Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$1.775 billion (FY00)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.8% (2003)
Transnational Issues Thailand
Disputes - international:
separatist violence in Thailand's predominantly Muslim southern
provinces prompt border closures and controls with Malaysia to stem
terrorist activities; southeast Asian states have enhanced border
surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; talks continue on
completion of demarcation with Laos but disputes remain over several
islands in the Mekong River; despite continuing border committee
talks, Thailand must deal with Karen and other ethnic rebels,
refugees, and illegal cross-border activities, and as of 2006,
130,000 Karen, Hmong and other refugees and 15,000 asylum seekers
from Burma; Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of historic
boundary with missing boundary markers; Cambodia claims Thai
encroachments into Cambodian territory and obstructing access to
Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in
1962; Thailand is studying the feasibility of jointly constructing
the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween river near the border with Burma; in
2004, international environmentalist pressure prompted China to halt
construction of 13 dams on the Salween River which flows through
China, Burma and Thailand
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 116,499 (Burma) (2006)
Illicit drugs:
a minor producer of opium, heroin, and marijuana; illicit transit
point for heroin en route to the international drug market from
Burma and Laos; eradication efforts have reduced the area of
cannabis cultivation and shifted some production to neighboring
countries; opium poppy cultivation has been reduced by eradication
efforts; also a drug money-laundering center; minor role in
methamphetamine production for regional consumption; major consumer
of methamphetamine since the 1990s
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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