Energy

Further information: Energy in Thailand

75% of Thailand's electrical generation is powered by natural gas in 2014.[174] Coal-fired power plants produce an
additional 20% of electricity, with the remainder coming from biomass, hydro, and biogas.[174]
Thailand produces roughly one-third of the oil it consumes. It is the second largest importer of oil in SE Asia. Thailand
is a large producer of natural gas, with reserves of at least 10 trillion cubic feet. After Indonesia, it is the largest coal
producer in SE Asia, but must import additional coal to meet domestic demand.

Informal economy
Thailand has a diverse and robust informal labour sector—in 2012, it was estimated that informal workers comprised
62.6% of the Thai workforce. The Ministry of Labour defines informal workers to be individuals who work in informal
economies and do not have employee status under a given country's Labour Protection Act (LPA). The informal
sector in Thailand has grown significantly over the past 60 years over the course of Thailand's gradual transition from
an agriculture-based economy to becoming more industrialised and service-oriented.[175] Between 1993 and 1995, ten
percent of the Thai labour force moved from the agricultural sector to urban and industrial jobs, especially in the
manufacturing sector. It is estimated that between 1988 and 1995, the number of factory workers in the country
doubled from two to four million, as Thailand's GDP tripled.[176] While the Asian Financial Crisis that followed in 1997
hit the Thai economy hard, the industrial sector continued to expand under widespread deregulation, as Thailand was
mandated to adopt a range of structural adjustment reforms upon receiving funding from the IMF and World Bank.
These reforms implemented an agenda of increased privatisation and trade liberalisation in the country, and
decreased federal subsidisation of public goods and utilities, agricultural price supports, and regulations on fair wages
and labour conditions.[177] These changes put further pressure on the agricultural sector, and prompted continued
migration from the rural countryside to the growing cities. Many migrant farmers found work in Thailand's growing
manufacturing industry, and took jobs in sweatshops and factories with few labour regulations and often exploitative
conditions.[178]
Those that could not find formal factory work, including illegal migrants and the families of rural Thai migrants that
followed their relatives to the urban centres, turned to the informal sector to provide the extra support needed for
survival—under the widespread regulation imposed by the structural adjustment programs, one family member
working in a factory or sweatshop made very little. Scholars argue that the economic consequences and social costs
of Thailand's labour reforms in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis fell on individuals and families rather than
the state. This can be described as the "externalisation of market risk", meaning that as the country's labour market
became increasingly deregulated, the burden and responsibility of providing an adequate livelihood shifted from
employers and the state to the workers themselves, whose families had to find jobs in the informal sector to make up
for the losses and subsidise the wages being made by their relatives in the formal sector. The weight of these
economic changes hit migrants and the urban poor especially hard, and the informal sector expanded rapidly as a
result.[177]
Today, informal labour in Thailand is typically broken down into three main groups: subcontracted/self
employed/home-based workers, service workers (including those that are employed in restaurants, as street vendors,
masseuses, taxi drivers, and as domestic workers), and agricultural workers. Not included in these categories are
those that work in entertainment, nightlife, and the sex industry. Individuals employed in these facets of the informal
labour sector face additional vulnerabilities, including recruitment into circles of sexual exploitation and human
trafficking.[175]
In general, education levels are low in the informal sector. A 2012 study found that 64% of informal workers had not
completed education beyond primary school. Many informal workers are also migrants, only some of which have
legal status in the country. Education and citizenship are two main barriers to entry for those looking to work in formal
industries, and enjoy the labour protections and social security benefits that come along with formal employment.
Because the informal labour sector is not recognised under the Labour Protection Act (LPA), informal workers are
much more vulnerable labour to exploitation and unsafe working conditions than those employed in more formal and
federally recognised industries. While some Thai labour laws provide minimal protections to domestic and agricultural
workers, they are often weak and difficult to enforce. Furthermore, Thai social security policies fail to protect against
the risks many informal workers face, including workplace accidents and compensation as well as unemployment and
retirement insurance. Many informal workers are not legally contracted for their employment, and many do not make
a living wage.[175] As a result, labour trafficking is common in the region, affecting children and adults, men and
women, and migrants and Thai citizens alike.

