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This article is about the demographic features of the population of Thailand, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Thailand's population is relatively homogeneous, however, this is changing due to immigration. Ethnic Thais make up the majority of the population with 75 percent of the people being from a Thai ethnic group. Chinese make up 14 percent with the remaining 11 percent made up of various other groups.[1]
The language of the central Thai population is the educational language and administrative language. Several other small Tai groups include the Shan, Lue, and Phutai.
Malay and Yawi-speaking muslim's language of the south comprise another significant minority group (2.3%). Other groups include the Khmer; the Mon, who are substantially assimilated with the Thai; and the Vietnamese. Smaller mountain-dwelling tribes, such as the Hmong and Mein, as well as the Karen, number about 788,024. Some 300,000 Hmong, who ironically have lived this area for more generations than the Thais themselves, are to receive citizenship by 2010.
Thailand is also home to a significant number of registered foreigners from Asia, Europe, and North America, as well as an estimated several hundred thousand illegal immigrants, some of which are natives. Increasing numbers of migrants from Burma, Laos, and Cambodia as well as nations such as Nepal, India, along with those from the West and Japan have pushed the number of non-nationals residing in Thailand to close to 2 million in 2008, up from about 1.3 million in the year 2000. A rising awareness of minorities is slowly changing attitudes in a country where non-nationals, some having resided in what is now Thailand longer than the Thais themselves, are barred from numerous privileges ranging from healthcare, ownership of property, or schooling in their own language.
The population is mostly rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern, and northern regions. However, as Thailand continues to industrialize, its urban population - 31.1% of the total population, principally in the Bangkok area - is growing.
Thailand's highly successful government-sponsored family planning program has resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from 3.1% in 1960 to around 0.4% today. Life expectancy also has risen, a positive reflection of Thailand's efforts in executing public health policies. However, the AIDS epidemic has had a major impact on the Thai population. Today, over 700,000 Thais are HIV or AIDS positive - approximately 2% of adult men and 1.5% of adult women. Every year, 30,000-50,000 Thais die from HIV or AIDS-related causes. Ninety percent of them aged 20–24, the youngest range of the workforce. The situation could have been worse; an aggressive public education campaign in the early 1990s reduced the number of new HIV infections from 150,000 to 25,000 annually.
The 1997 constitution mandated 12 years of free education, however, this is not provided universally. Education accounts for 19% of total government expenditures.
Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand and is officially the religion of about 97% of its people. However, the true figure lies closer to 85%, Muslims are some 10% and 5% other religions including Christianity, Hinduism, especially among immigrants. In addition to Malay and Yawi speaking Thais and other southerners who are Muslim, the Cham of Cambodia in recent years begun a large scale influx into Thailand. The government permits religious diversity, and other major religions are represented, though there is much social tension, especially in the South. Spirit worship and animism are widely practiced.
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| Period | Live births per year | Deaths per year | Natural change per year | CBR1 | CDR1 | NC1 | TFR1 | IMR1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950-1955 | 940 000 | 344 000 | 596 000 | 42.5 | 15.6 | 27.0 | 6.14 | 130.3 |
| 1955-1960 | 1 093 000 | 348 000 | 745 000 | 43.0 | 13.7 | 29.3 | 6.14 | 108.7 |
| 1960-1965 | 1 249 000 | 353 000 | 896 000 | 42.3 | 12.0 | 30.3 | 6.13 | 90.5 |
| 1965-1970 | 1 386 000 | 362 000 | 1 025 000 | 40.4 | 10.5 | 29.8 | 5.99 | 75.5 |
| 1970-1975 | 1 371 000 | 355 000 | 1 016 000 | 34.6 | 8.9 | 25.6 | 5.05 | 63.2 |
| 1975-1980 | 1 297 000 | 338 000 | 959 000 | 28.9 | 7.5 | 21.3 | 3.92 | 50.4 |
| 1980-1985 | 1 201 000 | 300 000 | 901 000 | 24.1 | 6.0 | 18.1 | 2.95 | 38.9 |
| 1985-1990 | 1 113 000 | 266 000 | 848 000 | 20.4 | 4.9 | 15.5 | 2.30 | 29.1 |
| 1990-1995 | 1 050 000 | 313 000 | 737 000 | 18.0 | 5.4 | 12.6 | 1.99 | 22.6 |
| 1995-2000 | 955 000 | 373 000 | 582 000 | 15.6 | 6.1 | 9.5 | 1.77 | 18.6 |
| 2000-2005 | 914 000 | 426 000 | 488 000 | 14.1 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 1.68 | 15.1 |
| 2005-2010 | 873 000 | 486 000 | 386 000 | 12.9 | 7.2 | 5.7 | 1.63 | 12.4 |
| 1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births | ||||||||
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
According to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand has a population of about 70 million people
0 migrants/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Tai (including Lao, who make up about ⅓ of the Thai population ) 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
Buddhism 94.6%, Islam 4.6%, Christianity 0.7%, Hinduism 0.1%, other (including Judaism) 0.1% (2000)
Thai (including Isan), English (secondary language), Isan as well as other ethnic and regional languages and dialects.