Abstract
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy on the western Indo Chinese Peninsula. Formerly Siam, Thailand has 73 provinces and borders Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. In 2004 Thailand’s population was about 64.9 million. In the same year, 75% of the population were ethnic Thai, 14% ethnic Chinese and the other 11% were Khmer, Mon and Indigenous (SBS 2004). The present King, Rama IX took the throne in 1946 and is the world’s longest reigning monarch (RTEW 1996). While Thailand is a majority Buddhist nation it has an extended history of religious diversity and tolerance. According to the draft constitution of 2007 the Thai King remains the ‘upholder’ of all religions practiced by the Thai people (Government of Thailand 2007, S9). While the monarchy has remained a stable institution Thailand has had periodic political upheavals including coups and civil unrest. In 2008 Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was forced from office after violent demonstrations and a ruling by the Constitutional Court (BBCNews 2009).
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Bouma, G.D., Ling, R., Pratt, D. (2010). Thailand. In: Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3389-5_12
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