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Thailand

Population pyramid 2016

Population in Thailand[179][180]

Year Million

1950 20.7

2000 62.9

2018 69.4

Thailand had a population of 66,558,935 as of 2019.[4] Thailand's population is largely rural, concentrated in the rice-
growing areas of the central, northeastern and northern regions. About 45.7% of Thailand's population lived in urban
areas as of 2010, concentrated mostly in and around the Bangkok Metropolitan Area.
Thailand's government-sponsored family planning program resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from
3.1% in 1960 to around 0.4% today. In 1970, an average of 5.7 people lived in a Thai household. At the time of the
2010 census, the average Thai household size was 3.2 people.

Ethnic groups
Further information: Ethnic groups in Thailand

A procession during the Hae Pha Khuen That festival of Wat Phra Mahathat

Thai nationals make up the majority of Thailand's population, 95.9% in 2010. The remaining 4.1% of the population
are Burmese (2.0%), others 1.3%, and unspecified 0.9%.[1]
 According to the Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for
the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department
of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice,:3 62 ethnic communities are officially recognised in
Thailand. Twenty million Central Thai (together with approximately 650,000 Khorat Thai) make up approximately
20,650,000 (34.1 percent) of the nation's population of 60,544,937[181] at the time of completion of the Mahidol
University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data (1997).[182]

Hill tribes girls in the Northeast of Thailand

The 2011 Thailand Country Report provides population numbers for mountain peoples ('hill tribes') and ethnic
communities in the Northeast and is explicit about its main reliance on the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of
Thailand data.[182] Thus, though over 3.288 million people in the Northeast alone could not be categorised, the
population and percentages of other ethnic communities circa 1997 are known for all of Thailand and constitute
minimum populations. In descending order, the largest (equal to or greater than 400,000) are a) 15,080,000 Lao
(24.9 percent) consisting of the Thai Lao (14 million) and other smaller Lao groups, namely the Thai Loei (400–
500,000), Lao Lom (350,000), Lao Wiang/Klang (200,000), Lao Khrang (90,000), Lao Ngaew (30,000), and Lao Ti
(10,000; b) six million Khon Muang (9.9 percent, also called Northern Thais); c) 4.5 million Pak Tai (7.5 percent, also
called Southern Thais); d) 1.4 million Khmer Leu (2.3 percent, also called Northern Khmer); e) 900,000 Malay (1.5%);
f) 500,000 Nyaw (0.8 percent); g) 470,000 Phu Thai (0.8 percent); h) 400,000 Kuy/Kuay (also known as Suay) (0.7
percent), and i) 350,000 Karen (0.6 percent).:7–13 Thai Chinese, those of significant Chinese heritage, are 14% of the
population, while Thais with partial Chinese ancestry comprise up to 40% of the population.[183] Thai Malays represent
3% of the population, with the remainder consisting of Mons, Khmers and various "hill tribes". The country's official
language is Thai and the primary religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is practised by around 95% of the
population.
Increasing numbers of migrants from neighbouring Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, as well as from Nepal and India,
have pushed the total number of non-national residents to around 3.5 million as of 2009, up from an estimated 2
million in 2008, and about 1.3 million in 2000.[184] Some 41,000 Britons and 20,000 Australians live in Thailand.[185][186]

