The Bangkok metropolis (‘Krung Thep Mahanakorn’) is the real political, economic and cultural heart of Thailand.

Wat Saket, or the ‘Golden Mount’,Bangkok

All the main national roads start from or converge to Bangkok. Most people who want to take up a job in Thailand do so in Bangkok. With more than 10 million inhabitants (even more than 12 million if you include all the seasonal workmen who are still registered in their home province but work and live in Bangkok), the population of Bangkok is as big as that of the entire population of Belgium!

Bangkok is also approximately 50x bigger than the country’s second city, Nakorn Ratchasima (or Korat, 215,000 inhabitants), and Chiang Mai, Thailand’s third largest city (204,000 inh). Compared to Belgian standards, Bangkok is 10x bigger than Brussels (agglomeration), 20x Antwerp, and 50x Liège! Belgians arriving in Thailand have to adjust their visions on country, population and liveliness, as their first impressions will immediately suggest.

The fertile Central Region is dominated by the Maenam Chao Phraya, Thailand’s main river, which crosses the country from north to south and zigzags through the capital. This region is Thailand’s ‘rice granary’ and produces most of the country’s main agricultural export product.

Near its western border with Myanmar (Burma) flows the River Kwai,
where the famous bridge is located.

Also called ‘Isaan’, this is the biggest but also the poorest region. The area borders Laos and Cambodia, and the population (as well as its distinctive food, popular everywhere in Thailand) is sometimes referred to as ‘Lao’. The principle economic activity is agriculture. With its own charm in terms of landscape and cultural heritage, Isaan saw its domestic and international tourism industry fast developing in recent times.

Pattaya is the long-time beach celebrity of the Eastern Seaboard, the northernmost shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Because of this attraction, and also due to the development of industrial parks around the deep-sea port of Sattahip and the container harbor of Laem Chabang, many expats also live in this part of Thailand. Islands in the Gulf of Thailand, such as Koh Samet and Koh Chang, developed as bursting tourism resorts.

Thailand’s narrowing ‘trunk’ extends southwards towards Malaysia, separating the Andaman Sea – and its western coastline with the tourist island of Phuket – from the Gulf of Thailand and its eastern shore, where the other tourist islands Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao lie.

The large majority of the population of the ‘deep south’ (the three provinces bordering Malaysia) is Muslim, while more than 90% of the Thai are Buddhist.