Thailand

noun
1.
Formerly Siam. a kingdom in SE Asia: official name of Siam 1939–45 and since 1949. 198,242 sq. mi. (513,445 sq. km).
Capital: Bangkok.
2.
Gulf of. Also called Gulf of Siam. an arm of the South China Sea, S of Thailand.
noun
1.
a kingdom in SE Asia, on the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand: united as a kingdom in 1350 and became a major SE Asian power; consists chiefly of a central plain around the Chao Phraya river system, mountains rising over 2400 m (8000 ft) in the northwest, and rainforest the length of the S peninsula. Parts of the SW coast suffered badly in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Official language: Thai. Official religion: (Hinayana) Buddhist. Currency: baht. Capital: Bangkok. Pop: 67 448 120 (2013 est). Area: 513 998 sq km (198 455 sq miles) Former name (until 1939 and 1945–49) Siam
2.
Gulf of Thailand, an arm of the South China Sea between the Malay Peninsula and Indochina Former name Gulf of Siam
Thailand [(teye-land)]

Constitutional monarchy in southern Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma to the west and northwest, Laos to the north and east, Cambodia to the southeast, and the Gulf of Siam (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Malaysia to the south. Its capital and largest city is Bangkok.

Note: Thailand was formerly called Siam.

Note: Strongly supported the United States during the Vietnam War, Thailand was the site of American air bases until 1976, when relations with the United States deteriorated.

Note: During the early 1990s, its economy became one of the strongest in Asia, but it experienced a sharp downturn in the mid-1990s.