Population centres
Further information: List of cities in Thailand

 v

 t

 e

Largest municipalities in Thailand

See template
Rank Name Province Pop. Rank Name Province
1 Bangkok Bangkok 5,686,646 11 Pattaya City Chonburi
2 Nonthaburi City Nonthaburi 255,793 12 Nakhon Si Thammarat City Nakhon Si Thamma
3 Pak Kret City Nonthaburi 189,258 13 Nakhon Sawan City Nakhon Sawan
4 Hat Yai City Songkhla 159,627 14 Laem Chabang City Chonburi
5 Chaophraya Surasak City Chonburi 132,172 15 Rangsit City Pathum Thani
Bangkok
6 Nakhon Ratchasima City Nakhon Ratchasima 131,286 16 Phuket City Phuket
 7 Udon Thani City Udon Thani 131,192 17 Nakhon Pathom City Nakhon Pathom
8 Chiang Mai City Chiang Mai 131,091 18 Ubon Ratchathani City Ubon Ratchathani
9 Surat Thani City Surat Thani 130,114 19 Chiang Rai City Chiang Rai

10 Khon Kaen City Khon Kaen 120,045 20 Phitsanulok City Phitsanulok

Nonthaburi City

Language
Main article: Languages of Thailand

An ethnolinguistic map of Thailand.

The Silajaruek of Sukhothai Kingdom are hundreds of stone inscriptions that form a historical record of the period.

The official language of Thailand is Thai, a Kra–Dai language closely related to Lao, Shan in Myanmar, and
numerous smaller languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Yunnan south to the Chinese border. It is the
principal language of education and government and spoken throughout the country. The standard is based on the
dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida script that evolved from the Khmer
alphabet.
Sixty-two languages were recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report to the UN
Committee responsible for the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
which employed an ethnolinguistic approach and is available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion
of the Thai Ministry of Justice.:3 Southern Thai is spoken in the southern provinces, and Northern Thai is spoken in the
provinces that were formerly part of the independent kingdom of Lan Na. For the purposes of the national census,
which does not recognise all 62 languages recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report,
four dialects of Thai exist; these partly coincide with regional designations.
The largest of Thailand's minority languages is the Lao dialect of Isan spoken in the northeastern provinces. Although
sometimes considered a Thai dialect, it is a Lao dialect, and the region where it is traditionally spoken was historically
part of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang.[citation needed] In the far south, Kelantan-Pattani Malay is the primary language of
Malay Muslims. Varieties of Chinese are also spoken by the large Thai Chinese population, with the Teochew
dialect best-represented.
Numerous tribal languages are also spoken, including many Austroasiatic languages such
as Mon, Khmer, Viet, Mlabri and Orang Asli; Austronesian languages such as Cham and Moken; Sino-Tibetan
languages like Lawa, Akha, and Karen; and other Tai languages such as Tai Yo, Phu Thai, and Saek. Hmong is a
member of the Hmong–Mien languages, which is now regarded as a language family of its own.
English is a mandatory school subject, but the number of fluent speakers remains low, especially outside cities.

Religion
Main article: Religion in Thailand
Religion in Thailand (2015)[187]
Religion Percent
Buddhism   94.50%
Islam   4.29%
Christianity   1.17%
Hinduism   0.03%
Unaffiliated/others 0.01%

Thailand's prevalent religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is an integral part of Thai identity and culture. Active
participation in Buddhism is among the highest in the world. According to the 2000 census, 94.6% and 93.58% in
2010 of the country's population self-identified as Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Muslims constitute the second
largest religious group in Thailand, comprising 4.29% of the population in 2015.[188]

Samanera of Theravada Buddhism, the most practised religion in Thailand.

Islam is concentrated mostly in the country's southernmost provinces: Pattani, Yala, Satun, Narathiwat, and part

of Songkhla Chumphon, which are predominantly Malay, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. Christians represented
1.17% (2015) of the population in 2015, with the remaining population consisting of Hindus and Sikhs, who live
mostly in the country's cities. There is also a small but historically significant Jewish community in Thailand dating
back to the 17th century.
The constitution does not name official state religion, and provides for freedom of religion. Even the authority formally
does not register new religious groups that have not been accepted and limit the number of missionaries,
unregistered religious organisations as well as missionaries who are allowed to operate freely. There have been no
widespread reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice.[189]

Energy
Further information: Energy in Thailand
75% of Thailand's electrical generation is powered by natural gas in 2014.[174] Coal-fired power plants produce an
additional 20% of electricity, with the remainder coming from biomass, hydro, and biogas.[174]
Thailand produces roughly one-third of the oil it consumes. It is the second largest importer of oil in SE Asia. Thailand
is a large producer of natural gas, with reserves of at least 10 trillion cubic feet. After Indonesia, it is the largest coal
producer in SE Asia, but must import additional coal to meet domestic demand.

