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About Thailand
Thailand, which means “land of the free”, was also known as “Siam”, and is located in the heart of Southeast Asia. The country shares borders with Laos and Cambodia in the east, Laos and Myanmar in the north, the Andaman Sea and Myanmar in the west and the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia in the south. The country is spread over 513,120 km2 and encompasses diverse ecosystems: mountains, hills, plateaus, plains and a rugged coastline. This amazing country has a proud history of a rice‐growing culture going back to 4000 BC. But archeological evidence revealed Thailand is one of the oldest settled areas in the world. Homo erectus (dated to between 1.6‒0.25 million years ago) lived here. Buddhism is the national religion of Thailand, about 90% of the people are Buddhist. But there is total religious freedom inside the country and all major religions can be found in practice. Thai culture has been shaped by many influences, including Burmese, Indian, Chinese, Lao and Cambodian. But many of the Thai festivals are linked to Buddhist and Brahman rituals.
Climate
Thailand's climate varies from the subtropical to the tropical zones. Travelers can visit Thailand throughout the year. But more rural parts become less accessible during the rainy season. Generally, the best time to visit Thailand is during the dry season from November to March. Thailand's climate changes by regions from Northern Thailand (northward from the great Central Plain) to Southern Thailand (southward from the great Central Plain). In Northern Thailand, the weather is mostly dry between November to February and March to May. Since the northeast monsoon does not directly affect the northern area of Thailand, that area experiences relatively high temperatures in those periods. From May to November, this part of Thailand is dominated by the southwest monsoon, and gets the heaviest rainfall. In Southern Thailand, the weather is mostly wet and affected by two monsoon seasons. The west side of the peninsula is affected by the southwest monsoon from April through to October and gets heavy rainfall. On the east side, the most rain falls between September and December due to the northeast monsoon. Average seasonal temperatures vary between a low of 23 0C and a high of 34 0C. The annual average rainfall stands between 1,000‒4,000 mm from Northern to Southern Thailand.
