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The Kingdom of Thailand is located in Southeastern Asia bordering Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, the Andaman Sea, and the Gulf of Thailand. It is about twice the size of Wyoming and covers an area of 514,000 sq. kilometers. Thailand’s total population is about 65.9 million and growing at about 0.615% with 33% living in urban areas. The Thai capital of Bangkok has a population of about 9.67 million with other major areas including Nakhon Ratchasima (province pop. 2.56 mil) and Chiang Mai (province pop. 1.59 mil). The people are governed by a constitutional monarchy and are predominately Buddhist. The primary language is Thai, but English is increasingly favored as a second language among the elite. The local currency used is the Thai Baht.Thailand has a well-developed infrastructure and boasted one of the strongest Eastern Asian economies in the past decade. However, recent political uncertainty and riots have stalled some infrastructure projects and lessened investor confidence. Its main trade partners are Japan, China, US, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, and Taiwan. Its primary imports are capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials, consumer goods, and fuels. Exports consist of textiles and footwear, fishery products, rice, rubber, jewelry, automobiles, computers, and electrical appliances. Thailand?s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $553.4 billion and is growing at a real rate of 3.6% with an inflation rate of 5.5%. Thailand ranked 13th out of 181 countries in the World Bank Group?s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE

05/27/09 $1 = 34.38 THB