Thailand officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country located at the center of Southeast Asia.

It is
bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of
Thailand and Malaysia, and to the est by the Andaman Sea and the southern e!tremity of Burma. Its
maritime boundaries include "ietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast and Indonesia and India in
the Andaman Sea to the southest.
The country is a #ingdom, ith most recorded reigns in the orld$ a constitutional monarchy ith King
Bhumibol Adulyade%, the ninth #ing of the &ouse of Cha#ri, ho has reigned since '()*, ma#ing him the
orld+s longest,ser-ing current head of state and the longest,reigning monarch in Thai history.
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The #ing
is officially titled &ead of State, the &ead of the Armed 1orces, an 23holder of the Buddhist religion, and
the 4efender of all 1aiths.
Thailand is the orld+s 56th largest country in terms of total area 7slightly smaller than 8emen and slightly
larger than S3ain9, ith a surface area of a33ro!imately 5':,666 #m
;
7'(<,666 s= mi9, and the ;'st most,
3o3ulous country, ith a33ro!imately *) million 3eo3le. The largest city is Bang#o#, the ca3ital, hich is
also the country+s center of 3olitical, commercial, industrial and cultural acti-ities. The country+s official
language is Thai. The 3rimary religion is Buddhism, hich is 3racticed by around (5> of all Thais.
Thai culture has been sha3ed by many influences, including Indian, Lao, Burmese, Cambodian, and
Chinese.
Thai cuisine is the national cuisine of Thailand. Thai cuisine 3laces em3hasis on lightly 3re3ared dishes
ith strong aromatic com3onents. Thai cuisine is #non for being s3icy. Balance, detail and -ariety are
im3ortant to Thai coo#ing. Thai food is #non for its balance of the fi-e fundamental taste senses in each
dish or the o-erall meal? hot 7s3icy9, sour, seet, salty, and 7o3tional9 bitter.
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Although 3o3ularly considered a single cuisine, Thai food ould be more accurately described as four
regional cuisines corres3onding to the four main regions of the country? @orthern, @ortheastern 7or Isan9,
Central, and Southern, each cuisine sharing similar foods or foods deri-ed from those of neighboring
countries and regions? Burma, the Chinese 3ro-ince of 8unnan and Laos to the north, Cambodia to the east
and Malaysia to the south of Thailand. In addition to these four regional cuisines, there is also the Thai
Aoyal Cuisine hich can trace its history bac# to the 3alace cuisine of the Ayutthaya #ingdom 7':5'B'/*/
CC9. Its refinement, coo#ing techni=ues and its use of ingredients ere of great influence to the cuisine of
the Central Thai 3lains.
The culinary traditions and cuisines of Thailand+s neighbors ha-e influenced Thai cuisine o-er many
centuries. Aegional -ariations tend to correlate to neighboring states as ell as climate and geogra3hy.
Southern curries tend to contain coconut mil# and fresh turmeric, hile northeastern dishes often include
lime %uice. The cuisine of @ortheastern 7or Isan9 Thailand is hea-ily influenced by Lao cuisine. Many
3o3ular dishes eaten in Thailand ere originally Chinese dishes hich ere introduced to Thailand mainly
by the Teoche 3eo3le ho ma#e u3 the ma%ority of the Thai Chinese. Such dishes include chok 7rice
3orridge9, kuai-tiao rat na 7fried rice,noodles9 and khao kha mu 7steed 3or# ith rice9. The Chinese also
introduced the use of a o# for coo#ing, the techni=ue of dee3,frying and stir,frying dishes, and noodles
and soy 3roducts.