About Thailand

         Culture

Thailand means "land of the free" but because the Thai people are easy-going and hospitable, the country is also called "land of smiles."

Population
About 75% of Thailand’s 67 million people are ethnic Thai. Over 13 million people live in Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok.

Language

Thai is the official language of government and education but English is widely used in commerce and international relations. There are four regional dialects of the Thai language: Central Thai, Northeastern Thai (Thai-Lao), Northern Thai and Southern Thai. Central Thai is the required form used in modern Thailand.

Livelihood

Bangkok is Thailand’s center for business and service industries as most of the country’s industry is located in that region. Bangkok is also the political, educational and religious centre of Thailand.

Rice is the main agriculture commodity of the Thai economy. Commercial crops include sugarcane, tobacco, rubber, coconut and cotton.

Political

The country is governed by a constitutional monarchy. Each province has a governor, and is divided into districts with a district head. There are also further administrative divisions.

Beliefs

Buddhism is the religion over 90% of Thailand’s population. Of the remainder 4.6% are Muslims and almost 1% Christian.

Buddhism is the focal point of Thai society. The Thai people make merit through offerings to the temple, attending festivals, and having their sons become monks. In Thailand, Buddhism is a syncretism religion: it is a mixture of Hindu beliefs with animism and Theravada Buddhist philosophy and rituals. Symbols of Buddhism are everywhere in Thailand. This includes Buddhist monks in orange robes (most young men become monks for a short time so that they can accumulate merit for their families) and each Thai house with its own "spirit house" to accommodate the spirits from the land on which the house stands.

This mixture of Buddhism, animism, and nationalism along with materialism, has produced a culture which is particularly resistant to the Christian gospel. After 160 years of Protestant missions in Thailand, just over 1% of Thai people are Christian.

         Religion

Thailand with a population of 63 million people is known as a Buddhist country. At least 94% of the population practice this religion mixed with animism and Hinduism. There are more than 30,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand. Tradition requires every Buddhist male to enter the monkshood and a “Spirit House” guards most of the houses. Thai people hope that the evil spirits will live in the small house rather than their homes. They love to make merit. They hope to increase their chances of being reborn to a higher being by doing good deeds. Buddhism dominates the patterns of Thais thinking and culture and its spiritual darkness dominates people's lives. The first missionaries came to Bangkok in 1828. Even after 180 years of faithful witness in Thailand there is but little spiritual breakthrough. The Christian population is only about 1%.

                                         

 Statistics of Religion in Thailand 2007(2550)

 Buddhism

         •94% of population
         •35,000 temples
         •350,000 monks

 Islam   
         •4% of population
         •3,585 mosques

 Christianity  
       •0.5 % Catholic + 0.4 % Protestant = 0.9 % of the population
       •Roman Catholic (300,000 believers, 453 churches, 494 mission schools)

       •Church of Christ in Thailand (132,440 believers, 729 churches)
       •Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand
         (100,000 in 110 denominations/missions, 1,200 churches)

       •Baptist (10,958 believers, 120 churches)
       •7th Day Adventists (11,004 believers, 121 churches)
 Total Protestant Christians     

       •244,000 believers
       •Over 2,000 churches  *Estimates by Evangelical Society
       •300,000 believers
       •3,000 evangelical churches

 

 Hinduism    
     •290,000 followers
     •30 temples

 Sikh    

    •50,000 followers



   Living in Thailand
         
                             

Bangkok has the most diverse population of any city in Thailand including the largest number of foreigners. It is by far the largest city in Thailand and is the hub of industry and commerce. Bangkok has numerous international schools, a cosmopolitan environment, big modern shopping malls, a broad spectrum of restaurants, and an endless list of performances and events. However, it is also a mass of concrete with congested traffic and can be quite expensive.

Locations outside of Bangkok such as in Chiang Mai, in the North, are popular for Thais and foreigners because it’s inexpensive and has a mix of modern and traditional Thai culture. As many as 10,000 foreigners live there for the cooler climate, several international schools, numerous restaurants, modern malls, and scenic mountains. It also thrives on tourism and a handicraft industry. However, Chiang Mai has increasing traffic congestion and building overdevelopment.

The cost of living in Thailand depends entirely on where you stay and the level of comfort you prefer, but Thailand is generally regarded as good value relative to similar environments in both developed or developing countries. Housing costs vary widely with Bangkok, Phuket and Samui considered expensive relative to Chiang Mai and rural towns, while groceries and every day items are generally inexpensive. Transportation costs vary depending on the mode used. Basic buses are particularly cheap but other modes such as Bangkok’s sky train are more costly. Items such as broadband service can be inefficient.

Thailand overall is a very safe country with little violence or confrontation. Incidence of house break-ins, mugging and pick pocketing (outside of tourist areas) are relatively low. However, law enforcement is a weakness in the country and there is a corruption problem. There is concern about the rising political tensions within the country but the likelihood of future confrontations is unclear.

Health wise, Thailand has a good value health care system with good hospitals in urban areas at a fraction of the cost abroad. Nurses and doctors are competent in general and medication is relatively low cost. Private hospitals in major centres offer higher services but government run facilities are also decent. There are few other health risks such as tropical diseases.