THAILAND

Bangkok

76/26 Soi Lang Suan
Lumpini, Phatumwan
Bangkok 10330 Thailand

Email:
bangkok@ibng.com

Contact person: Barry Peterson

 

General Information

Country (name in full):	Kingdom of Thailand
Capital:	Bangkok
Surface Area:	513,000 sq km
Official Languages:	Thai
Population:	64,631,595 (July 2006 est.)
Exchange Rates:	Real Time Converter
Real GDP Growth:	4.5% (2005 est.)
GDP per capita:	purchasing power parity - $8,600 (2005 est.)
Head of State:	King PHUMIPHON Adunyadet (since 9 June 1946)
Head of Government:	Interim Prime Minister SURAYUT Chulanon (since 1 October 2006)

Principal Trading Partners

Export Destinations
US 15.5%, Japan 13.7%, China 8.3%, Singapore 6.8%, Hong Kong 5.6%, Malaysia 5.2% (2005)

Import Destinations
Japan 22%, China 9.4%, US 7.4%, Malaysia 6.8%, UAE 4.8%, Singapore 4.5% (2005)

Thai Overview

Geography & Population
Thailand is a located within SE Asia, with Malaysia to its south on the Malaya Peninsula and extending to Myanmar in the west and northwest. It has the countries of Cambodia and Laos in the east. The country has a population more than 64 million people.

Language
The official language is Thai with only limited English spoken principally within the business environment of Bangkok. 

Government and Law
Thailand is a kingdom and operates under a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Thailand is one of the few countries within Asia never to be occupied by a colonial power.

Climate
Thailand is a tropical country with the exception of the central mountain areas in the north, which are temperate. Extremes of temperatures are not found other than for the humidity during the wet season.

Religion
Buddhist 94.6%, Muslim 4.6%, Christian 0.7%, other 0.1% (2000 census)

Thai Calendar

Business travellers to Thailand should note that Thailand enjoys a wide range of public holidays due to religious, national and other festive events. 

IBN clients are recommended to consult with their regional Business Centres to obtain more specific regional travel advice in relation to public holidays as they may impact upon visit schedules.

Exhibitions and Conferences

IBN clients should consult their regional Business Centre for detailed information on exhibitions and conferences including exhibiting, booking requirements etc.

For a useful link on exhibition details, please visit the Fair Guide - www.fairguide.com.

To contact us, click here.

Travel Information

The major international airports are located in the cities of Bangkok, Hatyai, Phuket and Chiang Mai.   For visitors and transit passengers at Bangkok airport there are sleeping rooms located within the airport.   There is also an international hotel located adjacent to the airport however you must clear immigration to access this hotel. 

International seaports are located in the cities of Bangkok, Chonburi Province, Phuket and Songkla.

The following information is provided to assist travellers when planning to visit Thailand:

IDD:                                                      +66
Time:                                                    GMT +7
Voltage:                                                 220V
Cell Phone System:                                 Dual Band system (GSM and CDMA)
Dress:                                                    Long sleeve shirt and tie
Taxi Fare to city from airport (average):     Various
Departure tax:                                        Yes

Foreign Visa Requirements

Not all foreign nationals require visas prior to entry into Thailand. Should a visa be required then they may be obtained ranging from Tourist (30 days) through to Long Term (multiple entry for up to 1 year).

As visa requirements vary for visitors from country to country travellers should consult their respective Thai embassies or consulates for specific advice. IBN clients are able to obtain specific information including supporting Letters of Invitation for business travel (if required) from their respective Business Centres.

Health Considerations

Visitors to Thailand requiring specific medication should carry medication with them and do not anticipate availability of selected prescription drugs. There are still a number of diseases that are prevalent, in particular tropical diseases, throughout Thailand and visitors should consult their local doctors prior to travel to ensure that adequate regimes are adopted prior to travel.

Visitors should also consult their respective health insurance providers to ensure that adequate health cover is available in the event of an emergency.

Local Currency

The local currency is the Baht. The Baht today is found in a wide range of denominations from coins (strang) through to notes of up to Bh.1,000.

Currency exchange facilities are readily available in most cities, however visitors should ensure that they obtain sufficient local currency prior to travel in remote regional areas as exchange facilities are not always available in particular for selected foreign currencies.

To use our Real-Time Converter, click here. 

Useful Links

For business, national and regional news as well as current affairs, government and a more in depth view of Thailand today, the following links should prove to be useful:

Department of Foreign Trade - http://www.dft.moc.go.th 
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) - www.tat.or.th 
Bangkok Post - http://www.bangkokpost.com
The Asian Wall Street Journal - http://online.wsj.com/public/asia
Asia Today - http://www.asiatoday.com.au

Disclaimer

Whilst IBN Group Pty Ltd (IBN) has taken due care to obtain and provide the country information detailed on this site, it cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy of the same information and data. As this country information and data has been received from various sources, accepted by IBN as being reliable, IBN itself makes no representation concerning its completeness, truth or accuracy or its suitability for any particular purposes.