Thailand
Americannoun
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Formerly Siam. a kingdom in SE Asia: official name of Siam 1939–45 and since 1949. 198,242 sq. mi. (513,445 sq. km). Bangkok.
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Also called Gulf of Siam. Gulf of. an arm of the South China Sea, S of Thailand.
noun
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Former name (until 1939 and 1945–49): Siam. 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)
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Former name: Gulf of Siam. an arm of the South China Sea between the Malay Peninsula and Indochina
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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.
During the early 1990s, its economy became one of the strongest in Asia, but it experienced a sharp downturn in the mid-1990s.
Thailand was formerly called Siam.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The latest indicators from the Bank of Thailand showed a sharp deceleration in the private consumption index during the second quarter, Tay added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Thailand cut excise taxes on imported electric cars and the country’s prime minister recently swapped his Rolls-Royce for a BYD as part of a national push to save energy, according to local news reports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The latest shooting will further spur debate about gun control in Thailand, which has the highest rate of gun ownership in South East Asia by a wide margin.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Would it be foolish to sell $10,000 in shares to visit my grandchildren in Thailand?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
And it’s not just stuff from China—there’s stuff from South Korea and Thailand and Japan too.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.