A PORTRAIT OF THAILAND
Set within a lush, tropical landscape, Thailand is a theater of cultural and sensual contrasts for the visitor. The long, rich heritage and abundant natural resources of this proud Buddhist nation jostle for space within the dynamism of a country undergoing economic boom and bust. In turns zestful and tranquil, resplendent and subtle, Thailand is always compelling. 
Thailand is located in a fertile monsoon belt midway between India and China , the two civilizations that have molded Southeast Asia . But the Thais have long delighted in their distinctive culture. For instance, though the Tai (rather than Thai) ethnic group probably originated in Southern China sometime in the first millennium AD, their tonal language is quite unlikely any form of Chinese. Moreover, the elegant Thai script, though derived from that of ancient Southern India , is distinct.
Today, Thailand is a member of the ASEAN, though Thais still take pride in a long tradition of independence. Unlike all her immediate neighbors, Burma , Laos , Cambodia and Malaysia , the country never fell to a European colonial power. More fundamentally, though, the Thai sense of identity is allied with Theravada Buddhism and the monarchy. Both have been dignified institutions since the Sukhothai period (13 th -14 th century), an era when the first real Thai kingdom flourished. Indeed, the colors of the modern Thai flag (thong trai rong) symbolize the nation (red), the three forces of
Buddhism
(white),
and the monarchy (blue).
Today, the great majority of Thailand 's 60 million inhabitants regard themselves as Thai. Hill tribes are the most obvious ethnic minority groups, but it is the Chinese who form the largest (and most integrated) groups. The various peoples live relatively peaceably nowadays. The country is divided into four main regions, and there are many subtle differences between the peoples and dialects of the Central Plains, North, Northeast, and South. Each region also has its own topographical identity. The North is an area of forested mountains, where hill-tribe minorities coexist with mainstream society. In the South, the narrow Kra Peninsula presents a 2500 km (1500 mile) coastline with a hilly interior of rainforests and rubber plantations. Malay-Muslim culture is a major influence here.
Between these two extremes are the Central Plains, the cradle of Thai civilization and a fertile, rice-growing region. Near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River , the capital, Bangkok , sprawls ever farther each year. Though its 200-year-old palatial splendor can still be discerned, the city is among the world's most congested and polluted. Different again is Northeast Thailand, the poorest part of the country occupying the Khorat Plateau, its eastern border with Laos defined by the Mekong River . In this semiarid region traditional farming communities, many of them Thai-Lao, eke out a subsistence living.
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