Portal:Thailand/randomization enabled version
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Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Nature · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology   The Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย) is a country in Southeast Asia. The country traces its origin to the Sukhothai Kingdom founded in 1238 and its successive Ayutthaya Kingdom. The heart-land of the country is the Chao Phraya plain around its capital Bangkok. It has a coast to both the Gulf of Thailand as well as the Andaman Sea, bordering the countries Malaysia to the south, Myanmar to the west and Laos and Cambodia to the east. The Thai political system is a Constitutional Monarchy with HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej as the head of the state and Samak Sundaravej as the prime minister. With a population of more than 60 million, Thailand's GDP is ranked 21st in the world. The people speak Thai and the overwhelming majority are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition.  The name Phra Pathom Chedi means Holy chedi (stupa) of the beginning. The stupa at the location is first mentioned in scriptures of the year 675, however archaeological findings date a first stupa to the 4th century. In the 11th century it was overbuilt with a Khmer style prang, which was later overgrown by the jungle. The ruin was visited several times by the later King Mongkut during his time as a monk, and after his coronation he ordered the building of a new and more magnificent chedi at the site. After 17 years of construction it was finished in 1870, and the population of nearby Nakhon Chai Si was ordered to move to the newly created town around the chedi.  Thailand is home to 982 species of birds that have been recorded in the wild, of which three are endemic, one has been introduced by humans, and 45 are rare or accidental. Seven species listed are extirpated in Thailand and are not included in the species count. Forty-nine species are globally threatened. In 1991, it was estimated that 159 resident and 23 migratory species were endangered or vulnerable, due to forest clearance, illegal logging, hunting, and habitat degradation, especially in the lowlands. Those species most affected are large water birds, whose wetland habitat is lost to agriculture, and forest species, where deforestation for agriculture and logging have removed or degraded the woodlands. Currently active is the Wikiproject Thai districts, targeting to give all of the Amphoe, King Amphoe and Khet an article. More or less finished is Thai provinces, but as usual the articles can still be further enlarged.
January 
December 2007
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