Thailand Facts #28 (365 facts & statistics to date)

“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)

Thailand Facts #27 (345 facts & statistics to date)

"We must have strong minds, ready to accept facts as they are."
Harry S. Truman

• Approximately 1.9 million people in Thailand are living with disabilities.
(National Satistics Bureau)

• In Thailand at least 35 people are disabled and 350 injured in road accidents averaging 300 cases per day.
(Health Systems Research Institute)

• There are approximately 1,500 advertising billboards in Bangkok.
(Bangkok Post, June 23 2008)

• Thailand ranks 15th in the world for car manufacturing capacity and produces more than a million units per year.
(Bangkok Post, June 23 2008)

• From January through to April 2008 about 190,000 Swedish travellers departed from Stockholm's Arlanda Airport for Thai destinations.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)

• In 2007, Thailand welcomed 378,387 Swedish visitors. This represents an increase of 23.62 per cent over the previous year.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)

• Thailand received 1.24 million Japanese tourists last year.
(Bangkok Post, June 25 2008)

• Thailand is the world’s 15th largest food provider and the 2nd largest provider in Asia after China.
(Bangkok Post, June 25 2008)

• Thailand’s first 7-eleven opened in 1989 in Bangkok’s Patpong district.

• In 2007, Thailand received 14.46 million foreign visitors.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)

• Thailand has 30 prisons housing approximately 170,000 prisoners of which 90,000 are serving time for drug offences.
(Bangkok Post, July 2 2008)

• Gambling transactions in Thailand during the Euro 2008 football championship has been estimated at over 500 million baht.
(Bangkok Post, July 2 2008)

• PTT is the only Thai company to be listed in the Fortune Global 500 largest companies.

• Thailand’s population growth rate estimate for 2008 is 0.64%
(National Statistics Office)

• 66.8% of Thailand’s electricity generation in 2007 was powered by natural gas.
(EPPO)

• As of March, 2008 there are a total of 621,437 registered alien workers in Thailand. There are also estimated to be approximately 700,000 illegal aliens within the country.
(Labour Ministry)

• Dutch companies were the second largest foreign investors in Thailand in 2007 after Japan.
(Bangkok Post, July 9 2008)

• The 40 richest people in Thailand are worth USD $25 billion.
(Forbes Magazine)

• A total of 128 teachers, students and education staff have been killed and 213 others wounded in the deep South since the start of the separatist violence there in 2004
(Regional Education Inspector-General's Office).

• Thailand detected its first AIDS case in 1984.

Thailand Facts #26 (325 facts and statistics to date)

“When the mind withdraws into itself and dispenses with facts it makes only chaos.”
Edith Hamilton

• Thailand’s sugar crop for 2008 is expected to be around 7.2 million tonnes, an increase of 8.4% from the 2006-2007 season.
(Bangkok Post, May 12 2008)

• There are approximately 2,500 domesticated elephants and 2,000 wild elephants in Thailand.
(Sorinda Salwala, Friends of Asian Elephants)

• From January to May 10, 2008 there have been 14,000 reported dengue cases in Thailand, an increase of 70% for the same period in 2007.
(Office of Disease Prevention and Control)

• Thailand has approximately 130 million rai of farmland of which 63 million rai are rice fields.
(Bangkok Post, May 20 2008)

• Thailand is the 105th most peaceful country in the world. Iceland is ranked number 1 while Iran is ranked 121st.
(Global Peace Index)

• The average daily food requirement for an adult bull elephant is 150kg.
(Bangkok Post, April 21 2008)

• Every kilogramme of municipal waste in Thailand has up to 30% plastic content.
(Prapoth Pholtitattanapong, Single Points Part Plc)

• Opposition party leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva has over 200,000 friends registered on his homepage on the hi5 website.

• Bangalore’s new airport was built at one-eight of the cost of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport and has four times the capacity.
(Bangkok Post, May 26 2008)

• There are approximately 10,000 private buses operating in Bangkok.
(Bangkok Post, May 28 2008)

• 42% of Thailand’s business work force are sub-contractors labourers.
(Boonyuen Sukmai, Eastern-Region Labour Union Association)

• There are 15.35 million rai of rubber plantations in Thailand of which 11 million are in the South. Total output is estimated to be 3.2 million tonnes with 370,000 tonnes used for local consumption and the remainder for exports.
(Bangkok Post, May 28 2008)

• Thailand’s vehicle ownership is estimated at 125 vehicles for every 1,000 people from which 12 fatalities are reported for every 10,000 road accidents compared with 2 fatalities per 10,000 road accidents in the United States.
(Bangkok Post, June 2 2008)

• The number of people committing suicide in Thailand has increased from 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2007 to 6.5 in 2008.
(Mental Health Department)

• Currently there are 327 KFC outlets in Thailand.
(Bangkok Post, June 4 2008)

• Thailand’s 2008 production of rambutan is estimated to be 415,000 tonnes and estimated production of mangosteen is expected to be 192,000 tonnes.
(Bangkok Post, June 11 2008)

• 90% of Thailand’s mangosteen exports go to China and Hong Kong.
(Bangkok Post, June 11 2008)

• Condom use among Thai’s is 1.5 to 2 per person compared with 4.5 in Japan and 2.5 to 3 in the United States.
(Ansell Thailand)

• Bangkok is ranked 109th in the world for quality of living behind Manila, Jakarta and Kula Lumpa. Zurich is ranked first and Baghdad is ranked 215th (last).
(Mercer World Wide Quality of Living Survey)

• On average Mercedes Benz sells 4,000 cars per year in Thailand.
(Mercedes Benz Thailand)

Thailand Facts #25 (305 facts and statistics to date)

