2017-07-28
[Area Guide] Thailand
- Advice
Thailand Basic Information
・Capital Bangkok
・Area 514,000㎡ （1.4 times larger than Japan）
・Currency Thailand Baht（THB）
・Language Thai
・Religion Buddhism 94％，Islam 5％
・Industry 40% of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, while it covers only 12% of GDP. On the other hand, manufacturing workers account for 15%, and 34% of GDP and 90% of export are manufacturing.
・Population 68,297,547 （As for 2017）
Thailand is located in the central region of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia and the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. It touches borders with other Southeast nations such as Malaysia in the south, Cambodia to the east, Laos to the north, and Myanmar to the west. Malay Peninsula faces the Andaman Sea and the East faces the Gulf of Thailand. It is located 5 to 7 hours by plane from Japan and the time difference with Japan is 2 hours.
Thailand has been an independent country since ancient times and has also built its own culture as a kingdom. History, tradition, and ruins from the successive dynasty remains in many cities including the capital city of Bangkok. The country, also known as "The land of smiles, is filled beautiful citizens and nature including the gorgeous tropical beaches.
The Tai people makes up 80% of the population, while 90% of the country are Buddhist.It has a tropical monsoon climate and is divided into rainy and dry seasons. The climate varies depending on the region, but the annual average temperature in Bangkok is 29 degrees and an average humidity of 73% (2014), thus it is sultry throughout the year.
Population of Thailand
Although the population of Thailand is growing, according to the UN's population forecast, it is predicted to decrease after the peak of 2025 along with the economic growth.
Population of Thailand
(Edited the date from World Bank)
Population by Age
（United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Popular Division)
The most populous age group are the 40’s and is gradually becoming an ageing society with a declining birth rate.
Economy and Industry
Thailand used to be one of the biggest countries to produce and export rice, but after the industrialization in the 50s, Economy Development Policy was introduced in 1961, and the government promoted the export based industry. However, Asian currency crises in 1997 and the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 had led the Thailand economy to the stagnation. While Thailand’s economy was greatly impacted by the unexpected flood in 2011, it was stabilized in 2014, and its growth rate is gradually going up.
Thailand once was an agricultural country centred on rice production and export, but since the industrialization policy that began in the 1950s, the economic development plan was introduced in in 1961. Thereafter, the development of export oriented industry by introducing foreign capital was promoted. However, due to the Asian currency crisis in 1997 and the global financial crisis in 2008, an economic slowdown was forced upon. In recent years, despite being hit by the natural disaster of the unprecedented flood, the economy has maintained steady growth by promoting demand for reconstruction and expansion of exports.
Political turmoil due to the frequent occurrence of military coup d'etats and the declining birthrate and ageing population due to the influence of population control measures advanced in the early 1970s are issued to be addressed by the Thai government. However, Thailand is the largest electronics and automobile production base in the ASEAN region and is also called the" Detroit of The East", and its export keeps the current expenditure in surplus.Thailand has been a popular investment destination among Japanese companies because of the rich infrastructure and the supporting industry.
As an ongoing development plan in Thailand, there is a large infrastructure development plan to be completed by 2020. In Thailand, rail based inland conveyance account for only 9%, whereas its 80% is by car. The government is aiming to cut transporting cost and ease traffic congestion by constructing more rail way and high-speed rail.
Property Investment
In Thailand, real estate regulations for foreigners are relatively loose. There is a law called The Condominium Law which is a law that allows foreigners to have ownership of condominiums unless the total area of all units exceeds 49%. In the case of purchasing land, or a property with land, only a company with 49% of foreign equity can purchase. Also, what is attractive about investing in Thailand property is that there are no inheritance tax, capital transfer tax, and fixed asset tax.
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