Informal economy
Thailand has a diverse and robust informal labour sector—in 2012, it was estimated that informal workers comprised
62.6% of the Thai workforce. The Ministry of Labour defines informal workers to be individuals who work in informal
economies and do not have employee status under a given country's Labour Protection Act (LPA). The informal
sector in Thailand has grown significantly over the past 60 years over the course of Thailand's gradual transition from
an agriculture-based economy to becoming more industrialised and service-oriented.[175] Between 1993 and 1995, ten
percent of the Thai labour force moved from the agricultural sector to urban and industrial jobs, especially in the
manufacturing sector. It is estimated that between 1988 and 1995, the number of factory workers in the country
doubled from two to four million, as Thailand's GDP tripled.[176] While the Asian Financial Crisis that followed in 1997
hit the Thai economy hard, the industrial sector continued to expand under widespread deregulation, as Thailand was
mandated to adopt a range of structural adjustment reforms upon receiving funding from the IMF and World Bank.
These reforms implemented an agenda of increased privatisation and trade liberalisation in the country, and
decreased federal subsidisation of public goods and utilities, agricultural price supports, and regulations on fair wages
and labour conditions.[177] These changes put further pressure on the agricultural sector, and prompted continued
migration from the rural countryside to the growing cities. Many migrant farmers found work in Thailand's growing
manufacturing industry, and took jobs in sweatshops and factories with few labour regulations and often exploitative
conditions.[178]
Those that could not find formal factory work, including illegal migrants and the families of rural Thai migrants that
followed their relatives to the urban centres, turned to the informal sector to provide the extra support needed for
survival—under the widespread regulation imposed by the structural adjustment programs, one family member
working in a factory or sweatshop made very little. Scholars argue that the economic consequences and social costs
of Thailand's labour reforms in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis fell on individuals and families rather than
the state. This can be described as the "externalisation of market risk", meaning that as the country's labour market
became increasingly deregulated, the burden and responsibility of providing an adequate livelihood shifted from
employers and the state to the workers themselves, whose families had to find jobs in the informal sector to make up
for the losses and subsidise the wages being made by their relatives in the formal sector. The weight of these
economic changes hit migrants and the urban poor especially hard, and the informal sector expanded rapidly as a
result.[177]
Today, informal labour in Thailand is typically broken down into three main groups: subcontracted/self
employed/home-based workers, service workers (including those that are employed in restaurants, as street vendors,
masseuses, taxi drivers, and as domestic workers), and agricultural workers. Not included in these categories are
those that work in entertainment, nightlife, and the sex industry. Individuals employed in these facets of the informal
labour sector face additional vulnerabilities, including recruitment into circles of sexual exploitation and human
trafficking.[175]
In general, education levels are low in the informal sector. A 2012 study found that 64% of informal workers had not
completed education beyond primary school. Many informal workers are also migrants, only some of which have
legal status in the country. Education and citizenship are two main barriers to entry for those looking to work in formal
industries, and enjoy the labour protections and social security benefits that come along with formal employment.
Because the informal labour sector is not recognised under the Labour Protection Act (LPA), informal workers are
much more vulnerable labour to exploitation and unsafe working conditions than those employed in more formal and
federally recognised industries. While some Thai labour laws provide minimal protections to domestic and agricultural
workers, they are often weak and difficult to enforce. Furthermore, Thai social security policies fail to protect against
the risks many informal workers face, including workplace accidents and compensation as well as unemployment and
retirement insurance. Many informal workers are not legally contracted for their employment, and many do not make
a living wage.[175] As a result, labour trafficking is common in the region, affecting children and adults, men and
women, and migrants and Thai citizens alike.

