Statistics

• Starting in 1998, the tourism industry in Thailand began to see overall growth, with some dips in early 2003 with the SARS scares and late 2004 when a tsunami struck the Thai coasts. The world financial crisis that began in 2007 had a slowing effect on growth in the industry, but the overall trend is expansion with the Tourism Authority of Thailand reporting 14.15 million visitors in 2009, up from 7.76 million in 1998. The tourism industry accounts for 6.5 percent of the nation's total GDP.
  
  

Destinations

• Thailand has a wealth of tourist destinations to choose from. The country is split into five regions: North, Northeast, East, Central and South. Travelers can visit busy metropolitan cities such as Bangkok in Central Thailand, or explore archeological wonders in places like the province of Nong Bua Lam Phu in the Northeast Region. Thailand also boasts a long coastline of beach and island destinations with popular destinations such as Koh Phi Phi and Koh Samui. More than 100 protected national parks and a diverse ecology of plants and animals make Thailand an ideal destination for eco-tourists.
  
  

Geography and Weather

• According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thailand is geographically the 50th-largest country in the world, most comparable to Spain. It covers approximately 200,000 square miles of mountain regions, forests, coasts and islands. Thailand's proximity to the equator lends it a tropical climate with temperatures usually ranging from 66 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
  Thailand typically experiences a rainy season, a hot season and a cool season, but it is generally warm to hot all year. Thailand has four distinct natural geographic regions: the central plains, the forested mountains along the Myanmar border, the Khorat Plateau in the Northeastern region and the coastal regions down the Malaysian Peninsula. Thailand also has 76 political provinces, and its capital city is Bangkok.
  
  

History and Culture

• Thailand enjoys an ancient and well-documented history, and offers many historical attractions from statues and Buddhist temples to ruins and archeological excavations. History and culture enthusiasts will enjoy the thousands of years of history from the earliest inceptions of life on Earth to the pre-historic kingdoms and the story of unity told in Thailand's history. Thailand as we know it today formed when two independent Thai kingdoms joined together in the 13th and 14th centuries to create the Kingdom of Thailand. The Thai people are mostly Buddists with a small portion of Muslims and Christians represented in the population.
  
  

Politics and Economy

• The Thai government is a constitutional monarchy, not unlike that of England and other commonwealth countries such as Canada and Australia. The government is established similarly to other democratic countries, with a bicameral chamber of elected representatives and an independent judiciary. The government presides over Thailand's export-driven economy with a gross domestic product of roughly $270 billion U.S., and tourism accounting for about $16 billion of that. With low unemployment and poverty, Thailand is a developed nation offering many of the amenities and services that international tourists are used to.