As of December 2016, Thailand’s incoming king has been implicated in a number of embarrassing
scandals.
With many fearing he may disrupt the country, we wanted to know just how powerful is Thailand?
Well, at roughly 200,000 square miles, Thailand is the second largest country in the Indochinese
Peninsula.
In fact, if it were a state in the US, it would be the third largest, bigger than California
but smaller than Texas.
However, the country’s population is roughly equal to both those states’ populations
combined, with about 68 million people.
More than 90% are ethnically Thai, speak Thai, and are Buddhist, the country’s official
religion.
In particular, Thailand is closely connected to Theravada Buddhism, which values charity
and eschews materialism, and is widely practiced among Southeast Asian countries.
Thailand’s economy is relatively strong, and is considered a “middle power”.
With a GDP of nearly $400 billion dollars, it ranks 27th worldwide, and 2nd in Southeast
Asia after Indonesia.
In the 1980s, the United States dollar was devalued by way of the Plaza accord, and since
Thailand’s currency, the baht, was largely backed by US currency, the baht was devalued
as well.
This meant that other countries, Japan in particular, could get more out of their Thai
investments, as Japan’s currency had actually increased in value.
This led to significant investment in Thailand by foreign countries, and a strong export
economy based on electronics, agriculture, automobiles, and processed food.
But in recent years, domestic troubles have weakened the economy.
In 2014, the military launched a coup d’etat, the country’s 12th in less than a century.
The new junta [Hoon-Tah] government dissolved the existing government and parliament, and
gave its leader-general executive and legislative power, repealing the constitution with the
exception of the king, who stayed in place.
Thailand’s military is rather powerful, with more than half a million available troops,
and a 5.4-billion-dollar defense budget, accounting for more than 1% of the GDP.
According to Global Firepower, Thailand ranks 20th worldwide, between Iran and Taiwan.
Coupled with the newly established military head, many believe that Thailand could ultimately
become a military dictatorship, especially as new 2016 laws allow military members to
detain and arrest civilians.
And this isn’t the only problem Thailand is struggling with.
The country has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Asia, with nearly half a million
citizens infected with the disease.
Many blame this on the low rate of condom use, the country’s illicit sex trade, and
intravenous drug use.
But HIV/AIDS rates have dropped in recent years due to concentrated efforts by the government,
and other countries like the United States.
These issues have also affected tourism in the country, which contributes to nearly a
fifth of the GDP.
In fact, Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, is one of the most visited cities in the world.
With a perpetually unsteady government, and a new controversial king, Thailand may be
a popular power, but for how long, remains to be seen.
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Despite laws prohibiting criticism of the royal monarchy, the new king is widely seen
as unpopular.
So, how did he come to power despite his unpopularity, and what exactly has he done that's so controversial?
Find out in this video.
Well, Thai royalty is somewhat unique.
First, being one of very few monarchies in the world, Thailand narrows down even further
as one of the only countries left to punish negative or insulting speech against the king.
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