Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • As of December 2016, Thailand’s incoming king has been implicated in a number of embarrassing

  • scandals.

  • With many fearing he may disrupt the country, we wanted to know just how powerful is Thailand?

  • Well, at roughly 200,000 square miles, Thailand is the second largest country in the Indochinese

  • Peninsula.

  • In fact, if it were a state in the US, it would be the third largest, bigger than California

  • but smaller than Texas.

  • However, the country’s population is roughly equal to both those statespopulations

  • combined, with about 68 million people.

  • More than 90% are ethnically Thai, speak Thai, and are Buddhist, the country’s official

  • religion.

  • In particular, Thailand is closely connected to Theravada Buddhism, which values charity

  • and eschews materialism, and is widely practiced among Southeast Asian countries.

  • Thailand’s economy is relatively strong, and is considered a “middle power”.

  • With a GDP of nearly $400 billion dollars, it ranks 27th worldwide, and 2nd in Southeast

  • Asia after Indonesia.

  • In the 1980s, the United States dollar was devalued by way of the Plaza accord, and since

  • Thailand’s currency, the baht, was largely backed by US currency, the baht was devalued

  • as well.

  • This meant that other countries, Japan in particular, could get more out of their Thai

  • investments, as Japan’s currency had actually increased in value.

  • This led to significant investment in Thailand by foreign countries, and a strong export

  • economy based on electronics, agriculture, automobiles, and processed food.

  • But in recent years, domestic troubles have weakened the economy.

  • In 2014, the military launched a coup d’etat, the country’s 12th in less than a century.

  • The new junta [Hoon-Tah] government dissolved the existing government and parliament, and

  • gave its leader-general executive and legislative power, repealing the constitution with the

  • exception of the king, who stayed in place.

  • Thailand’s military is rather powerful, with more than half a million available troops,

  • and a 5.4-billion-dollar defense budget, accounting for more than 1% of the GDP.

  • According to Global Firepower, Thailand ranks 20th worldwide, between Iran and Taiwan.

  • Coupled with the newly established military head, many believe that Thailand could ultimately

  • become a military dictatorship, especially as new 2016 laws allow military members to

  • detain and arrest civilians.

  • And this isn’t the only problem Thailand is struggling with.

  • The country has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Asia, with nearly half a million

  • citizens infected with the disease.

  • Many blame this on the low rate of condom use, the country’s illicit sex trade, and

  • intravenous drug use.

  • But HIV/AIDS rates have dropped in recent years due to concentrated efforts by the government,

  • and other countries like the United States.

  • These issues have also affected tourism in the country, which contributes to nearly a

  • fifth of the GDP.

  • In fact, Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, is one of the most visited cities in the world.

  • With a perpetually unsteady government, and a new controversial king, Thailand may be

  • a popular power, but for how long, remains to be seen.

  • We can’t do episodes like this without our sponsors and this episode is brought to you

  • by Domain DOT COM.

  • If youre an entrepreneur, innovator, or building a small business, DOMAIN DOT COM

  • is the place to go when that next great idea hits you.

  • Get 20% off Domain Dot Com’s already affordable domain names and web hosting when you use

  • coupon code SEEKER at checkout.

  • When you think domain names, think DOMAIN DOT COM.

  • Despite laws prohibiting criticism of the royal monarchy, the new king is widely seen

  • as unpopular.

  • So, how did he come to power despite his unpopularity, and what exactly has he done that's so controversial?

  • Find out in this video.

  • Well, Thai royalty is somewhat unique.

  • First, being one of very few monarchies in the world, Thailand narrows down even further

  • as one of the only countries left to punish negative or insulting speech against the king.

  • Thanks for watching Seeker Daily; don't forget to like and subscribe for more videos every

  • day.

As of December 2016, Thailand’s incoming king has been implicated in a number of embarrassing

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it