ABOUT THAILAND

At 514,000 km2 (198, 000 sq mi), Thailand is the world’s 49th-largest country.

Thailand is a newly industrialized country. After enjoying the world’s highest growth rate from 1985 to 1996 – averaging almost 9% annually – increased pressure on Thailand’s currency, the baht, in 1997, the year in which the economy contracted by 1.9% led to a crisis that uncovered financial sector weaknesses and forced the government to float the currency.

Thailand entered a recovery stage in 1999, expanding 4.2% and 4.4% in 2000, largely due to strong exports – which increased about 20% in 2000. Growth (2.2%) was dampened by a softening of the global economy in 2001, but picked up in the subsequent years due to strong growth in China and the various domestic stimulation programmes. Growth in 2002/03 and 2004 was 5-7% annually.

The population is mostly rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern, and northern regions. However, as Thailand continues to industrialize, its urban population – 31.1% of total population, principally in the Bangkok area – is growing.

Mobile phones services in Thailand are plentiful. There are 3 service providers utilizing GSM technology: Advance Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC), and TA Orange. Furthermore, there is one CDMA provider, Hutch, and one Digital PCS provider, Thai Mobile. Therefore, mobile phones in Thailand are easily available at competitive price and wide range of options. Most of the providers have both prepaid and subscription option as choices for customers. Mobile phone subscribers has been growing in number quite rapidly from less than 2 million in 1997 to about 15 million in January 2004.

As for internet connection service, there are 18 commercial ISPs, and 5 non-commercial providers providing services to about 4 million personal and corporate account nationwide. Connections available in the country are ranging from 56K dial-up to ISDN to broadband. Both prepaid and subscription services are available. About 10,000 domains are registered under “.th”.