“I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.”
Benthania McKenstry

• Internet users have increased from 8 million in 2006 to 9 million in 2007.
(Thailand National Statistical Office)

• The number of people in Thailand in possession of mobile phones is 28.29 million or 47 per cent of the total population.
(Thailand National Statistical Office)

• There are 24.3 land line telephone lines per 100 households in Thailand—a decline from 2006 at 24.8 and 2005 at 26.8.
(Thailand National Statistical Office)

• Phuket has a registered population of around 300,000 but the unofficial population is around 1,000,000 with around 6,000,000 visitors per year.
(Niran Kalayanamitr, Phuket Governer)

• 741 workers died in work-related accidents and 198,652 persons were injured or became seriously ill at work in 2007 in Thailand which includes 16 workers who became permanently handicapped, and 3,259 workers who lost body parts, such as hands, arms or legs.
(TNA, May 1 2008)


• Nakhon Pathom had the highest death rate and injury toll in Thailand in 2007.
(TNA, May 1 2008)

• In the first quarter of 2008, 435,069 motorcycles were registered in Thailand with the Land Transport Department.
(Land Transport Department)

• 230,000 LCD TV sets were sold in 2008.
(Bangkok Post, April 25 2008)

• 140,749 Thais visited Macau in 2007 compared to 57,876 in 2005. The first quarter of 2008 has already seen 55,834 visitors.
(Macau Government Tourist Office Bangkok)

• There are approximately 500,000 hotel rooms in Thailand.
(Bangkok Post, April 25 2008)

• Bangkok has approximately 10,685 serviced apartment rooms.
(Bangkok Serviced Apartment Club)

• Thailand exported Bt80 billion worth of frozen shrimp in 2007 with 50% of exports going to the United States.
(Bangkok Post, April 30 2008)

• Overall transport shipment usage in Thailand consists of 85% road transport, 12% marine, 2% rail and 0.9% air.
(Bangkok Post, April 30 2008)

• 16.81 million tourists visited Northeast Thailand in 2007 up from 12.71 million in 2001.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)

• Thailand is the world’s second largest exporter of sugar with 6.7 million tonnes produced in 2007 of which 4.7 million was exported.
(Office of Cane and Sugar Board)

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

• In the first quarter of 2008, Thailand’s food exports totaled US$6.72 billion in value, up 31.4 per cent from the same quarter in 2007.
(TNA, May 14 2008)

• Current consumption of NGV (Natural Gas) is averaging 57.9 million cubic feet per day.
(Energy Policy and Planning Office)

• The use of alternative fuels reduced gasoline and diesel consumption by an average of 3.83 million litres per day in April, 2008.
(Energy Policy and Planning Office)

• Ayutthaya was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1991.

Thailand Facts #24 (285 facts and statistics to date)

“Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong.”
Dr. Thomas Fuller

• Bangkok and it’s neighbouring provinces of Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Phanom and Nonthaburi have the highest daily minimum wage in Thailand at Bt195 while Nan and Phayao provinces in the north have the lowest at Bt144.
(Labour Ministry)

• In 2007 there were 327 accidents killing 45 people and injuring 143 at Thailand’s railway crossings.
(State Railway of Thailand)

• Thailand’s first woman member of parliament was elected in 1949.

• Approximately 30% of Thailand’s population are carriers of Thalassaemia disease.
(Bangkok Post, April 8 2008)

• Thailand is the third most popular international travel destination for Indian tourists behind Singapore and the United States. 536,356 Indians visited Thailand in 2007.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)

• Approximately 1 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2007, a decrease of 2.9% from 2006.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)

• There are approximately 3.6 million rice farming families in Thailand totally around 20 million people.
(Bangkok Post, April 23 2008)

• There are approximately 30,000 registered internet cafes in Thailand using 450,000 computers.
(Mahidol University Institute for Child and Family Development)

• More than 13,000 prisoners of war and 200,000 Asian labourers died during the construction of the “Death Railway” linking Thanbyuzayat in Burma with Ban Pong in Thailand.
(Bangkok Post, April 25 2008)

• Since 2003 there have been 1,006 people reported missing in Thailand, 589 being children and teenagers. 80 children have been reported missing in the first three months of 2008.
(Missing Persons Centre)

• Bhumibol dam in Tak province is Thailand’s largest dam. The current level is 2.89 billion cubic metres.
(Bangkok Post, April 25 2008)

• In 2007 there was an estimated16 million computers users in Thailand (26.8% of the population) up from 15.39 million in 2006.
(Thailand National Statistics Office)

• In 2007 there was an estimated 9 million internet users up from 8 million in 2006.
(Thailand National Statistics Office)

• Thailand's household indebtedness rose to an average Bt116,681 (US$3,700) per family last year from Bt68,405 (US$2166) in 2000.
(Thailand National Statistics Office)

• 757,734 Scandinavians visited Thailand in 2007 up from 645,361 in 2006 of which 374,000 were from Sweden.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand)

• 45% of all Swedish investment in Thailand is in Rayong.
(Colliers International Thailand)

• Kan-Yao durian is the most expensive fruit in Thailand and can retail for up to Bt7,000 per kilogramme.

• Approximately 1.35 million tonnes of rice seeds and 2.35 million tonnes of fertilizers will be required in Thailand for rice production in 2008.
(Agricultural Economics Office)

• Despite being the world’s leading producer of rice Thailand ranks at the bottom of the top 10 world rice producers in terms of rice productivity producing 430kg per rai while China produces 1,000kg per rai, Vietnam 778kg, India 658kg, Brazil 648 and Bangladesh 619kg per rai.
(United States Department of Agriculture)

• Udon Thani is Thailand’s second largest city in terms of population but is still 30 times smaller than the Greater Bangkok Metropolitan Area.
(Encyclopedia Britannica)

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)

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)