Part of the country series of articles.
TRAVEL ADVISORY: EXERCISE CAUTIONThe Commonwealth advises travellers to exercise caution in this country. Some areas or circumstances may carry elevated risk. Travellers should monitor local conditions and follow the guidance of local authorities.
| Republic of Thailand | |
|---|---|
| Federal Constitutional Republic | |
 |
|
| Capital | Bangkok |
| Languages | Thai |
| Population | 68,200,000 |
The Republic of Thailand is a federal republic in Southeast Asia and one of the most stable countries in the region. It was a monarchy until the mid-twentieth century, and has a long and difficult relationship with the Lao PDR across the Mekong. Perhaps because of their shared language and religion, the Bangkok government also maintains close relations with the Kingdom of Laos to balance Vietnamese influence over the Lao PDR. Thai investment has paid for new roads, bridges and barracks across the kingdom, most of which have been built since the 2030s, although Vietnam still effectively regards the kingdom as a Thai client state. The Bangkok government has also run the Kra Canal jointly with Malaya since its construction, despite occasional disputes over tolls.
Thailand has a pluralistic parliamentary system, dominated for most of its history by the agrarian socialist Thai National Party, and has held regular elections since the abolition of the monarchy. The countryside is run largely by village cooperatives and the monasteries. Its regional divisions are pronounced, with Thais in the central plains and most of the civil service, Lao speakers in the northeast, hill peoples in the north and Malay Muslims in the far south. Among them, the Lao of the northeast are the poorest and the most loyal voters of the Thai National Party. It is a deeply Buddhist country (mostly Theravada) and its ostensibly secular institutions retain a religious character.
The country exports rice, sugar, cassava and maize (much of which is grown in the Chao Phraya basin and reaches Japan through Bangkok). It is also famous for its student uniforms, primarily those of the universities in Bangkok, which date from the early twentieth century and are still rare outside Southeast Asia.