about
Thailand
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" The Land of Smiles ", Thailand is one of the most beautiful and magnificent countries in Asia. The Kingdom of Thailand is the most popular holiday destination in central Southeast Asia.
Thailand is predominantly Buddhist kingdom almost equidistant between India and China. For centuries known by outsiders as Siam, cultural and religious crossroads.
Thailand shares borders with Myanmar to the west and north, Laos to the northeast, Cambodia to the east, and Malaysia to the south. Thailand is a unique and fascinating culture. It is also a land of incredible diversity.
Thailand is divided into six regions; the mountainous north where elephants work forests; the sprawling northeast plateau, largely bordered by the Mekong River, where the world's oldest Bronze Age civilisation flourished,- the central plain, one of the world's most fertile rice and fruit-growing areas; the eastern coastal plain, where fine sandy beaches support the growth of summer resorts', western mountains and valleys, suitable for the development of hydro-electric power; and the peninsular south where arresting scenic beauty complements economically vital tin mining, rubber cultivation and fishing.
Archaeological discoveries around the northeast hamlet of Ban Chiang suggest that the world's oldest Bronze Age civilisation was flourishing in Thailand some 5,600 years ago.
Successive waves of immigrants, including Thais, Mons and Khmers, gradually entered the land mass now known as Thailand. By the 11 th and 1 2th centuries, Khmers ruled much of the area from Angkor.
From the stupa-studded mountains of Mae Hong Son and the verdant limestone islands of the Andaman Sea, to the pulse-pounding dance clubs of Bangkok and the tranquil villages moored along the Mekong River.
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