Rice is the most important crop, and Thailand had long been the world's leading exporter of rice, until recently falling behind both India and Vietnam. The country is popular for the growing practice of sex reassignment surgery and cosmetic surgery. Thailand ranks as the worlds fifth largest medical tourism destination in spending, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, attracting over 2.5 million visitors in 2018, and is number one in Asia. Western tourists visit Bangkok and surrounding areas, as well as the southern beaches and islands. In order to secure independence, it sought to pit one great power against the others so that it would be dominated by none. The powers of the king are limited by the constitution and he is primarily a symbolic figurehead. Most recently, the military junta self-titled as the National Council for Peace and Order ruled the country between 2014 and 2019. Thailand has had 20 constitutions and charters since 1932, including the latest and current 2017 constitution. The population of elephants, the national symbol, has fallen from 100,000 in 1850 to an estimated 2,000. Thailand has a mediocre but improving performance in the global Environmental Performance Index, with an overall ranking of 91 out of 180 countries in 2016. Klook offers day trips to most surrounding islands with free pickup. Phuket, like Krabi, is a good transport hub to other islands. Transport between the main town and other beaches is pricey. While the town of Ao Naug isn’t the nicest, it’s a great place to grab a boat over to Railay, a tiny picturesque white sandy beach village accessible only by sea. You can fly to Ko Samui from Bangkok easily or other cities internationally. (The only ones I like are the Similian Islands and Khao Lak.) Avoid the rainy season because beaches will be filled with trash and debris, including plastic. Varieties of Chinese are also spoken by the large Thai Chinese population, with the Teochew dialect best-represented. The largest of Thailand's minority languages is the Lao dialect of Isan spoken in the northeastern provinces. It is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout the country. Twenty million Central Thai (together with approximately 650,000 Khorat Thai) made up approximately 20,650,000 (34.1 per cent) of the state's population of 60,544,937 at the time of completion of the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data (1997). The remaining 4.1% of the population are Burmese (2.0%), others (1.3%), and unspecified (0.9%). Coal-fired power plants produce an additional 20% of electricity, with the remainder coming from biomass, hydro, and biogas. This means the country uses about twice as much biocapacity as it contains, resulting in a deficit. Bank of Thailand reported that during 2006–16, Thailand's top 5% largest companies had 85% of all corporate revenue in the nation, and only 6% of the country's companies were in export industries, which made up 60% of the country's GDP. Phuket is the largest airport with international flights, and Krabi is usually the cheaper option from Bangkok. (The airport is privately owned by Bangkok Airways and is one of the coolest airports I’ve ever visited.) Then, it’s easy to take a ferry to the other islands. (Si Satchanalai was the spiritual capital while Sukhothai was the political head of the first kingdom of Thailand.) For more things to do (including less touristy sites) in the Thai capital, read my detailed Bangkok Guide! The capital city boasts a sleek metro train system that makes it easy to get around. If islands are what you’re after, Ekelund calls Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park one of his favorite "natural playgrounds." Because it’s protected, you’ll need to book a tour to explore this 42-island archipelago. Thailand was the most visited country in Southeast Asia in 2013, according to the World Tourism Organisation. In 2019, Thailand received 39.8 million international tourists, ahead of United Kingdom and Germany and was the fourth highest in international tourism earning 60.5 billion US dollars. Prior to the pandemic, Thailand was the world's eighth most visited country according to the World Tourism rankings compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. As of 2012, due to its favourable taxation for 2-door pick-ups at only 3–12% against 17–50% for passenger cars, Thailand was the second largest consumer of pick-up trucks in the world, after the US. As of 2025[update], the Thai automotive industry was the largest in Southeast Asia and the 12th largest in the world. In 2014, Credit Suisse reported that Thailand was the world's third most unequal country, behind Russia and India. It is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia, ranking midway in the wealth spread in Southeast Asia as the fourth richest nation according to GDP per capita. Muslims constitute the second largest religious group in Thailand, comprising 5.37% of the population in 2018. According to the 2018 National Statistical Office data, 93.46% of the country's population self-identified as Buddhists. The population is largely rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern, and northern regions. Around the 10th century, the city-states of Dvaravati merged into the mandalas of Lavo (modern Lopburi) and Suvarnabhumi (modern Suphan Buri). Dvaravati art, including the Buddha sculptures and stupas, showed strong similarities to those of the Gupta Empire of India. Some historians suggest that Lavo's capital, Lopburi, was once seized by Phrom.
