Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index, 2014       Rank: 130 of 180

Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, 2015      Rank: 76 of 168  

World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report (2008)           Rank: 34 of 134

Longest Serving Head of State in the World: King Bhumibol Adulyadej (closing in on 70 years in 2016)

Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation never to have been colonised (served as a buffer state between French Indochina and the British Empire. After very brief fighting with Japan in WWII, Thailand submitted to Japanese demands for Japanese access through Thailand into Burma)

The world's largest rice exporter (2014), ahead of India and Vietnam

Tourist Highlights

Varying estimates calculate that tourism is worth up to 20% of the Thai economy. Almost 30 million visitors visited in 2015, and with good reason. Gorgeous beaches, aqua-marine seas, mouth watering food, striking temples and ruins, year round good weather, all able to be experienced at economical prices, plus the friendly locals make Thailand a place visitors continually return to.

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