Thailand 🇹🇭

Quick facts

• Capital: Bangkok
• Continent: Asia
• Population: 71,697,030
• Area: 513,120 km²
• Density: 140 people per km²
• Currency: THB
• Languages: Thai
• ISO code: TH

Where Thailand sits

Thailand 🇹🇭 is one of 48 countries in Asia, with its capital at Bangkok. It covers 513,120 square kilometres — 50th in the world — and is home to about 71,697,030 people, 20th globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Thailand compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Thailand sits closest to United Kingdom and Tanzania. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Spain and Yemen.

At 140 people per square kilometre it is about 2.4 times the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.

Thai is listed as official in Thailand alone. The THB is used by Thailand and no one else.

To see Thailand next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Thailand

Thais call Bangkok Krung Thep, and its full ceremonial name is the longest place name in the world, 168 letters long. For the flag, Thailand has blue in the middle with red at the edges, and Costa Rica is the other way round.

The flag of Thailand: red, white and blue

🇹🇭 The flag is five horizontal stripes of red, white, a wide blue stripe, white and red. Red stands for the nation, white for religion and blue for the monarchy.

Region and neighbours

Thailand is a country in mainland Southeast Asia, with coasts on the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. It shares land borders with 4 countries: Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

• Myanmar 🇲🇲 — capital Naypyidaw
• Laos 🇱🇦 — capital Vientiane
• Cambodia 🇰🇭 — capital Phnom Penh
• Malaysia 🇲🇾 — capital Kuala Lumpur

Three facts about Thailand

1. Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonised by a Western power.
2. Guinness World Records lists Bangkok's full name as the world's longest place name.
3. Doi Inthanon, about 2,565 m high, is the highest mountain in Thailand.

Sources: Wikipedia: Thailand, Wikipedia: Flag of Thailand, Wikipedia: Bangkok, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Thailand

• Asian capitals quiz — match Thailand to Bangkok
• Asian flags quiz — spot the Thailand flag among its neighbours

Quizzes that include Thailand

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Thailand those are:

• Asia map quiz — place it on a blank map
• Asia flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
• Asia capitals quiz — match it to Bangkok
• Thailand capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Thailand, plus the answer quizzes most often try to trick you with
• Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Read more about Thailand

• Capital of Thailand: Bangkok — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
• All 48 countries of Asia

Nearby countries

• Afghanistan 🇦🇫 — capital Kabul
• Armenia 🇦🇲 — capital Yerevan
• Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 — capital Baku
• Bahrain 🇧🇭 — capital Manama
• Bangladesh 🇧🇩 — capital Dhaka
• Bhutan 🇧🇹 — capital Thimphu
• Brunei 🇧🇳 — capital Bandar Seri Begawan
• Cambodia 🇰🇭 — capital Phnom Penh
• China 🇨🇳 — capital Beijing
• Georgia 🇬🇪 — capital Tbilisi
• India 🇮🇳 — capital New Delhi
• Indonesia 🇮🇩 — capital Jakarta

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Thailand flag?

The flag of Thailand is five horizontal stripes of red, white, a wide blue stripe, white and red. Red stands for the nation, white for religion and blue for the monarchy.

Which countries border Thailand?

Thailand shares land borders with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

How can I remember the capital of Thailand?

Thais call Bangkok Krung Thep, and its full ceremonial name is the longest place name in the world, 168 letters long. For the flag, Thailand has blue in the middle with red at the edges, and Costa Rica is the other way round.