The Kingdom of Thailand
Thailand is located in Southeast Asia and has a population of approximately 67 million people who are mainly Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Thailand borders with the countries of Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand and is known in Thai as Krung Thep.
There are 76 provinces in Thailand where the names are from the name of the capital city of that province. There are two special administrative districts of Pattaya and Bangkok (Krung Thep).
The currency of Thailand is the Baht using the symbol ฿. Coins are in 1, 2, 5 and 10 Baht with notes in 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 baht denominations. If you bring in your own countries bank notes for exchange to Baht then you will be avoiding exchange fees but taking a risk of theft. The notes should be large denominations, clean and crisp or you may be refused an exchange. It is safest to do the exchange in a proper bank. Exchanges in airports can be at a lower rate than elsewhere. Coins and notes have images of Thai royalty so dont go stepping on any coin or note and treat with respect or you may cause offence and be subject to legal action.
Thailands official calendar is based on the Buddhist Era (BE) which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian (Western countries) calendar. This makes the western year of 2016 to be (BE) 2559. Both the new years are celebrated in Thailand.
Metric is the official system of measurment in Thailand but sometimes the older Thai system can be in use.
Thai is the language of Thailand and English is a major subject taught in schools. Many Thai people can speak english to some degree, especially in major cities and tourist areas where speaking English is common and often fluent.
