region of north-south mountain ranges soaring to more than
8,000 feet (2,400 meters) and deep, narrow valleys of tributaries to the Chao Phraya. The
valleys have been largely cleared of their natural vegetation and planted with rice,
fruits, and tobacco. People living in the mountains farm upland rice and corn by shifting
cultivation. As mountain land is cleared for lumbering and farming, the pressure on the
fragile environment increases soil erosion in the mountains and silting of the valleys'
irrigation systems.
A quarter of Thailand is covered by monsoon forest or
rainforest, and the country has an incredible array of fruit trees, bamboo and tropical
hardwoods. There are more than 850 resident and migratory species of birds and dwindling
numbers of tigers, leopards, elephants and Asiatic black bears. There are 66 national
parks and 32 wildlife sanctuaries, covering 11% of the country.
Climate
Thailand has a monsoon, or wet-dry, climate. From May to October the monsoon, meaning
seasonal wind, blows from the Southwest across the tropical sea. Days are hot and humid.
At least 40 inches (100 centimetres) of rain falls during these months, more than 90
percent of the year's total. In October the Northeast monsoon begins to blow from
continental Asia. It brings a cool, dry season that both Thais and tourists find
delightful for travel. Starting in late March and continuing into May, the tropical sun
begins to warm the land again, but the monsoon resists shifting because of circulation
patterns in the upper atmosphere. The weather becomes very hot but remains dry. Fields and
roads turn to dust, wells sometimes become dry or polluted, and cities swelter, waiting
for the monsoon to break and cool the land. Regional patterns alter this general picture.
In the northern mountains, for example, temperatures may drop to almost freezing, while
the southern peninsula remains constantly warm and wet.
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