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Thailand
Population pyramid 2016

Population in Thailand[179][180]

Year Million

1950 20.7

2000 62.9

2018 69.4

Thailand had a population of 66,558,935 as of 2019.[4] Thailand's population is largely rural, concentrated in the rice-
growing areas of the central, northeastern and northern regions. About 45.7% of Thailand's population lived in urban
areas as of 2010, concentrated mostly in and around the Bangkok Metropolitan Area.
Thailand's government-sponsored family planning program resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from
3.1% in 1960 to around 0.4% today. In 1970, an average of 5.7 people lived in a Thai household. At the time of the
2010 census, the average Thai household size was 3.2 people.

Ethnic groups
Further information: Ethnic groups in Thailand

A procession during the Hae Pha Khuen That festival of Wat Phra Mahathat

Thai nationals make up the majority of Thailand's population, 95.9% in 2010. The remaining 4.1% of the population
are Burmese (2.0%), others 1.3%, and unspecified 0.9%.[1]
According to the Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for
the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department
of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice,:3 62 ethnic communities are officially recognised in
 Thailand. Twenty million Central Thai (together with approximately 650,000 Khorat Thai) make up approximately
20,650,000 (34.1 percent) of the nation's population of 60,544,937[181] at the time of completion of the Mahidol
University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data (1997).[182]

Hill tribes girls in the Northeast of Thailand

The 2011 Thailand Country Report provides population numbers for mountain peoples ('hill tribes') and ethnic
communities in the Northeast and is explicit about its main reliance on the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of
Thailand data.[182] Thus, though over 3.288 million people in the Northeast alone could not be categorised, the
population and percentages of other ethnic communities circa 1997 are known for all of Thailand and constitute
minimum populations. In descending order, the largest (equal to or greater than 400,000) are a) 15,080,000 Lao
(24.9 percent) consisting of the Thai Lao (14 million) and other smaller Lao groups, namely the Thai Loei (400–
500,000), Lao Lom (350,000), Lao Wiang/Klang (200,000), Lao Khrang (90,000), Lao Ngaew (30,000), and Lao Ti
(10,000; b) six million Khon Muang (9.9 percent, also called Northern Thais); c) 4.5 million Pak Tai (7.5 percent, also
called Southern Thais); d) 1.4 million Khmer Leu (2.3 percent, also called Northern Khmer); e) 900,000 Malay (1.5%);
f) 500,000 Nyaw (0.8 percent); g) 470,000 Phu Thai (0.8 percent); h) 400,000 Kuy/Kuay (also known as Suay) (0.7
percent), and i) 350,000 Karen (0.6 percent).:7–13 Thai Chinese, those of significant Chinese heritage, are 14% of the
population, while Thais with partial Chinese ancestry comprise up to 40% of the population.[183] Thai Malays represent
3% of the population, with the remainder consisting of Mons, Khmers and various "hill tribes". The country's official
language is Thai and the primary religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is practised by around 95% of the
population.
Increasing numbers of migrants from neighbouring Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, as well as from Nepal and India,
have pushed the total number of non-national residents to around 3.5 million as of 2009, up from an estimated 2
million in 2008, and about 1.3 million in 2000.[184] Some 41,000 Britons and 20,000 Australians live in Thailand.[185][186]

