Lying between 7 degrees and 21 degrees latitude, Thailand has a total area almost the size of France, and is said to resemble an elephant's head with its trunk forming the southern peninsula. Bangkok is sited at its geographic center, approximately at the elephant's mouth. The country is bordered by Malaysia to the south, Burma to the west, Laos across the Mekong river to the northeast and Cambodia to the east.

The north is marked by low hills and contains the country's tallest peak, Doi Intanon, standing 2,590 meters ( 8,500 ft. ) tall. A range of hills divides Thailand from Burma and forms the western boundary of the broad alluvial central plains, the country's principal growing rice area. To the east, the plains rise to the Khorat Plateau, which covers much of the northeast.

The spine of the southern peninsula is the same range of hills that separate Thailand from Burma, sloping down to the Andaman Sea on the west and the Gulf of Thailand on the east. Thailand has a total of 2,600 km (1,600 miles) of coastline.
Bangkok is situated at 14 degrees north latitude. It is a city divided into halves by a river, the Chao Phraya, which separates central Bangkok and Thonburi. The city covers a total area of 1,565 sq. km. (605 sq.miles) of delta land, of which there is no natural area is more than 2 meters (7ft) above any other.

Chiang Mai lies 700 km (435 miles) north of Bangkok. It sits 300 meters (1,000 ft) above sea level, and is crowned by Doi Suthep, which rises to a height of 1,675 meters (5,495 ft). The city is home to over 150,000 people.
Phuket, an island in the Andaman Sea, lies 890 km (550 miles) or a 70 minutes flight south of Bangkok. Measuring 50 km (30 miles) long by 20 km (13 miles) wide, it is approximately the size of Singapore.

There are three seasons Thailand : hot, rainy and cool. But to the tourist winging in from anywhere north or south of the 30th parallel, Thailand has only one temperature - hot. The temperature drops only a few degrees during the night and is accompanied 24 hours by humidity above 70 percent. Only air conditioned only make Bangkok and other major towns tolerable during hot season. The countryside is somewhat cooler, but surprisingly, the northern regions can be hotter in March and April than in Bangkok.

Adding together the yearly daytime highs and the nighttime lows for major world cities, the World Meteorological Organization has declared Bangkok to be the world hottest city. When the monsoon rains fall, the country swelters.
Chiang Mai enjoys a cooler climate. In the cool season, temperatures range between 13C and 28C (55F and 82F) and are lower in the hills. As in Bangkok, the heaviest rain falls in September.

In Phuket, the monsoon begins in early May, and generally ends in late October. Temperatures range from 34C (93F) in the hot season to night time temperature of 21C (70F) in the cool season. The water temperature never drops below 20C (67F).

Nearly 70 percent of the population are farmers, who still alluvial land so rich that Thailand is the world leader in the export of tapioca, rice, rubber and canned pineapple. The country is also a major exporter of tuna, shrimp, sugar, maize and tin. Increasingly, Thailand is turning to manufacturing, especially in clothing, machinery and electronics.