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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Thailand Facts #23 (265 facts and statistics to date)

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
Aldous Huxley

• Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of shrimp.

• Although Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of rice it is only the world’s sixth largest producer behind China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
(Rice Exporters Association)

• Thailand is the 22nd highest carbon emitter in the world.
(United Nations Development Programme)

• It is estimated that cross-national marriages have contributed Bt 8.6 billion to the economy of Northeastern Thailand.
(Khon Kaen University research report)

• In 1991, there were 143,000 HIV infections in Thailand. In 2007 the figure was 14,000.
(Anand Panyarachun, former Prime Minister)

• Bangkok's office space is the third cheapest in Asia with only Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur offering lower office rentals.
(CB Richard Ellis)

• In 1989 3.7% of blood donated to the Thai Red Cross Society was contaminated with HIV/Aids.
(The Nation, March 31 2008)

• Thailand’s health care system has an annual budget of around Bt 2,300 per person.
(Bangkok Post, April 2 2008)

• Thailand is the world’s largest rubber producer with a total output in 2007 of 3,063,000 tonnes.
(IRSG)

• In the first quarter of 2008, monthly rent for prime retail space in central Bangkok was Bt 2,458.19 per square metre compared with Bt 34,408.03 for the equivalent in New York.
(Knight Frank)

• There are over 3,000 7-Eleven stores, 492 Tesco Lotus, 59 Big C, 45 Makro and 29 Carrefour outlets in Thailand.
(Business Development Department)

• Thailand has an estimated 1.87 million businesses of which 99% are SME’s.
(The Nation, April 7 2008)

• Currently, there are about 40,000 Thai workers in South Korea.
(TNA, April 8 2008)

• Last year, there were 4,274 road accidents countrywide, killing 361 and injuring 4,805 people during the long holiday.
(Bangkok Post, April 13 2008)

• The sale of alcoholic beverages during the ongoing Songkran festival, Thailand's traditional New Year, is expected to rise to an estimated Bt3.1 billion.
(TNA, April 13 2008)

• The proportion of imported brand PC’s and to locally-branded PC’s was 40 to 60 in 2007 compared with 20 to 80 in 2005.
(Bangkok Post, April 9 2008)

• The total area in Thailand under maize production is more than 7.7 million rai with a total production is around 4.47 million tonnes. The country imported 150,356 tonnes of maize worth Bt495.07 million in 2007. Since early this year, import volumes reached 50,741 tonnes worth Bt164.13.
(The Nation, April 15 2008)

• There are at least 1.24 million single parent families in Thailand out of 17.8 million households.
(Provincial Administration Department)

• Thailand has only 104.7 million rai of fertile forest left out of a total of 320.7 million rai of forest land.
(Natural Resources and Environment Ministry)

• There were 229 deaths and 3,315 injuries during the 2008 Songkran period from April 11 to April 16.
(Road Safety Centre)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Thailand Facts #22 (245 facts and statistics to date)

“We’d forgive most things if we knew the facts.”
The Heart of the Matter
, Graham Greene


• The King of Thailand will celebrate his 80th birthday this year.

• Exports now account for 60% of Thailand’s GDP, compared with 29% in 1990.

• The number of patients with heart disease has doubled from 318 to 682 per 100,000 of population and patients with diabetes has more than doubled from 278 to 587 per 100,000, while cancer patients has risen from 80 to 124 per 100,000 population.
(Public Health Ministry)

• In 2007, 42 per cent of Thais aged over 15 years old or about 17 million people were overweight.
(Public Health Ministry)

• About one in five Thai men (20 per cent) and three in five Thai women (60 per cent) are overweight.
(Public Health Ministry)

• In 2006 the attendance rate for Thai middle-school students was 89% compared to the world average of 79%. Thai high school students had an attendance rate of 65% compared to the world average of 51%.
(Unesco Institute for Statistics)

• 74,000 houses were completed and registered in Thailand in 2007 compared with 170,000 in 1996.
(Real Estate Information Centre)

• Sales in the local motorcycle market rose in February for the first time in 12 months with total registrations rising 8% year-on-year to 147,104 units.
(AP Honda Co)

• In 2008, an estimated 85,760 new conscripts will be recruited into the Thai armed forces.
(Bangkok Post, March 19 2008)

• Swedish tourists form the third largest group of visitors to Phuket.
(Bangkok Post, March 19 2008)

• Thailand uses nearly 5.2 billion plastic bags per year making the country the ninth largest user in the world.
(Bangkok Post, March 19 2008)

• Last year, 65,000 Americans went to Bumrungrad Hospital for in-patient or outpatient treatment, up from just 10,000 in 2001.
(Business Week)

• Thailand has an annual rice production of about 19 million tonnes, 10 million tonnes of which are for local consumption and the rest for export.
(Rice Exporters Association)

• Pick-up and passenger vehicle production in Thailand is expected to exceed 1.4 million units this year.
(The Nation, March 24 2008)

• Thailand’s auto industry employs 200,000 workers.
(The Nation, March 24 2008)

• Approximately 500,000 Thais have been infected with HIV, while an average of two people contracting HIV every hour.
(AIDS-prevention advocate, Meechai Viravaidya)

• Thailand produces around 900,000 one-ton trucks per year – about three quarters of global output.
(Bangkok Post, March 26 2008)

• Thailand’s richest person is Chaleo Yoovidhya (Red Bull) with Bt 126 million.
(Forbes)

• In 2007 117,395 rai of land in Thailand was damaged due to fire.
(National Park Park Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department)

• Approximately 90,000 Thai people are infected with Tuberculosis per year and of this 5,000 to 7,000 people are estimated to die from the disease.
(The Nation, March 24 2008)