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Written By William Warren
Photos by Dean Barrett
Page 4
Certain fundamental facts about Thailand may
seem clear enough to the newcomer, at least in the sober
compilations of data that regularly pour forth from
various government bodies. From these anyone who is
interested can learn that the country covers an area of
approximately 198,000 square miles, of which 47% is
cultivated, mostly with rice, and 37% is forest. He can
leam further that the present population (growing at a
rate of 2.3% per year) is around 65 million people, near-
ly half of whom are under 15 years of age. That the
religion of the overwhelming majority (some 95%) is
Theravada Buddhism, reflected in 27,000 wats or
monastery complexes scattered throughout the coun-
try. That, in addition, there are also a number of
Chinese
shrines and Hindu temples, mostly in Bangkok and
other centers of population and trade. That the largest
city by far is Bangkok, which in 1998 had an official
population of 4,870,509 as compared with the second-
largest, Chiang Mat, which had 105,230. That the form
of government is constitutional monarchy, with the
Prime Minister as the head of state but with the King
holding a powerful symbolic position. That roads (49%
of them national highways) extend for a total length of
51,162 kilometers, linking all parts of the kingdom,
which shares common borders with Burma, Malaysia,
Laos, and Cambodia.
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