“Where facts are few, experts are many”.
Donald R. Gannon
• The Privy Council was established in 1874 at the command of King Rama V to offer advice to the king. Currently there are 16 councillors and former PM Prem Tinsulanonda is the council president.
(The Nation, March 17 2008)
• International reserves have reached an all-time high at $100.5 billion baht as of February 29, 2008.
(Bank of Thailand)
• Thailand's workforce now is seven times that of the retired population, and is projected to drop to 4:1 within 20 years and 2:1 within 40 years,
(Bangkok Post March 28 2008)
• Thaksin Shinawatra is Thailand’s fourth richest person.
(Forbes)
• Global Thai food exports reached $10.75 billion in 2007, a 12.7% increase from 2006.
(Export Promotion Department)
• Thailand’s total current workforce is 36.26 million people.
(National Economic and Social Development Board)
• The number of credit cards in use in Thailand as of the end of January surged by 995,763. Of this, 4,668,072 cards were issued by local commercial banks, up by 258,153 cards from the corresponding period of the previous year, 1,301,989 by foreign bank branches, up by 81,842, and 6,028,768 by non-banking institutions, a rise of 655,768 cards.
(TNA, March 3 2008)
• There is estimated to be over 4,000 community radio stations in Thailand.
(National Telecommunications Commission)
• Thailand has 130 million rai of cultivated land and of this 3 million rai is dedicated to palm trees.
(Bangkok Post, March 12 2008)
• Thailand imported 2.1 million tonnes of soybean meal last year worth 20 billion baht a year. Domestic production was only 823,000 tonnes, an increase from 774,000 tonnes a year earlier.
(Bangkok Post, March 13 2008)
• The number of people involved in the agricultural industry in Thailand has fallen significantly to about 25.2 million nationwide, or about 40% of the population compared to 55-60% ten years ago.
(Office of Agricultural Economics)
• 12,492 people died in road accidents in Thailand in 2007.
(Don’t Drive Drunk Foundation)
• Bangkok, a city of 5.7 million vehicles, has reserved less than 5% of its space for roads.
(Time Magazine)
• More than 2,000 vehicles are added to Bangkok's roads each day.
(Time Magazine)
• There are more than 500 franchisers in Thailand and 50,000 to 60,000 franchisees.
(The Nation, March 17 2008)
