Thailand History

Thailand, Formerly 'Siam'

has a long, rich history dating back more than a thousand years. Thailand is located in south-east Asia with Laos sharing its northern and northeastern border, Cambodia sharing its eastern border, Myanmar (Burma) sharing its western border and Malaysia to its south. Major waters include the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. It has been a monarchy since the Chakri dynasty under King Rama I in 1782. In more recent times it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932 after a coup d’état when military leaders took over. In 2014 Thailand suffered another coup d’état when the military ousted the prime minister at the time. This same ruling authority has been in power since that time. Thailand’s beautiful beaches and towering mountains jutting out of the Andaman Sea have been featured in many travel magazines as well as the James Bond movie, ‘The Man with the Golden Gun.’ According to Joshua Project, Thailand has a population of 69.7 million people of which 88.7% are Buddhist which is the national religion, 4.5% Islam and only 1.3% Christian (Evangelical 0.6%). There are 113 people groups in Thailand of which 77 have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. More evangelical missionaries are needed in Thailand to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.