GET TO KNOW THAILAND!

With an area of 514,000 square kilometers, Thailand is bordered by Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. The Andaman Sea bound it by the Gulf of Thailand and to the southwest. The capital and largest city is Bangkok. The Chao Phraya or the “River of Kings” is its chief river.

Thailand has a tropical climate with a high degree of humidity. The average temperature is 30 degrees Celsius. There are three seasons: hot (March to May), rainy (June to October), and cool (November to February). The country has 77,697 kilometers of highways and 3,999 kilometers of inland waterways. Bus services operate on routes from Bangkok to every region and between main provincial towns. The railway system, with nearly 4,000 kilometers of track, is divided into five regions each with a trunk line from Bangkok’s Hua Lampong station. There are several domestic airlines and international airports at Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Phuket. The basic unit of currency is the baht which is divided into 100 satang, Banknotes are in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 baht. Coins are in 25 and 50 satang. Government offices open from 8:30 to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday.