Thailand's roots can be traced back to the T'ai tribesmen who lived under the shadow of the Chinese in what are now the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, which lie along important east-west trading routes. The first true Thai kingdom was established in fourteenth century when the T'ai tribesmen created the Kingdom of Sukhothai, or “The Dawn of Happiness.” During this era, the Thai adopted their first alphabet and the tenets of Buddhism.

According to depictions on the great Cambodian temple, Angor Wat, the Khmers, who have always been known as great warriors, used the Thai as mercenaries. They called the Thai Syams, meaning “golden skin color.” It is believed that the Kingdom of Siam, as Thailand was known until 1939, derived its name from this word.

The thriving seaport city of Ayutthaya became the capital of Siam in 1350 and a monarchy was established. Portugal set up the first embassy there in 1511. By 1662, Holland, Denmark, England, and France all had embassies in the city.

The French began amassing troops in Siam beginning in 1675, intent on colonizing the area. But in 1688, the Siamese forcibly removed the farang (slang for “French” at the time, the word now means “foreigner”) from the country and sealed its borders for 150 years. Strikingly, Thailand is the only Asian country never to have been colonized by a European power, although it has been occupied by the Khmer, the Burmese, and the Japanese.

During his reign from 1824 to 1851, King P'ra Nang Klao began developing trade with China and reopening the borders of the kingdom. The 1930s saw a wave of democracy surge over the country, and in 1932 a constitutional monarchy was formed. Soon after, the country was officially renamed Thailand, meaning “Land of the Free.” Today, 75 percent of the population are ethnic Thais, roughly 11 percent are Chinese, and 3.5 percent are Malays. The rest is a combination of Vietnamese, Khmer, and various others. There are only a very small number of non-Asian permanent immigrants.