Population centres
Further information: List of cities in Thailand

 v

 t

 e

Largest municipalities in Thailand

See template
Rank Name Province Pop. Rank Name Province
1 Bangkok Bangkok 5,686,646 11 Pattaya City Chonburi
2 Nonthaburi City Nonthaburi 255,793 12 Nakhon Si Thammarat City Nakhon Si Thamma
3 Pak Kret City Nonthaburi 189,258 13 Nakhon Sawan City Nakhon Sawan
4 Hat Yai City Songkhla 159,627 14 Laem Chabang City Chonburi
5 Chaophraya Surasak City Chonburi 132,172 15 Rangsit City Pathum Thani
Bangkok
6 Nakhon Ratchasima City Nakhon Ratchasima 131,286 16 Phuket City Phuket
7 Udon Thani City Udon Thani 131,192 17 Nakhon Pathom City Nakhon Pathom
8 Chiang Mai City Chiang Mai 131,091 18 Ubon Ratchathani City Ubon Ratchathani
9 Surat Thani City Surat Thani 130,114 19 Chiang Rai City Chiang Rai
 10 Khon Kaen City Khon Kaen 120,045 20 Phitsanulok City Phitsanulok

Language
Main article: Languages of Thailand

An ethnolinguistic map of Thailand.

The Silajaruek of Sukhothai Kingdom are hundreds of stone inscriptions that form a historical record of the period.

The official language of Thailand is Thai, a Kra–Dai language closely related to Lao, Shan in Myanmar, and
numerous smaller languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Yunnan south to the Chinese border. It is the
principal language of education and government and spoken throughout the country. The standard is based on the
dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida script that evolved from the Khmer
alphabet.
Sixty-two languages were recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report to the UN
Committee responsible for the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
which employed an ethnolinguistic approach and is available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion
of the Thai Ministry of Justice.:3 Southern Thai is spoken in the southern provinces, and Northern Thai is spoken in the
provinces that were formerly part of the independent kingdom of Lan Na. For the purposes of the national census,
which does not recognise all 62 languages recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report,
four dialects of Thai exist; these partly coincide with regional designations.
The largest of Thailand's minority languages is the Lao dialect of Isan spoken in the northeastern provinces. Although
sometimes considered a Thai dialect, it is a Lao dialect, and the region where it is traditionally spoken was historically
part of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang.[citation needed] In the far south, Kelantan-Pattani Malay is the primary language of
Malay Muslims. Varieties of Chinese are also spoken by the large Thai Chinese population, with the Teochew
dialect best-represented.
Numerous tribal languages are also spoken, including many Austroasiatic languages such
as Mon, Khmer, Viet, Mlabri and Orang Asli; Austronesian languages such as Cham and Moken; Sino-Tibetan
languages like Lawa, Akha, and Karen; and other Tai languages such as Tai Yo, Phu Thai, and Saek. Hmong is a
member of the Hmong–Mien languages, which is now regarded as a language family of its own.
English is a mandatory school subject, but the number of fluent speakers remains low, especially outside cities.

Religion
Main article: Religion in Thailand
Religion in Thailand (2015)[187]
Religion Percent
Buddhism   94.50%
Islam   4.29%
Christianity   1.17%
Hinduism   0.03%
Unaffiliated/others 0.01%

Thailand's prevalent religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is an integral part of Thai identity and culture. Active
participation in Buddhism is among the highest in the world. According to the 2000 census, 94.6% and 93.58% in
2010 of the country's population self-identified as Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Muslims constitute the second
largest religious group in Thailand, comprising 4.29% of the population in 2015.[188]

Samanera of Theravada Buddhism, the most practised religion in Thailand.

Islam is concentrated mostly in the country's southernmost provinces: Pattani, Yala, Satun, Narathiwat, and part

of Songkhla Chumphon, which are predominantly Malay, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. Christians represented
1.17% (2015) of the population in 2015, with the remaining population consisting of Hindus and Sikhs, who live
mostly in the country's cities. There is also a small but historically significant Jewish community in Thailand dating
back to the 17th century.
The constitution does not name official state religion, and provides for freedom of religion. Even the authority formally
does not register new religious groups that have not been accepted and limit the number of missionaries,
unregistered religious organisations as well as missionaries who are allowed to operate freely. There have been no
widespread reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice.[189]