“There are lies, damned lies and statistics”.
Mark Twain
• The present monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was crowned king of Thailand in 1950.
• Chiang Mai province has approximately 25,000 hotel rooms.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)
• Revenue from car and motorcycle exports for first 11 months of 2007 was 433.89 billion baht.
(Bangkok Post December 19, 2007)
• The current life expectancy in Thailand is 72.55 years.
(CIA World Factbook)
• Elephants consume around 200 litres of water a day.
• The country has a coastline of approximately 2,700 kilometres (1,143 miles) on the Gulf of Thailand and 865 kilometres (537 miles) along the Indian Ocean.
• More than 95 per cent of Thai people are followers of Theravada Buddhism.
• Thai exports for gems and jewellery for 2007 are predicted to total 170 billion baht.
(Bangkok Post December 23, 2007)
• By 1906 Thailand had ceded 456,000 square kilometres to colonial powers in order to preserve its independence.
(Thailand, A Short History, David K. Wyatt)
• Although ethnic Thais form the majority of the population, the Mon and Khmer people are believed to have arrived in the region before them.
