• The country was called Siam until 1939, when it was renamed Thailand ('Land of the Free'). It was renamed Siam again in 1945, then back to Thailand in 1949.
• Never colonized — Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never ruled by a European power. Skilful diplomacy by Kings Mongkut and Chulalongkorn balanced French Indochina and British Burma.
• Bangkok's full ceremonial name is the longest city name in the world — 168 letters, beginning 'Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin…'. Thais simply call it Krung Thep ('City of Angels').
• Over 40,000 Buddhist temples (wats), with 33,000 active. Every Thai Buddhist man is expected to ordain as a monk at least once in his life, typically for 3 months.
• The Thai alphabet was created in 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai. It has 44 consonants and 32 vowels.
• World's largest gold Buddha — the 5.5-ton solid gold Buddha at Wat Traimit, Bangkok (worth over $250 million in gold alone).
• Muay Thai (Thai boxing) is the national sport and martial art — 'the science of eight limbs' (fists, elbows, knees, shins).
• Bangkok is the most visited city in the world — 22 million international overnight visitors in 2019 (Mastercard Index), beating Paris and London.
• Thailand has 1,430 islands in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea — including Phuket, Koh Samui, Phi Phi, Koh Tao.
• The Thai New Year (Songkran) is celebrated April 13-15 with the world's largest water fight — entire cities turn into water battles.
• Tuk-tuk, the three-wheeled motorized taxi, was invented in Bangkok in the 1960s, derived from Japanese auto-rickshaws.
• Thailand is the world's #1 rice exporter with jasmine rice being the most famous variety.
• Floating markets like Damnoen Saduak and Amphawa let visitors shop from canoes — a tradition dating back centuries to riverine commerce.
• Wai — the traditional Thai greeting (palms together, slight bow) — has hierarchical variations: higher hands and deeper bow for elders and monks.
• Thailand has 6 UNESCO World Heritage sites — Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, Ban Chiang, Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai forests, Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife, Si Thep Historical Park.