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The history of Thailand is that of an area of Southeast Asia, rather than of a single nation. Over the centuries numerous people have made their home in this region mainly from the areas of Southern China and India.

The earliest race to settle here were the Tai of Southern China.These people migrated south in the first millennium AD, and from whom most Thais today are descended.

Prehistoric Thailand was once regarded as a cultural backwater.

In the Northeast of the country, archaeologists have recently uncovered the earliest evidence of agriculture and metallurgy in Southeast Asia. Among the finds were ceramic pots, some dating as far back as 3000 BC, which display a high level of artistic skill.

The earliest known powers in the region were the Dvaravati Kingdom (6th-11th centuries AD), the Sumatran based Srivijaya Empire (7th-13th centuries) and the Khmer Empire (9th-13th centuries) based at Angkor, all of which were heavily influenced by Indian culture and religion.

The Lanna Kingdom in the North and the Sukhothai Kingdom, which imported Theravada Buddhism to Thailand, in the Central Plains grew in power from around the 12th century. Today, Thai schoolchildren are taught that Sukhothai marks the beginning of their history. Of all its kings, Ramkamhaeng (1279-98) stands out; part heroic myth, part historical figure. Sukhothai was conquered by the Kingdom of Ayutthaya - also Tai - in the 14th century.

At its height Ayutthaya controlled most of what is now Thailand, and the city of Ayutthaya saw the arrival of the first Europeans. The city was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. Subsequently, a new city, Krung Thep (Bangkok), was built further south, on the Chao Phraya River, and the Chakri dynasty founded.

In the 19th century Kings Mongkut and Chulalongkorn modernized Thailand. During this period, Thailand resisted colonization by France and Britain. A revolution in 1932 ended absolute monarchy, and in 1939 Phibun Songkram, formerly a soldier in the Thai army, changed the country's name from Siam to Thailand.

More recently, in the 1980s and '90s, Thailand has become one of Asia's "tiger economies". Because of recent political instability, though, real democracy has been slower to arrive than economic success.