“In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled.”
Paul Eldridge
• Thailand’s maize production for 2008 is estimated to be 3.77 million tonnes, a 7.10% increase from 2007.
(Office of Agricultural Economics)
• Bangkok currently has 7.5 million square metres of office space.
(CB Richard Ellis)
• Thailand is the world’s third largest producer of tapioca.
• 2.2 million tonnes of plastic ends up in landfills each year in Thailand.
(National Innovation Agency)
• Bangkok has dropped 10 spots to 105th place in the 2008 Mercer worldwide cost of living survey.
• US-Thai bi-relations began in 1883 with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. It was during the reign of King Rama 3 and when Andrew Jackson was the U.S president.
• Some 11 million people in Thailand are over 60 years of age.
(Pramote Prasatkul of Mahidol University)
• 800,000 babies are born each year in Thailand.
(Pramote Prasatkul of Mahidol University)
• The number of broadband users is expected to grow to 1.3 million in 2008 and 5 to 10 million in 2009.
(Bangkok Post, July 28 2008)
• 15% of all Honda products made worldwide are made in Thailand.
(Asia Honda Motoring Company)
• Thailand’s biggest ever year for rice exports was the year 2004 when a total of 10.13 million tonnes of rice shipped.
(Thai Rice Exporters Association)
• Thailand is the world’s 14th largest importer of Swiss watches.
(Bangkok Post, July 30 2008)
• The Theravada tradition of Buddhism came to Thailand from Sri Lanka and is shared by peoples in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and parts of southern China and southern Vietnam.
(Encyclopedia Britanica)
• 93,000 vehicles in Thailand are now running on natural gas (NGV) and this figure is increasing by 400 daily.
(Bangkok Post, July 30 2008)
• In 2007 there were 523 foreign film productions (films, TV series, commercials, music videos, documentaries etc) shot in Thailand.
(Bangkok Post, July 30 2008)
• 48 people have died from dengue fever and 41,307 people have been infected in Thailand in the first 7 months of 2008.
(Health Ministry)
• Thailand slipped from 4th to 7th place in the 2008 Lonely Planet Travellers’ Pulse survey for countries most likely to visit next.
• Thailand has an estimated 11 million smokers and each year approximately 50,000 Thais die of tobacco related diseases.
(Bangkok Post, August 4 2008)
• During the period January 1st to July 20th 2008 a total of 143 travellers wanted on arrest warrants were caught at Suvarnabhumi airport. During the same period 101 travellers were arrested for using fake travel documents.
(Immigration Bureau Suvarnabhumi)
• Roughly one-third of Thailand’s total population is classified as urban.
(Encyclopedia Britanica)
