The Kingdom of Thailand (Muang Thai) formerly known as Siam, and later Thai, is a country in south east Asia. Originally inhabited by the Khmer people, around the start of the 14th century the Thai people from Yunnan in China moved south after their capital Nanchao was destroyed by Mongols in 1253, and in 1350 they siezed Sukhothai and made it the capital of the new Thai kingdom, the capital being moved to Bangkok by Rana I. Thailand was formerly called Siam from 1856 until 1939, and was then popularly known in the west as Thai.
The Kingdom of Thailand encompasses various terrain ranging from mountains in the north and west to plains. The population is more than half Thais with Malays, the Karen, Chinese, Lawa and Semang among others forming minorities. The official language is Thai, with English also widely spoken and compulsory education in school. The religions are Buddhist and Muslim. Research Thailand
Abbreviations
Gazetteer
Research Thailand