Country of the Week A 5-year Trip Around the World

Our country for this week is Thailand. Here’s what the CIA World Factbook has to say about Thailand:

A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. 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 is currently facing armed violence in its three Muslim-majority southernmost provinces.

Here are a few random facts about Thailand:

• Currency (code): baht (THB)
• Debt - external: $50.63 billion (30 June 2005 est.)
• Current account balance: -$5.901 billion (2005 est.)
• Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma
• Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

Some links you can use to explore Thailand: