Indian Railways

Indian Railways (Hindi: भारतीय रेल Bhāratīya Rail), abbreviated as IR (Hindi: भा.रे.), is the state-owned railway company of India, which owns and operates most of the country's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India.

Indian Railways has more than 64,015 kilometres (39,777 mi)[5] of track and 6,909 stations. It has the world's fourth largest railway network after that of the United States, Russia and China.[5] The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country and carry over 20 million passengers and 2 million tons of freight daily.[6][7] It is one of the world's largest commercial or utility employers, with more than 1.6 million employees.[6][8] As to rolling stock, IR owns over 200,000 (freight) wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives.[6]

Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. By 1947, the year of India's independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It also owns locomotive and coach production facilities.

Initially, the Indian railways were both designed and built by the British, during their colonial rule of the subcontinent.ndian Railways is a department owned and controlled by the Government of India, via the Ministry of Railways. As of December 2010, the Railway Ministry is headed by Mamata Banerjee, the Union Minister for Railways, and assisted by two ministers of State for Railways. Indian Railways is administered by the Railway Board, which has a financial commissioner, five members and a chairman.[9]
[edit] Railway zones
A schematic map of the Indian Railways network, showing the various zones.
The headquarters of the Indian Railways in New Delhi
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai First Railway Station in India. Also World Heritage Site

Indian Railways is divided into zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions. The number of zones in Indian Railways increased from six to eight in 1951, nine in 1952, and finally 16 in 2003. Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-seven divisions.[10][11]

The Delhi Metro is being built and operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC). The Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up a company called the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on March 5, 1995 with E. Sreedharan as the managing director.He is Padma Vibhushan awardee(Second highest honour) by Government of India[17] It is no way connected to Indian Railways.[12]

Each of the sixteen zones, as well as the Kolkata Metro, is headed by a General Manager (GM) who reports directly to the Railway Board. The zones are further divided into divisions under the control of Divisional Railway Managers (DRM). The divisional officers of engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal and telecommunication, accounts, personnel, operating, commercial and safety branches report to the respective Divisional Manager and are in charge of operation and maintenance of assets. Further down the hierarchy tree are the Station Masters who control individual stations and the train movement through the track territory under their stations' administration
Sl. No↓ Name↓ Abbr.↓ Date Established↓ Headquarters↓ Divisions↓
1. Central CR 1951, November 5 Mumbai Mumbai, Bhusawal, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur
2. East Central ECR 2002, October 1 Hajipur Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Sonpur
3. East Coast ECoR 2003, April 1 Bhubaneswar Khurda Road, Sambalpur, Visakhapatnam
4. Eastern ER 1952, April Kolkata Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda
5. North Central NCR 2003, April 1 Allahabad Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi
6. North Eastern NER 1952 Gorakhpur Izzatnagar, Lucknow, Varanasi
7. North Western NWR 2002, October 1 Jaipur Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur
8. Northeast Frontier NFR 1958,15th Jan Guwahati Alipurduar, Katihar, Rangia, Lumding, Tinsukia
9. Northern NR 1952, April 14 Delhi Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad
10. South Central SCR 1966, October 2 Secunderabad Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Guntakal, Guntur, Nanded, Vijayawada
11. South East Central SECR 2003, April 1 Bilaspur Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur
12. South Eastern SER 1955 Kolkata Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi
13. South Western SWR 2003, April 1 Hubli Hubli, Bangalore, Mysore
14. Southern SR 1951, April 14 Chennai Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem, Trivandrum(Thiruvananthapuram)
15. West Central WCR 2003, April 1 Jabalpur Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota
16. Western WR 1951, November 5 Mumbai Mumbai Central, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Vadodara
[edit] Recruitment and training
WDM-3A diesel passenger and freight locomotive of Indian Railways at Shantiniketan, India

With approximately 1.6 million employees, Indian Railways is the country's single largest employer.[13] Staff are classified into gazetted (Group A and B) and non-gazetted (Group C and D) employees.[14] The recruitment of Group A gazetted employees is carried out by the Union Public Service Commission through exams conducted by it.[15] The recruitment to Group 'C' and 'D' employees on the Indian Railways is done through 19 Railway Recruitment Boards which are controlled by the Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB).[16] The training of all cadres is entrusted and shared between six centralised training institutes.
See also: Centralised Training Institutes of the Indian Railways
[edit] Subsidiaries
A WAP5 locomotive

Indian Railways manufactures much of its rolling stock and heavy engineering components at its six manufacturing plants, called Production Units, which are managed directly by the ministry. As with most developing economies, the main reason for this was the policy of import substitution of expensive technology related products when the general state of the national engineering industry was immature. Each of these six production units is headed by a General Manager, who also reports directly to the Railway Board.

There exist independent organisations under the control of the Railway Board for electrification, modernisation and research and design, each of which is headed by a General Manager. A number of Public Sector Undertakings, which perform railway-related functions ranging from consultancy to ticketing, are also under the administrative control of the Ministry of railways.
[edit] Locomotives
Main article: Locomotives in India

Indian railways uses a number of different Diesel and Electric locomotives, Steam locomotives were once very common but are now only used on heritage routes.
[edit] Technical details

Indian railways uses four gauges, the 1,676mm broad gauge which is wider than the 1,435mm standard gauge; the 1,000mm metre gauge; and two narrow gauges, 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) and 610 mm (2 ft) . Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from 75 to 160 km/h.

The total length of track used by Indian Railways was about 111,600 km (69,300 mi) while the total route length of the network was 64,061 km (39,806 mi) on 31 March 2010.[17] About 31% of the route-kilometre and 46% of the total track kilometre was electrified on 31 March 2010.[17]
Broad gauge is the predominant gauge used by Indian Railways.

Broad gauge is the predominant gauge used by Indian Railways. Indian broad gauge—1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)—is the most widely used gauge in India with 96,851 km of track length (86.8% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 52,500 km of route-kilometre (81.95% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges) on 31 March 2010.

In some regions with less traffic, the metre gauge (1,000mm) is common, although the Unigauge project is in progress to convert all tracks to broad gauge. The metre gauge had 11,676 km of track length (10.5% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 9,000 km of route-kilometre (14.04% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges) on 31 March 2010.

The Narrow gauges are present on a few routes, lying in hilly terrains and in some erstwhile private railways (on cost considerations), which are usually difficult to convert to broad gauge. Narrow gauges had a total of 2,500 route-kilometre on 31 March 2010. The Kalka-Shimla Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are three notable hill lines that use narrow gauge.[18] Those three will not be converted under the Unigauge project.

The share of broad gauge in the total route-kilometre has been steadily rising, increasing from 47% (25,258 route-km) in 1951 to more than 83% in 2010 whereas the share of metre gauge has declined from 45% (24,185 route-km) to less than 13% in the same period and the share of narrow gauges has decreased from 8% to 3%. However, the total route-kilometre has increased by only 18% (by just 10,000 km from 53,596 route-km in 1951) in the last 60 years. This compares very poorly with Chinese railways, which increased from about 27,000 route-km at the end of second world war to about 90,000 route-km in 2010, an increase of more than threefold. More than 28,000 route-km (34% of the total route-km) of Chinese railway is electrified compared to only about 20,059 route-km of Indian railways. This is an indication of the poor state of Indian railways where the funds allocated to new railway lines are meagre, construction of new uneconomic railway lines are taken up due to political interference without ensuring availability of funds and the projects incur huge cost and time overruns due to poor project-management and paucity of funds.

Sleepers (ties) used are made of prestressed concrete, or steel or cast iron posts, though teak sleepers are still in use on few older lines. The prestressed concrete sleeper is in wide use today. Metal sleepers were extensively used before the advent of concrete sleepers. Indian Railways divides the country into four zones on the basis of the range of track temperature. The greatest temperature variations occur in Rajasthan, where the difference may exceed 70°C.
[edit] Traction

As of March 2010, 20,059 km of the total 64,215 km route length is electrified.[19] Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 V AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.[20][21] A major exception is the entire Mumbai section, which uses 1,500 V DC.[21] and is currently undergoing change to the 25,000 V AC system. Another exception is the Kolkata Metro, which uses 750 V DC delivered through a third rail.

Traction voltages are changed at two places close to Mumbai. Central Railway trains passing through Igatpuri switch from AC to DC using a neutral section that may be switched to either voltage while the locomotives are decoupled and swapped. Western Railway trains switch power on the fly, in a section between Virar (DC) and Vaitarna (AC), where the train continues with its own momentum for about 30 m through an unelectrified section of catenary called a dead zone.[21] All electric engines and EMUs operating in this section are the necessary AC/DC dual system type (classified "WCAM" by IndianRailways).
[edit] Services
[edit] Passenger
A DMU Train in Srinagar

Indian Railways operates about 9,000 passenger trains and transports 20 million passengers daily across twenty-eight states and two union territories. Sikkim and Meghalaya are the only states not connected by rail. A standard passenger train consists of eighteen coaches, but popular trains can have up to 26 coaches.
24 Coached Malwa Express
The newly launched Chennai-Salem Express

Coaches are designed to accommodate anywhere from 18 to 108 passengers, but during the holiday seasons and/or on busy routes, more passengers may travel in unreserved coaches. Most regular trains have coaches connected through vestibules. However, 'unreserved coaches' are not connected with the rest of the train via any vestibule.
An un-vestibulated coach of the Indian train

Reservation against cancellation service is a provision for shared berth in case the travel ticket is not confirmed.[22]

The last timetabled passenger service running under steam locomotive power ended in 2000, in Gujarat.[23] All current passenger service is provided using electric or diesel locomotives.
[edit] Types of passenger services

Trains are classified by their average speed.[24] A faster train has fewer stops ("halts") than a slower one and usually caters to long-distance travel.
Rank Train Description
1 Duronto Expresses These are the non-stop point to point rail services (except for operational stops) introduced for the first time in 2009. These trains connects the metros and major state capitals of India and are faster than Rajdhani Expresses. The Duronto services consists of three classes of accommodation namely first AC, two-tier AC, three-tier AC.
2 Rajdhani Expresses These are all air-conditioned trains linking major cities to New Delhi. The Rajdhanis have high priority and are one of the fastest trains in India, travelling at about 140 km/h (87 mph). There are only a few stops on a Rajdhani route.
3 Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi Expresses The Shatabdi trains are AC intercity seater-type trains. Jan-Shatabdi trains consists of both AC and non-AC classes.
4 Garib Rath Fully air conditioned trains,designed for those who cannot afford to travel in the expensive Shatabti and Rajdhani Expresses, Garib Rath means "Chariot of the Poor". The maximum speed is 130 km/h.
5 Superfast Mail/Express These are trains that have an average speed greater than 55 km/h (34 mph). Tickets for these trains have an additional super-fast surcharge.
6 Mail/Express These are the most common kind of trains in India. They have more stops than their super-fast counterparts, but they stop only at relatively important intermediate stations.
7 Passenger and Fast Passenger These are slow trains that stop at most stations along the route and are the cheapest trains. The entire train consists of the General-type compartments.
8 Suburban trains Trains that operate in urban areas, usually stop at all stations.
[edit] Suburban rail
The Delhi Metro railway
Chennai MRTS

Many cities have their own dedicated suburban networks to cater to commuters. Currently, suburban networks operate in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur. Hyderabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur do not have dedicated suburban tracks but share the tracks with long distance trains. New Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai have their own metro networks, namely the New Delhi Metro, the Kolkata Metro,and the Chennai MRTS, with dedicated tracks mostly laid on a flyover.
Mumbai's suburban trains handle 6.3 million commuters daily.[25]

Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are mostly electric multiple units. They usually have nine coaches or sometimes twelve to handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one power car and two general coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of three units having one power car at each end and one at the middle. The rakes in Mumbai run on direct current, while those elsewhere use alternating current.[26] A standard coach is designed to accommodate 96 seated passengers, but the actual number of passengers can easily double or triple with standees during rush hour.
[edit] Accommodation classes
An 'Open' type [3+3] Chair Car

Several long trains are composed of two to three classes of travel, such as a 1st and 2nd classes which have different pricing systems for various amenities. The 1st Class refers to coaches with separate cabins, coaches can be air-conditioned or non air-conditioned.
An AC 1 Class coach

Further, other AC classes can have 2 or 3 tier berths, with higher prices for the former, 3-tier non-AC coaches or 2nd class seating coaches, which are popular among passengers going on shorter journeys.

In air-conditioned sleeper classes passengers are provided with sheets, pillows and blankets. Meals and refreshments are provided, to all the passengers of reserved classes, either through the on-board pantry service or through special catering arrangements in trains without pantry car. Unreserved coach passengers have options of purchasing from licensed vendors either on board or on the platform of intermediate stops.

The amenities depend on the popularity and length of the route. Lavatories are communal and feature both the Indian style as well as the Western style.

The following table lists the classes in operation. Not all classes may be attached to a rake though.
Class[27] Description[27][28]
1A The First class AC: This is the most expensive class, where the fares are on par with airlines. Bedding is included with the fare in IR. This air conditioned coach is present only on popular routes between metropolitan cities and can carry 18 passengers. The coaches are carpeted, have sleeping accommodation and have privacy features like personal coupes.
2A AC-Two tier: Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths, ample leg room, curtains and individual reading lamps. Berths are usually arranged in two tiers in bays of six, four across the width of the coach then the gangway then two berths longways, with curtains provided to give some privacy from those walking up and down. Bedding is included with the fare. A broad gauge coach can carry 48 passengers.
FC First class: Same as 1AC, without the air conditioning. This class is not very common.
3A AC three tier: Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths. Berths are usually arranged as in 2AC but with three tiers across the width and two longways as before giving eight bays of eight. They are slightly less well appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is included with fare. It carries 64 passengers in broad gauge.
3E AC three tier (Economy): Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths, present in Garib Rath Trains. Berths are usually arranged as in 3AC but with three tiers across the width and three longways. They are slightly less well appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is included with fare.
CC AC chair car: An air-conditioned seater coach with a total of five seats in a row used for day travel between cities.
EC Executive class chair car: An air-conditioned seater coach with a total of four seats in a row used for day travel between cities.
SL Sleeper class: The sleeper class is the most common coach, and usually ten or more coaches could be attached. These are regular sleeping coaches with three berths vertically stacked. In broad gauge, it carries 72 passengers per coach. Railways have modified certain Sleeper Coaches on popular trains to accommodate 81 passengers in place of regular 72 passengers. This was done in order to facilitate benefits like clear the Passenger rush and simultaneously earn more revenue. But this has got lukewarm response with criticism from the travellers and railways has decided to remove them.
2S Seater class: same as AC Chair car, but with bench style seats and without the air-conditioning.
UR Unreserved: The cheapest accommodation, with seats made of pressed wood and are rarely cushioned. Although entry into the compartment is guaranteed, a sitting seat is not guaranteed. Tickets issued are valid on any train on the same route if boarded within 24 hours of buying the ticket. These coaches are usually very crowded.
A typical sleeper class coach

At the rear of the train is a special compartment known as the guard's cabin. It is fitted with a transceiver and is where the guard usually gives the all clear signal before the train departs. A standard passenger rake generally has four general compartments, two at the front and two behind, of which one is exclusively for ladies. The exact number varies according to the demand and the route. A luggage compartment can also exist at the front or the back. In some trains a separate mail compartment is present. In long-distance trains a pantry car is usually included in the centre.
[edit] Train Numbering

Effective December 20, 2010, the railways will deploy a 5 digit numbering system instead of the 4 digit system. The need is sue to the fact that the Indian Railways runs 10,000 trains daily. Only a prefix of the digit 1 will be added to the four-digit numbers of the existing trains to make the transition smoother. The special trains run to clear festivals and holiday rush shall have the prefix of 0 (zero)

Read more: Railways replace 4-digit numbering system with 5-digit - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Railways-replace-4-digit-numbering-system-with-5-digit/articleshow/7129929.cms#ixzz18ak4DTiA

[edit] Notable trains and achievements
A train on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites on IR — the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus[29] and the Mountain railways of India. The latter is not contiguous, but actually consists of three separate railway lines located in different parts of India:[30]

* The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow gauge railway in West Bengal.
* The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a metre gauge railway in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu
* The Kalka-Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge railway in the Shivalik mountains in Himachal Pradesh.
* The Maharaha Railways, a narrow gauge line of just 0.6m width from Gwalior to Sheopur of 198 km. in length is world's longest narrow gauge railway line is in the UNESCO world heritage tentative list.

The Palace on Wheels is a specially designed train, frequently hauled by a steam locomotive, for promoting tourism in Rajasthan. On the same lines, the Maharashtra government introduced the Deccan Odyssey covering various tourist destinations in Maharashtra and Goa, and was followed by the Government of Karnataka which introduced the Golden Chariot train connecting popular tourist destinations in Karnataka and Goa. However, neither of them has been able to enjoy the popular success of the Palace on Wheels.

The Samjhauta Express is a train that runs between India and Pakistan. However, hostilities between the two nations in 2001 saw the line being closed. It was reopened when the hostilities subsided in 2004. Another train connecting Khokhrapar (Pakistan) and Munabao (India) is the Thar Express that restarted operations on February 18, 2006; it was earlier closed down after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. In 2003 the Kalka Shimla Railway was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96 kilometre.[31]
A Beyer Garratt 6594 Engine seen at the National Rail Museum

The Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the "Hospital-on-Wheels" which provides healthcare to the rural areas. This train has a carriage that serves as an operating room, a second one which serves as a storeroom and an additional two that serve as a patient ward. The train travels around the country, staying at a location for about two months before moving elsewhere.

Among the famous locomotives, the Fairy Queen is the oldest operating locomotive in the world today, though it is operated only for specials between Delhi and Alwar. John Bull, a locomotive older than Fairy Queen, operated in 1981 commemorating its 150th anniversary. Kharagpur railway station also has the distinction of being the world's longest railway platform at 1,072 m (3,517 ft). The Ghum station along the Darjeeling Toy Train route is the second highest railway station in the world to be reached by a steam locomotive.[32] The Mumbai–Pune Deccan Queen has the oldest running dining car in IR.

The Himsagar Express, between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, has the longest run in terms of distance and time on Indian Railways network. It covers 3,745 km (2,327 mi) in about 74 hours and 55 minutes. The Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India today having a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) on the Faridabad–Agra section. The fastest speed attained by any train is 184 km/h (114 mph) in 2000 during test runs.

The Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express are the superfast, fully air-conditioned trains that give the unique opportunity of experiencing Indian Railways at its best. In July 2009, a new non-stop train service called Duronto Express was announced by the railway minister Mamata Banerjee.[33]
[edit] Fares and ticketing

Fares on the Indian Railways across categories are among the cheapest in the world. In the past few years, despite a recessionary environment, the Indian Railways have not raised fares on any class of service. On the contrary, there has been a minor dip in fares in some categories.

Ticketing services are available at all major and minor railway stations across India. In 2003, Indian Railways launched online ticketing services through the IRCTC website.[34] Apart from E-tickets, passengers can also book I-tickets that are basically regular printed tickets, except that they are booked online and delivered by post. According to comScore, the Indian Railways website was the top visited Indian travel site in April 2010, with 7.7 million visitors.[35]
[edit] Tourism
Main article: IRCTC#Tourism

IRCTC takes care of the tourism operations of the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways operates several luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot, Royal Orient Express and Deccan Odyssey; that cater mostly to foreign tourists. For domestic tourists too, there are several packages available that cover various important tourist and pilgrimage destinations across India.
[edit] Freight
A single line rail bridge

IR carries a huge variety of goods ranging from mineral ores, fertilizers and petrochemicals, agricultural produce, iron & steel, multimodal traffic and others. Ports and major urban areas have their own dedicated freight lines and yards. Many important freight stops have dedicated platforms and independent lines.

Indian Railways makes 70% of its revenues and most of its profits from the freight sector, and uses these profits to cross-subsidise the loss-making passenger sector. However, competition from trucks which offer cheaper rates has seen a decrease in freight traffic in recent years. Since the 1990s, Indian Railways has switched from small consignments to larger container movement which has helped speed up its operations. Most of its freight earnings come from such rakes carrying bulk goods such as coal, cement, food grains and iron ore.

Indian Railways also transports vehicles over long distances. Trucks that carry goods to a particular location are hauled back by trains saving the trucking company on unnecessary fuel expenses. Refrigerated vans are also available in many areas. The "Green Van" is a special type used to transport fresh food and vegetables. Recently Indian Railways introduced the special 'Container Rajdhani' or CONRAJ, for high priority freight. The highest speed notched up for a freight train is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) for a 4,700 metric tonne load.

Recent changes have sought to boost the earnings from freight. A privatization scheme was introduced recently to improve the performance of freight trains. Companies are being allowed to run their own container trains. The first length of an 11,000-kilometre (6,800 mi) freight corridor linking India's biggest cities has recently been approved. The railways has increased load limits for the system's 225,000 freight wagons by 11%, legalizing something that was already happening. Due to increase in manufacturing transport in India that was augmented by the increase in fuel cost, transportation by rail became advantageous financially. New measures such as speeding up the turnaround times have added some 24% to freight revenues.
[edit] Dedicated Freight Corridor

Under the Eleventh Five Year Plan of India(2007–2012), Ministry of Railways is constructing a new Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) covering about 2762 route km long two routes - the Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Sone Nagar and the Western Corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva, Mumbai to Tughlakabad/Dadri along with interlinking of two corridors at Dadri. Upgrading of transportation technology, increase in productivity and reduction in unit transportation cost are the focus areas for the project.[36] According to initial estimates, the project would cost Indian Rupee ₹20,500 crore (US$4.5 billion).[37]

A new company, "Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited(DFCCIL)", designated as a `special purpose vehicle`, has been created to undertake planning & development, mobilization of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors. DFCCIL has been registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on 30 October 2006.[38] vkm
[edit] Rail budget and finances
A sample ticket

The Railway Budget deals with planned infrastructure expenditure on the railways as well as with the operating revenue and expenditure for the upcoming fiscal years, the public elements of which are usually the induction and improvement of existing trains and routes, planned investment in new and existing infrastructure elements, and the tariff for freight and passenger travel. The Parliament discusses the policies and allocations proposed in the budget. The budget needs to be passed by a simple majority in the Lok Sabha (Lower House). The comments of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) are non-binding. Indian Railways is subject to the same audit control as other government revenue and expenditures. Based on anticipated traffic and the projected tariff, requirement of resources for capital and revenue expenditure of railways is worked out. While the revenue expenditure is met entirely by railways itself, the shortfall in the capital (plan) expenditure is met partly from borrowings (raised by Indian Railway Finance Corporation) and the rest from Budgetary support from the Central Government. Indian Railways pays dividend to the Central Government for the capital invested by the Central Government.

As per the Separation Convention (on the recommendations of the Acworth Committee), 1924, the Railway Budget is presented to the Parliament by the Union Railway Minister, two days prior to the General Budget, usually around 26 February. Though the Railway Budget is separately presented to the Parliament, the figures relating to the receipt and expenditure of the Railways are also shown in the General Budget, since they are a part and parcel of the total receipts and expenditure of the Government of India. This document serves as a balance sheet of operations of the Railways during the previous year and lists out plans for expansion for the current year.

The formation of policy and overall control of the railways is vested in Railway Board, comprising the Chairman, the Financial Commissioner and other functional members of Traffic, Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical and Staff departments.

Indian Railways, which a few years ago was operating at a loss, has, in recent years, been generating positive cash flows and been meeting its dividend obligations to the government, with (unaudited) operating profits going up substantially.[39] The railway reported a cash surplus of Indian Rupee ₹900 crore (US$198.9 million) in 2005, Indian Rupee ₹14,000 crore (US$3.1 billion) in 2006, Indian Rupee ₹20,000 crore (US$4.4 billion) in 2007 and Indian Rupee ₹25,000 crore (US$5.5 billion) for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Its operating ratio improved to 76% while, in the last four years, its plan size increased from Indian Rupee ₹13,000 crore (US$2.9 billion) to Indian Rupee ₹30,000 crore (US$6.6 billion). The proposed investment for the 2008-2009 fiscal year is Indian Rupee ₹37,500 crore (US$8.3 billion), 21% more than for the previous fiscal year.[3] Budget Estimates-2008 for Freight, Passenger, Sundry other Earnings and other Coaching Earnings have been kept at Indian Rupee ₹52,700 crore (US$11.6 billion), Indian Rupee ₹21,681 crore (US$4.8 billion), Indian Rupee ₹5,000 crore (US$1.1 billion) and Indian Rupee ₹2,420 crore (US$534.8 million) respectively. Maintaining an overall double digit growth, Gross Traffic Earnings have been projected as Indian Rupee ₹93,159 crore in 2009–10 (19.1 billion USD at current rate), exceeding the revised estimates for the current fiscal by Indian Rupee ₹10,766 crore (US$2.4 billion).[3] Around 20% of the passenger revenue is earned from the upper class segments of the passenger segment (the air-conditioned classes).[40]

The Sixth Pay Commission was constituted by the Government of India in 2005 to review the pay structure of government employees, and submitted its recommendations in April 2008. Based on its recommendations, the salaries of all Railways officers and staff were to be revised with retrospective effect w.e.f. January 1, 2006, resulting in an expenditure of over Indian Rupee ₹13,000 crore (US$2.9 billion) in 2008-09 and Indian Rupee ₹14,000 crore (US$3.1 billion) in 2009–10. Consequently, staff costs have risen from 44% of ordinary working expenses to 52%.[41]
[edit] Issues
See also: List of Indian rail incidents

Many railway stations are in gross disrepair, dirty, outdated and overcrowded, especially when compared to stations in developed countries. Sometimes passengers are seen on trains hanging out windows and even on the roof creating safety problems.[42] The interior of many train compartments are poorly maintained from rust, dirt and common wear and tear. Given the political infighting, corruption and inefficiencies, it is understandable that there are overcrowding, cleanliness and other maintenance issues. Although accidents such as derailment and collisions are less common in recent times,[43] many are run over by trains, especially in crowded areas. Indian Railways have accepted the fact that given the size of operations, eliminating accidents is an unrealistic goal, and at best they can only minimize the accident rate. Human error is the primary cause, leading to 83% of all train accidents in India.[44] While accident rates are low - 0.55 accidents per million train kilometre,[44] the absolute number of people killed is high because of the large number of people making use of the network.[45] While strengthening and modernisation of railway infrastructure is in progress, much of the network still uses old signalling and has antiquated bridges.[44] Lack of funds is a major constraint for speedy modernisation of the network, which is further hampered by diversion of funds meant for infrastructure to lower-prioritised purposes due to political compulsions.[45] In order to solve this problem, the Ministry of Railways in 2001 created a non-lapsible safety fund of Indian Rupee ₹17,000 crore (US$3.8 billion) exclusively for the renewal of overaged tracks, bridges, rolling stock and signalling gear.[46] In 2003, the Ministry also prepared a Corporate Safety Plan for the next ten years with the objective of realising a vision of an accident-free and casualty-free railway system. The plan, with an outlay of Indian Rupee ₹31,835 crore (US$7 billion), also envisaged development of appropriate technology for higher level of safety in train operation.[47]
[edit] Reforms and upgrades
One line Tunnel at Guntur division

Outdated communication, safety and signaling equipment, which used to contribute to failures in the system, is being updated with the latest technology. A number of train accidents happened on account of a system of manual signals between stations, so automated signaling is getting a boost at considerable expense. It is felt that this would be required given the gradual increase in train speeds and lengths, that would tend to make accidents more dangerous. In the latest instances of signaling control by means of interlinked stations, failure-detection circuits are provided for each track circuit and signal circuit with notification to the signal control centres in case of problems.[48] Though currently available only in a small subset of the overall IR system, anti-collision devices are to be extended to the entire system.[49] Aging colonial-era bridges and century-old tracks also require regular maintenance and upgrading.
Comparison of different gauges common in India with the standard one, which is not common in India

The fastest trains of Indian Railways, Rajdhani Express and Shatabadi Express face competition from low-cost airlines since they run at a maximum speed of only 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).[50] At least six corridors are under consideration for the introduction of high speed bullet trains to India with expert assistance from France and Japan.

IR is in the process of upgrading stations, coaches, tracks, services, safety, and security, and streamlining its various software management systems including crew scheduling, freight, and passenger ticketing. Crew members will be able to log in using biometric scanners at kiosks while passengers can avail themselves of online booking.[51] Initially, various upgrade and overhaul work will be performed at more than five hundred stations, some of it by private contract. All metre gauge lines in the country will be converted to broad gauge (see Project Unigauge). New LHB stainless steel coaches, manufactured in India, have been installed in Rajdhani and Shatabdi express trains.[49] These coaches enhance the safety and riding comfort of passengers besides having more carrying capacity, and in time will replace thousands of old model coaches throughout Indian Railways. More durable and conforming polyurethane paint is now being used to enhance the quality of rakes and significantly reduce the cost of repainting. Improved ventilation and illumination are part of the new scheme of things, along with the decision to install air brake systems on all coaches. New manufacturing units are being set up to produce state-of-the-art locomotives and coaches.[49] IR is also expanding its telemedicine network facilities to further give its employees in far-flung and remote areas access to specialized medicine. IR has also piloted Internet connectivity on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express,[52] powered by Techno Sat Communications

It is estimated that modernisation of IR and bringing it up to international standards would require US$280 billion in new upgrades and investment from 2010 to 2020.[53]

Sanitation in trains and stations throughout the system is getting more attention with the introduction of eco-friendly, discharge-free, green (or bio-) toilets developed by IIT Kanpur[citation needed]. Updated eco-friendly refrigerant is being used in AC systems while fire detection systems will be installed on trains in a phased manner. New rodent-control and cleanliness procedures are working their way into the many zones of IR. Central Railway's 'Operation Saturday' is gradually making progress, station by station, in the cleanup of its Mumbai division.

Augmentation of capacity has also been carried out in order to meet increasing demand. The number of coaches on each train have been increased to 24, from 16, which increased costs by 28% but increased revenues by 78%. The railways were permitted to carry 68 tons per wagon, up from the earlier limit of 54 tons per wagon, thereby cutting costs. The turnaround time for freight wagons was reduced from 7 days to 5 by operating the goods shed 24X7, electrifying every feeder line (this reduced time spent switching the engine from diesel to electric or from electric to diesel). Reducing the turnaround time meant that the Railways could now load 800 trains daily, instead of 550 trains daily. The minimum tonnage requirements were reduced allowing companies to unload their cargo at multiple stops.[54]

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie (pronounced /dʒoʊˈliː/ joh-LEE; born June 4, 1975), née Angelina Jolie Voight, is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Jolie promotes humanitarian causes, and is noted for her work with refugees as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has been cited as one of the world's most attractive people, as well as the world's "most beautiful" woman, titles for which she has received substantial media attention.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Though she made her screen debut as a child alongside her father Jon Voight in the 1982 film Lookin' to Get Out, Jolie's acting career began in earnest a decade later with the low-budget production Cyborg 2 (1993). Her first leading role in a major film was in Hackers (1995). She starred in the critically acclaimed biographical films George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998), and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Girl, Interrupted (1999). Jolie achieved wider fame after her portrayal of video game heroine Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), and since then has established herself as one of the best-known and highest-paid actresses in Hollywood.[7] She has had her biggest commercial successes with the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and the animated film Kung Fu Panda (2008).[8]

Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie currently lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, as well as three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne.


Born in Los Angeles, California, Jolie is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. She is the niece of singer-songwriter Chip Taylor, sister of James Haven and the goddaughter of actors Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. On her father's side, Jolie is of Czechoslovak and German descent,[9][10] and on her mother's side she is French Canadian and is said to be of Iroquois ancestry.[11][12] However, Voight has claimed Bertrand was "not seriously Iroquois", and they merely said it to enhance her exotic background.[13]

After her parents' separation in 1976, Jolie and her brother were raised by their mother, who abandoned her acting ambitions and moved with them to Palisades, New York.[14] As a child, Jolie regularly saw movies with her mother and later explained that this had inspired her interest in acting; she had not been influenced by her father.[15] When she was eleven years old, the family moved back to Los Angeles and Jolie decided she wanted to act and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she trained for two years and appeared in several stage productions.

At the age of 14, she dropped out of her acting classes and dreamed of becoming a funeral director.[16] During this period, she wore black clothing, dyed her hair purple and went out moshing with her live-in boyfriend.[15] Two years later, after the relationship had ended, she rented an apartment above a garage a few blocks from her mother's home.[14] She returned to theatre studies and graduated from high school, though in recent times she has referred to this period with the observation, "I am still at heart—and always will be—just a punk kid with tattoos".[17]

She later recalled her time as a student at Beverly Hills High School (and later Moreno High School), and her feeling of isolation among the children of some of the area's more affluent families. Jolie's mother survived on a more modest income, and Jolie often wore second-hand clothes. She was teased by other students who also targeted her for her distinctive features, for being extremely thin, and for wearing glasses and braces.[15] Her self-esteem was further diminished when her initial attempts at modeling proved unsuccessful. She started to cut herself; later commenting, "I collected knives and always had certain things around. For some reason, the ritual of having cut myself and feeling the pain, maybe feeling alive, feeling some kind of release, it was somehow therapeutic to me."[18]

Jolie was estranged from her father for many years. The two tried to reconcile and he appeared with her in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).[14] In July 2002, Jolie filed a request to legally change her name to "Angelina Jolie", dropping Voight as her surname; the name change was made official on September 12, 2002.[19] In August of the same year, Voight claimed that his daughter had "serious mental problems" on Access Hollywood. Jolie later indicated that she no longer wished to pursue a relationship with her father, and said, "My father and I don't speak. I don't hold any anger toward him. I don't believe that somebody's family becomes their blood. Because my son's adopted, and families are earned." She stated that she did not want to publicize her reasons for her estrangement from her father, but because she had adopted her son, she did not think it was healthy for her to associate with Voight.[20] In February 2010, Jolie publicly reunited with her father when he visited her while filming The Tourist in Venice.[21]
Career
Early work: 1993–1997

Jolie began working as a fashion model when she was 14 years old, modeling mainly in Los Angeles, New York and London. During that time she appeared in several music videos, namely those by Lenny Kravitz ("Stand by My Woman"; 1991), Antonello Venditti ("Alta Marea"; 1991), Jeff Healey ("Lost in Your Eyes"; 1992), The Lemonheads ("It's About Time"; 1993), and Meat Loaf ("Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through"; 1993). At the age of 16, Jolie returned to theatre and played her first role as a German dominatrix. She began to learn from her father, as she noticed his method of observing people to become like them. Their relationship during this time was less strained, with Jolie realizing that they were both "drama queens".[15]

Jolie appeared in five of her brother's student films, made while he attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts, but her professional movie career began in 1993, when she played her first leading role in the low-budget film Cyborg 2, as Casella "Cash" Reese, a near-human robot, designed to seduce her way into a rival manufacturer's headquarters and then self-detonate. Following a supporting role in the independent film Without Evidence, Jolie starred as Kate "Acid Burn" Libby in her first Hollywood picture, Hackers (1995), where she met her first husband Jonny Lee Miller. The New York Times wrote, "Kate (Angelina Jolie) stands out. That's because she scowls even more sourly than [her co-stars] and is that rare female hacker who sits intently at her keyboard in a see-through top. Despite her sullen posturing, which is all this role requires, Ms. Jolie has the sweetly cherubic looks of her father, Jon Voight."[22] The movie failed to make a profit at the box-office, but developed a cult following after its video release.[23]

She appeared as Gina Malacici in the 1996 comedy Love Is All There Is, a modern-day loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set among two rival Italian family restaurant owners in the Bronx, New York. In the road movie Mojave Moon (1996) she was a youngster, named Eleanor Rigby, who falls for Danny Aiello's character, while he takes a shine to her mother, played by Anne Archer. In 1996, Jolie also portrayed Margret "Legs" Sadovsky, one of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond in the film Foxfire after they beat up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. The Los Angeles Times wrote about her performance, "It took a lot of hogwash to develop this character, but Jolie, Jon Voight's knockout daughter, has the presence to overcome the stereotype. Though the story is narrated by Maddy, Legs is the subject and the catalyst."[24]

In 1997, Jolie starred with David Duchovny in the thriller Playing God, set in the Los Angeles underworld. The movie was not received well by critics and Roger Ebert noted that "Angelina Jolie finds a certain warmth in a kind of role that is usually hard and aggressive; she seems too nice to be [a criminal's] girlfriend, and maybe she is."[25] She then appeared in the television movie True Women, a historical romantic drama set in the American West, and based on the book by Janice Woods Windle. That year she also appeared in the music video for "Anybody Seen My Baby?" by the Rolling Stones.
Breakthrough: 1997–2000

Jolie's career prospects began to improve after her performance as Cornelia Wallace in the 1997 biographical film George Wallace for which she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Gary Sinise starred as Alabama Governor George Wallace. The film, directed by John Frankenheimer, was praised by critics and, among other awards, received the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries/Motion Picture made for TV. She played the second wife of the former segregationist governor who was shot and paralyzed while running in 1972 for U.S. President.

In 1998, Jolie starred in HBO's Gia, portraying supermodel Gia Carangi. The film depicted a world of sex, drugs and emotional drama, and chronicled the destruction of Carangi's life and career as a result of her drug addiction, and her decline and death from AIDS. Vanessa Vance from Reel.com noted, "Angelina Jolie gained wide recognition for her role as the titular Gia, and it's easy to see why. Jolie is fierce in her portrayal—filling the part with nerve, charm, and desperation—and her role in this film is quite possibly the most beautiful train wreck ever filmed."[26] For the second consecutive year, Jolie won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. She also won her first Screen Actors Guild Award. In accordance with Lee Strasberg's method acting, Jolie reportedly preferred to stay in character in between scenes during many of her early films, and as a result had gained a reputation for being difficult to deal with. While shooting Gia, she told her then-husband Jonny Lee Miller that she would not be able to phone him: "I'd tell him: 'I'm alone; I'm dying; I'm gay; I'm not going to see you for weeks.'"[27]

Following Gia, Jolie moved to New York and stopped acting for a short time, because she felt that she had "nothing else to give". She enrolled at New York University to study filmmaking and attended writing classes. She described it as "just good for me to collect myself" on Inside the Actors Studio.[28]

Jolie returned to film as Gloria McNeary in the 1998 gangster movie Hell's Kitchen, and later that year appeared in Playing by Heart, part of an ensemble cast that included Sean Connery, Gillian Anderson, Ryan Phillippe and Jon Stewart. The film received predominantly positive reviews and Jolie was praised in particular. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Jolie, working through an overwritten part, is a sensation as the desperate club crawler learning truths about what she's willing to gamble."[29] Jolie won the Breakthrough Performance Award by the National Board of Review.

In 1999, she starred in Mike Newell's comedy-drama Pushing Tin, co-starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett. Jolie played Thornton's seductive wife. The film received a mixed reception from critics and Jolie's character was particularly criticized. The Washington Post wrote, "Mary (Angelina Jolie), a completely ludicrous writer's creation of a free-spirited woman who weeps over hibiscus plants that die, wears lots of turquoise rings and gets real lonely when Russell spends entire nights away from home."[30] She then worked with Denzel Washington in The Bone Collector (1999), an adapted crime novel written by Jeffery Deaver. Jolie played Amelia Donaghy, a police officer haunted by her cop father's suicide, who reluctantly helps Washington track down a serial killer. The movie grossed $151 million worldwide,[8] but was a critical failure. The Detroit Free Press concluded, "Jolie, while always delicious to look at, is simply and woefully miscast."[31]

"Jolie is emerging as one of the great wild spirits of current movies, a loose cannon who somehow has deadly aim."
Roger Ebert on Jolie's performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999)[32]

Jolie next took the supporting role of the sociopathic Lisa Rowe in Girl, Interrupted (1999), a film that tells the story of mental patient Susanna Kaysen, and which was adapted from Kaysen's original memoir of the same name. While Winona Ryder played the main character in what was hoped to be a comeback for her, the film instead marked Jolie's final breakthrough in Hollywood.[33] She won her third Golden Globe Award, her second Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Variety noted, "Jolie is excellent as the flamboyant, irresponsible girl who turns out to be far more instrumental than the doctors in Susanna's rehabilitation".[34]

In 2000, Jolie appeared in her first summer blockbuster, Gone In 60 Seconds, in which she played Sarah "Sway" Wayland, ex-girlfriend of car-thief Nicolas Cage. The role was small, and the Washington Post criticized that "all she does in this movie is stand around, cooling down, modeling those fleshy, pulsating muscle-tubes that nest so provocatively around her teeth."[35] She later explained that the film was a welcome relief after the heavy role of Lisa Rowe, and it became her highest grossing movie up until then, earning $237 million internationally.[8]
International success: 2001–present
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2005

Although highly regarded for her acting abilities, Jolie's films to date had often not appealed to a wide audience, but Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) made her an international superstar. An adaptation of the popular Tomb Raider videogame, Jolie was required to learn a British accent and undergo extensive martial arts training to play the title role of Lara Croft. She was generally praised for her physical performance, but the movie generated mostly negative reviews. Slant Magazine commented, "Angelina Jolie was born to play Lara Croft but [director] Simon West makes her journey into a game of Frogger."[36] The movie was an international success nonetheless, earning $275 million worldwide,[8] and launched her global reputation as a female action star.

Jolie then starred opposite Antonio Banderas as the mail-order bride Julia Russell in Original Sin (2001), a thriller based on the novel Waltz into Darkness by Cornell Woolrich. The film was a major critical failure, with The New York Times noting, "The story plunges more precipitously than Ms. Jolie's neckline."[37] In 2002, she played Lanie Kerrigan in Life or Something Like It, a film about an ambitious TV reporter who is told that she will die in a week. The film was poorly received by critics, though Jolie's performance received positive reviews. CNN's Paul Clinton wrote, "Jolie is excellent in her role. Despite some of the ludicrous plot points in the middle of the film, this Academy Award–winning actress is exceedingly believable in her journey towards self-discovery and the true meaning of fulfilling life."[38]

Jolie reprised her role as Lara Croft in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in 2003. The sequel, while not as lucrative as the original, earned $156 million at the international box-office.[8] Jolie appeared in the music video for Korn's "Did My Time", which was used to promote the film. Later that year Jolie starred in Beyond Borders, a film about aid workers in Africa. Although reflecting Jolie's real-life interest in promoting humanitarian relief, the film was critically and financially unsuccessful. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Jolie, as she did in her Oscar-winning role in Girl, Interrupted, can bring electricity and believability to roles that have a reality she can understand. She can also, witness the Lara Croft films, do acknowledged cartoons. But the limbo of a hybrid character, a badly written cardboard person in a fly-infested, blood-and-guts world, completely defeats her."[39]
With Brad Pitt at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2004, Jolie starred alongside Ethan Hawke in the thriller Taking Lives. She portrayed Illeana Scott, an FBI profiler summoned to help Montreal law enforcement hunt down a serial killer. The movie received mixed reviews and The Hollywood Reporter concluded, "Angelina Jolie plays a role that definitely feels like something she has already done, but she does add an unmistakable dash of excitement and glamour."[40] She also provided the voice of Lola, an angelfish in the animated DreamWorks movie Shark Tale (2004) and she had a brief appearance in Kerry Conran's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), a science fiction adventure film shot with actors entirely in front of a bluescreen. Also in 2004, Jolie played Olympias in Alexander, Oliver Stone's biographical film about the life of Alexander the Great. The film failed domestically, with Stone attributing its poor reception to disapproval of the depiction of Alexander's bisexuality,[41] but it succeeded internationally, with revenue of $139 million outside the United States.[8]

Jolie's only movie in 2005 was the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The film, directed by Doug Liman, tells the story of a bored married couple who find out that they are both secret assassins. Jolie starred as Jane Smith opposite Brad Pitt. The film received mixed reviews, but was generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads. The Star Tribune noted, "While the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry."[42] The movie earned $478 million worldwide, one of the biggest hits of 2005.[8]

She next appeared in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd (2006), a film about the early history of the CIA, as seen through the eyes of Edward Wilson, played by Matt Damon. Jolie played the supporting role of Margaret Russell, Wilson's neglected wife. According to the Chicago Tribune, "Jolie ages convincingly throughout, and is blithely unconcerned with how her brittle character is coming off in terms of audience sympathy."[43]
Jolie as Christine Collins on the set of Changeling, November 2007

In 2007, Jolie made her directorial debut with the documentary A Place in Time, which captures the life in 27 locations around the globe during a single week. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and is intended to be distributed through the National Education Association, mainly in high schools.[44] Jolie starred as Mariane Pearl in Michael Winterbottom's documentary-style drama A Mighty Heart (2007), about the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. The film is based on Mariane Pearl's memoirs of the same name and had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter described Jolie's performance as "well-measured and moving", played "with respect and a firm grasp on a difficult accent."[45] The film earned her a fourth Golden Globe Award and a third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Jolie also played Grendel's mother in Robert Zemeckis' animated epic Beowulf (2007) which was created through the motion capture technique.

Jolie co-starred alongside James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman in the 2008 action movie Wanted, an adaptation of a graphic novel by Mark Millar. The film received predominately favorable reviews and proved to be an international success, earning $342 million worldwide.[8] She also provided the voice of Master Tigress in the DreamWorks animated movie Kung Fu Panda (2008). With revenue of $632 million internationally, it became her highest grossing film to date.[8] The same year, Jolie played Christine Collins, the lead in Clint Eastwood's drama Changeling (2008), which had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.[46] It is based on the true story of a woman in 1928 Los Angeles who is reunited with her kidnapped son — only to realize he is an impostor. Jolie received her second Academy Award nomination, and also was nominated for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award.[47] The Chicago Tribune noted, "Jolie really shines in the calm before the storm, the scenes [...] when one patronizing male authority figure after another belittles her at their peril."[48]

It was confirmed on June 11, 2010 that Jolie would star as Cleopatra in the remake of Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra: A Life, based on the book by Stacy Schiff.[49]
Humanitarian work

Jolie first became personally aware of worldwide humanitarian crises while filming Tomb Raider in Cambodia. She eventually turned to UNHCR for more information on international trouble spots.[50] In the following months she visited refugee camps around the world to learn more about the situation and the conditions in these areas. In February 2001, Jolie went on her first field visit, an 18-day mission to Sierra Leone and Tanzania; she later expressed her shock at what she had witnessed.[50] In the coming months she returned to Cambodia for two weeks and later met with Afghan refugees in Pakistan where she donated $1 million for Afghan refugees in response to an international UNHCR emergency appeal.[51] She insisted on covering all costs related to her missions and shared the same rudimentary working and living conditions as UNHCR field staff on all of her visits.[50] As a result of assistance rendered to their former subjects the Royal family of Swat (princely state) have awarded her the honor Khanum Sahiba the equivalent of being made a lady.[52] Jolie was named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador on August 27, 2001 at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.[53]

"We cannot close ourselves off to information and ignore the fact that millions of people are out there suffering. I honestly want to help. I don't believe I feel differently from other people. I think we all want justice and equality, a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situation someone would help us."
Jolie on her motives for joining UNHCR in 2001[50]

Jolie has been on field missions around the world and met with refugees and internally displaced persons in more than 20 countries.[54] Asked what she hoped to accomplish, she stated, "Awareness of the plight of these people. I think they should be commended for what they have survived, not looked down upon."[55] In 2002, Jolie visited the Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand and Colombian refugees in Ecuador.[56] Jolie later went to various UNHCR facilities in Kosovo and paid a visit to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya with refugees mainly from Sudan. She also met with Angolan refugees while filming Beyond Borders in Namibia.

In 2003, Jolie embarked on a six-day mission to Tanzania where she traveled to western border camps hosting Congolese refugees, and she paid a week-long visit to Sri Lanka, meeting Tamil refugee orphans in Jaffna.[57] She later concluded a four-day mission to Russia as she traveled to North Caucasus. Concurrently with the release of her movie Beyond Borders she published Notes from My Travels, a collection of journal entries that chronicle her early field missions (2001–2002). During a private stay in Jordan in December 2003 she asked to visit Iraqi refugees in Jordan's eastern desert and later that month she went to Egypt to meet Sudanese refugees.

On her first U.N. trip within the United States, Jolie went to Arizona in 2004, visiting detained asylum seekers at three facilities and the Southwest Key Program, a facility for unaccompanied children in Phoenix. She flew to Chad in June 2004, paying a visit to border sites and camps for refugees who had fled fighting in western Sudan's Darfur region. Four months later she returned to the region, this time going directly into West Darfur. Also in 2004, Jolie met with Afghan refugees in Thailand and on a private stay to Lebanon during the Christmas holidays, she visited UNHCR's regional office in Beirut, as well as some young refugees and cancer patients in the Lebanese capital.[58]

In 2005, Jolie visited Pakistani camps containing Afghani refugees, and she also met with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz; she returned to Pakistan with Brad Pitt during the Thanksgiving weekend in November to see the impact of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. In 2006, Jolie and Pitt flew to Haiti and visited a school supported by Yéle Haïti, a charity founded by Haitian-born hip hop musician Wyclef Jean. While filming A Mighty Heart in India, Jolie met with Afghan and Burmese refugees in New Delhi. She spent Christmas Day 2006 with Colombian refugees in San José, Costa Rica where she handed out presents. In 2007, Jolie returned to Chad for a two-day mission to assess the deteriorating security situation for refugees from Darfur; Jolie and Pitt subsequently donated $1 million to three relief organizations in Chad and Darfur.[59] Jolie also made her first visit to Syria and twice went to Iraq, where she met with Iraqi refugees as well as multi-national forces and U.S. troops.[60]
Jolie and Condoleezza Rice at World Refugee Day, June 2005

Over time, Jolie became more involved in promoting humanitarian causes on a political level. She has regularly attended World Refugee Day in Washington, D.C., and she was an invited speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005 and 2006. Jolie also began lobbying humanitarian interests in the U.S. capital, where she met with members of Congress at least 20 times from 2003.[53] She explained in Forbes: "As much as I would love to never have to visit Washington, that's the way to move the ball."[53]

In 2005, Jolie took part at a National Press Club luncheon, where she announced the founding of the National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children, an organization that provides free legal-aid to asylum-seeking children with no legal representation which Jolie personally funded with a donation of $500,000 for its first two years.[61] Jolie also pushed for several bills to aid refugees and vulnerable children in the Third World.[53] In addition to her political involvement, Jolie began using her public profile to promote humanitarian causes through the mass media. She filmed an MTV special, The Diary Of Angelina Jolie & Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa, portraying her and noted economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on a trip to a remote group of villages in Western Kenya. In 2006, Jolie announced the founding of the Jolie/Pitt Foundation which made initial donations to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders of $1 million each.[62] Jolie also co-chairs the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, founded at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2006, which helps fund education programs for children affected by conflict.[63]

Jolie has received wide recognition for her humanitarian work. In 2003, she was the first recipient of the newly created Citizen of the World Award by the United Nations Correspondents Association, and in 2005, she was awarded the Global Humanitarian Award by the UNA-USA.[64] Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni awarded Jolie Cambodian citizenship for her conservation work in the country on August 12, 2005; she has pledged $5 million to set up a wildlife sanctuary in the north-western province of Battambang and owns property there.[65] In 2007, Jolie became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations,[66] and she received the Freedom Award by the International Rescue Committee.[67]

After she and Pitt donated $1 million to relief efforts in Haiti following a devastating 2010 earthquake, Jolie visited Haiti and the Dominican Republic to discuss the future of relief efforts.[68] She also donated $100,000 to the United Nations for the 2010 August flood relief operations in Pakistan.[69]
Relationships
See also: Brangelina

On March 28, 1996, Jolie married British actor Jonny Lee Miller, her co-star in the film Hackers (1995). She attended her wedding in black rubber pants and a white shirt, upon which she had written the groom's name in her blood.[70] Jolie and Miller separated the following year and subsequently divorced on February 3, 1999. They remained on good terms and Jolie later explained, "It comes down to timing. I think he's the greatest husband a girl could ask for. I'll always love him, we were simply too young."[27]

While shooting Pushing Tin (1999) she met American actor Billy Bob Thornton, and subsequently married him on May 5, 2000. As a result of their frequent public declarations of passion and gestures of love—most famously wearing one another's blood in vials around their necks—their relationship became a favorite topic of the entertainment media.[71] Jolie and Thornton divorced on May 27, 2003. Asked about the sudden dissolution of their marriage, Jolie stated, "It took me by surprise, too, because overnight, we totally changed. I think one day we had just nothing in common. And it's scary but... I think it can happen when you get involved and you don't know yourself yet."[72]
Jolie and Brad Pitt at the Deauville American Film Festival in 2007

Jolie has said in interviews that she is bisexual and has long acknowledged that she had a sexual relationship with her Foxfire (1996) co-star Jenny Shimizu, "I would probably have married Jenny if I hadn't married my husband. I fell in love with her the first second I saw her."[73] In 2003, asked if she was bisexual, Jolie responded, "Of course. If I fell in love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that it's okay to want to kiss and touch her? If I fell in love with her? Absolutely! Yes!"[74]

In early 2005, Jolie was involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal when she was accused of being the reason for the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. The allegation was that she and Pitt had started an affair during filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). She denied this on several occasions, but admitted that they "fell in love" on the set.[75] In an interview in 2005, she explained, "To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife."[74]

While Jolie and Pitt never publicly commented on the nature of their relationship, speculations continued throughout 2005. The first intimate paparazzi photos emerged in April, one month after Aniston had filed for divorce; they showed Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya. During the summer Jolie and Pitt were seen together with increasing frequency and most of the entertainment media considered them a couple, dubbing them "Brangelina". On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child and thereby confirmed their relationship for the first time in public.[71]

In February 2010, Jolie and Pitt sued UK tabloid News of the World for reporting they were splitting up.[76] In September 2010, Jolie said in an interview with Sanjay Gupta on CNN that Brad Pitt was the only one she could really talk to.[77]
Children
Jolie's children[show]

* Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt
(born August 5, 2001 in Cambodia; adopted March 10, 2002)
* Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt
(born November 29, 2003 in Vietnam; adopted March 15, 2007)
* Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt
(born January 8, 2005 in Ethiopia; adopted July 6, 2005)
* Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt
(born May 27, 2006 in Swakopmund, Namibia)
* Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt
(born July 12, 2008 in Nice, France)
* Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt
(born July 12, 2008 in Nice, France)

On March 10, 2002, Jolie adopted her first child, seven-month-old Maddox Chivan.[19] He was born on August 5, 2001 as Rath Vibol in Cambodia, and he initially lived in a local orphanage in Battambang. Jolie decided to apply for adoption after she had visited Cambodia twice, while filming Tomb Raider and on a UNHCR field trip in 2001. After her divorce from her second husband, Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie received sole custody of Maddox. Like Jolie's other children, Maddox has gained considerable celebrity and appears regularly in the tabloid media.[78]

Jolie adopted a six-month-old girl from Ethiopia, Zahara Marley, on July 6, 2005. Zahara was born on January 8, 2005. She was originally named Yemsrach by her mother,[79] and was later given the legal name Tena Adam at an orphanage.[80] Jolie adopted her from Wide Horizons For Children orphanage in Addis Ababa. Shortly after they returned to the United States, Zahara was hospitalized for dehydration and malnutrition. In 2007, media outlets reported Zahara's biological mother, Mentewabe Dawit, was still alive and wanted her daughter back, but she later denied these reports, saying she thought Zahara was "very fortunate" to be adopted by Jolie.[79]

Brad Pitt was reportedly present when Jolie signed the adoption papers and collected her daughter;[71] later Jolie indicated that she and Pitt made the decision to adopt Zahara together.[81] On January 19, 2006 a judge in California approved Pitt's request to legally adopt Jolie's two children. Their surnames were formally changed to "Jolie-Pitt".[82]

Jolie gave birth to a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, in Swakopmund, Namibia, by a scheduled caesarean section, on May 27, 2006. Pitt confirmed that their newly-born daughter would have a Namibian passport,[83] and Jolie decided to sell the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images herself, rather than allowing paparazzi to make these valuable photographs. People paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, while British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for roughly $3.5 million.[84] All profits were donated to an undisclosed charity by Jolie and Pitt. Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it was the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds.[85]

On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a three-year-old boy from Vietnam, Pax Thien,[86] who was born on November 29, 2003 and abandoned at birth at a local hospital, where he was initially named Pham Quang Sang.[87] Jolie adopted the boy from the Tam Binh orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City.[88] She revealed that his first name, Pax, was suggested by her mother before her death.[89]

Following months of tabloid speculation, Jolie confirmed, at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, that she was expecting twins. She gave birth to a boy, Knox Léon, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline, by caesarean section at the Lenval hospital in Nice, France, on July 12, 2008.[90] The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to People and Hello! for $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The money went to the Jolie/Pitt Foundation.[91]

Jolie consciously furthers her children understanding not only what is going on in their home countries, but also the nature of the states their siblings come from.[77] She takes them with her to far destinations,[92] and plans to familiarize them with all faiths (in particular Christendom, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism) so that they would be able to decide themselves which religion they want to choose.[93] She is also engaged on familiarizing all of her children with the French language.[94]
In the media
Jolie at a photo op in Washington, D.C. in 2005

Jolie appeared in the media from an early age due to her famous father Jon Voight. At seven she had a small part in Lookin' to Get Out, a movie co-written by and starring her father, and in 1986 and 1988 she attended the Academy Awards with him. However, when she started her acting career, Jolie decided not to use "Voight" as a stage name, because she wished to establish her own identity as an actress.[71] Jolie was never shy about controversy and integrated her teenage "wild girl" image into her public persona in the first years of her career. During her acceptance speech at the 2000 Academy Awards, Jolie declared, "I'm so in love with my brother right now", which, combined with her affectionate behavior towards him that night, sparked speculation in the tabloid media of an incestuous relationship with her brother James Haven. She has denied those rumors vehemently, and Jolie and Haven later explained in interviews that after their parents' divorce they relied on one another and because of that they hold on to each other as a means of emotional support.[71]

Jolie does not employ a publicist or an agent.[95] She quickly became a tabloid's favorite, since she presented herself as very outspoken in interviews, discussing her love life and her interest in BDSM openly,[12] and once claiming to be "most likely to sleep with a female fan".[74] As one of her most distinctive physical features, Jolie's lips have attracted notable media attention and she was described in 2007 as "the current gold standard of beauty in the states and in the West in general right now", being the embodiment of "the exotic look, like Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz", among women seeking cosmetic surgery;[96] it was also noted that her association with Brad Pitt had "accentuated" the frequency of requests for Jolie's looks.[96] She also created headlines with her much publicized marriage to Billy Bob Thornton and her subsequent change into an advocate for global humanitarian problems. As she took on the role of UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador she started to use her celebrity to highlight humanitarian causes worldwide. Jolie has been taking flying lessons since 2004 and she has a private pilot license (with an instrument rating) and owns a Cirrus SR22 airplane.[97] The media speculated that Jolie is a Buddhist, but she said that she teaches Buddhism to her son Maddox because she considers it part of his culture. When asked in 2000 if there was a God, she said, "For the people who believe in it, I hope so. There doesn't need to be a God for me."[98]
Jolie and Pitt at the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009

Starting in 2005, her relationship with Brad Pitt became one of the most reported celebrity stories worldwide. After Jolie confirmed her pregnancy in early 2006, the unprecedented media hype surrounding them "reached the point of insanity" as Reuters described it in their story "The Brangelina fever".[99] Trying to avoid the media attention, the couple went to Namibia for the birth of Shiloh, "the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ", as it had been described.[100] Two years later, Jolie's second pregnancy again fueled a media frenzy. For the two weeks she spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade to report on the birth.[101]

Today, Jolie is one of the best known celebrities around the world. According to the Q Score, in 2000, subsequent to her Oscar win, 31% of respondents in the United States said Jolie was familiar to them, by 2006 she was familiar to 81% of Americans.[53] In a 2006 global industry survey by ACNielsen in 42 international markets Jolie, together with Brad Pitt, was found to be the favorite celebrity endorser for brands and products worldwide.[102] Jolie was among the Time 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the world, in 2006 and 2008.[103][104] She was described as the world's most beautiful woman in the 2006 "100 Most Beautiful" issue of People,[1] voted the greatest sex symbol of all time in the British Channel 4 television show The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols in 2007,[2] and named "Most beautiful woman in the world" by Vanity Fair in 2009.[6] The Hollywood Reporter named Jolie the highest-paid actress of 2008, earning $15 million per film.[105] She also topped Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 list in 2009;[106] she had previously been ranked No. 14 in 2007,[107] and No. 3 in 2008.[108] Jolie was named one of the 50 People Who Matter 2010 by New Statesman Magazine.[109]
Tattoos
Jolie in New York with several of her tattoos visible, June 2007

Jolie's numerous tattoos have been the subject of much media attention and have often been addressed by interviewers. Jolie stated that, while she is not opposed to film nudity, the large number of tattoos on her body have forced filmmakers to become more creative when planning nude or love scenes.[110] Make-up has been used to cover up the tattoos in many of her productions. Jolie has thirteen known tattoos, among them the Tennessee Williams quote "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages", which she got together with her mother, the Arabic language phrase "العزيمة" (strength of will), the Latin proverb "quod me nutrit me destruit" (what nourishes me destroys me),[111] and a Yantra prayer written in the ancient Khmer script for her son Maddox.[112] She also has six sets of geographical coordinates on her upper left arm indicating the birthplaces of her children.[113] Over time she covered or lasered several of her tattoos, including "Billy Bob", the name of her former husband Billy Bob Thornton, a Chinese character for death (死), and a window on her lower back; she explained that she removed the window, because, while she used to spend all of her time looking out through windows wishing to be outside, she now lives there all of the time.[28]
Filmography
Title↓ Year↓ Role↓ Notes
Lookin' to Get Out 1982 Tosh
Angela & Viril "Angela & Viril" 1993 Angela 2 minute short film
Angela & Viril "Alice & Viril" 1993 Alice 2 minute short film
Cyborg 2 1993 Casella "Cash" Reese
Without Evidence 1995 Jodie Swearingen
Hackers 1995 Kate "Acid Burn" Libby
Love Is All There Is 1996 Gina Malacici
Mojave Moon 1996 Eleanor "Elie" Rigby
Foxfire 1996 Margret "Legs" Sadovsky
True Women (TV) 1997 Georgia Virginia Lawshe Woods Television
George Wallace (TV) 1997 Cornelia Wallace Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Playing God 1997 Claire
Gia (TV) 1998 Gia Marie Carangi Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Hell's Kitchen 1998 Gloria McNeary
Playing by Heart 1998 Joan National Board of Review Award – Breakthrough Performance
Pushing Tin 1998 Mary Bell
Bone Collector, TheThe Bone Collector 1999 Amelia Donaghy
Girl, Interrupted 1999 Lisa Rowe Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – Motion Picture
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Gone in 60 Seconds 2000 Sara "Sway" Wayland
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2001 Lara Croft Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance – Female
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight
Original Sin 2001 Julia Russell
Life or Something Like It 2002 Lanie Kerrigan
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life 2003 Lara Croft
Beyond Borders 2003 Sarah Jordan
Taking Lives 2004 Illeana Scott
Shark Tale 2004 Lola Voice
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 2004 Francesca "Franky" Cook People's Choice Award – Favorite Female Action Star
Fever, TheThe Fever (TV) 2004 Revolutionary Cameo
Alexander 2004 Olympias
Mr. & Mrs. Smith 2005 Jane Smith MTV Movie Award for Best Fight
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
Nominated—People's Choice Award – Favorite Female Movie Star
Nominated—People's Choice Award – Favorite Female Action Star
Nominated—People's Choice Award – Favorite On-Screen Match-Up (with Brad Pitt)
Good Shepherd, TheThe Good Shepherd 2006 Margaret Russell
Mighty Heart, AA Mighty Heart 2007 Mariane Pearl Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Motion Picture
Beowulf 2007 Grendel's mother Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
Kung Fu Panda 2008 Master Tigress Voice
Wanted 2008 Fox People's Choice Award – Favorite Female Action Star
Nominated—People's Choice Award – Favorite Female Movie Star
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance – Female
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment
Changeling 2008 Christine Collins Saturn Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Motion Picture
Salt 2010 Evelyn Salt
Tourist, TheThe Tourist 2010 Elise Ward Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom 2011 Master Tigress Voice (post-production)
Awards
Year↓ Award↓ Category↓ Film↓ Result↓
1998 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie George Wallace Nominated
1998 Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actress – Series/Miniseries/TV Movie George Wallace Won
1998 National Board of Review Award Breakthrough Performance – Female Playing by Heart Won
1998 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Gia Nominated
1999 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV Gia Won
1999 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries Gia Won
2000 Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Girl, Interrupted Won
2000 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Girl, Interrupted Won
2000 Academy Award Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Girl, Interrupted Won
2004 People's Choice Award Favourite Female Action Star Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow Won
2008 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Mighty Heart, AA Mighty Heart Nominated
2008 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Mighty Heart, AA Mighty Heart Nominated
2009 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Changeling Nominated
2009 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Changeling Nominated
2009 BAFTA Award Best Actress in a Leading Role Changeling Nominated
2009 Academy Award Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Changeling Nominated
2011 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy The Tourist Pending

Thailand

Thailand (pronounced /ˈtaɪ.lænd/ ( listen) TYE-land or /ˈtaɪ.lənd/;[5] Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย Ratcha Anachak Thai, IPA: [râːtɕʰa ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k tʰaj] ( listen)), formerly Siam (Thai: สยาม, IPA: [sàjǎːm] ( listen)), and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries are shared with Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast. Thailand also shares maritime boundaries with Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.

The country is a kingdom, a constitutional monarchy with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the ninth king of the House of Chakri, who has reigned since 1946, making him the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history.[6] The king is officially titled Head of State, the Head of the Armed Forces, an Upholder of the Buddhist religion, and the Defender of all Faiths.

The largest city in Thailand is Bangkok, the capital, which is also the country's center of political, commercial, industrial and cultural activities.

Thailand is the world's 50th largest country in terms of total area (slightly smaller than Yemen and slightly larger than Spain), with a surface area of approximately 513,000 km2 (198,000 sq mi), and the 20th most-populous country, with approximately 66 million people. About 75% of the population is ethnically Thai, 14% is of Chinese origin, and 3% is ethnically Malay;[7] the rest belong to minority groups including Mons, Khmers and various hill tribes. There are approximately 2.2 million legal and illegal migrants in Thailand.[8] Thailand has also attracted a number of expatriates from developed countries.[9] The country's official language is Thai. Its primary religion is Buddhism, which is practiced by around 95% of all Thais.

Thailand experienced rapid economic growth between 1985 and 1995 and is a newly industrialized country with tourism, due to well-known tourist destinations such as Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui, and exports contributing sig

The country's official name was Siam (Thai: สยาม RTGS: Sayam, IPA: [sàjǎːm]) until June 23, 1939,[12] when it was changed to Thailand. It was then renamed Siam from 1945 to May 11, 1949, after which it was again renamed Thailand. Also spelled Sayam, Syâm or Syâma, it has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyâma (श्याम, meaning "dark" or "brown"). The names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word, and Śyâma is possibly not its origin but a learned and artificial distortion.[13]

The word Thai (ไทย) is not, as commonly believed, derived from the word Tai (ไท) meaning "freedom" in the Thai language; it is, however, the name of an ethnic group from the central plains (the Thai people).[citation needed] A famous Thai scholar argued that Tai (ไท) simply means "people" or "human being" since his investigation shows that in some rural areas the word "Tai" was used instead of the usual Thai word "khon" (คน) for people.[14] The Thai use the phrase "land of the free" to express pride in the fact that Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia never colonized by an outside power.

While the Thai people will often refer to their country using the polite form Prathet Thai (Thai: ประเทศไทย), they most commonly use the more colloquial word Mueang Thai (Thai: เมืองไทย) or simply Thai (Thai: ไทย); the word mueang (Thai: เมือง) meaning nation but most commonly used to refer to a city or town. Ratcha Anachak Thai (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย) means "Kingdom of Thailand".

Etymologically, its components are: -Ratcha- (from Sanskrit raja, meaning "king, royal, realm") ; -ana- (from Pāli āṇā, "authority, command, power", itself from Sanskrit ājñā, same meaning) -chak (from Sanskrit cakra or cakraṃ meaning "wheel", a symbol of power and rule). The Thai National Anthem (Thai: เพลงชาติ) refers to the Thai nation as: prathet-thai (Thai: ประเทศไทย). The first line of the national anthem is: prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai (Thai: ประเทศไทยรวมเลือดเนื้อชาติเชื้อไทย) and was translated in 1939 by Colonel Luang Saranuprabhandi as: “Thailand is the unity of Thai blood and body.”
[edit] History
Main articles: History of Thailand and People of Thailand
An example of pottery discovered near Ban Chiang in Udon Thani province, the earliest dating to 2100 BCE.

The region known as Thailand has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period, about 10,000 years ago. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, it was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, starting with the kingdom of Funan around the 1st century CE.

After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 13th century, various states thrived there, such as the various Tai, Mon, Khmer and Malay kingdoms, as seen through the numerous archaeological sites and artifacts that are scattered throughout the Siamese landscape. Prior to the 12th century however, the first Thai or Siamese state is traditionally considered to be the Buddhist kingdom of Sukhothai, which was founded in 1238.

Following the decline and fall of the Khmer empire in the 13th–14th century, the Buddhist Tai kingdoms of Sukhothai, Lanna and Lan Chang were on the ascension. However, a century later, the power of Sukhothai was overshadowed by the new kingdom of Ayutthaya, established in the mid-14th century in the lower Chao Phraya River or Menam area.

Ayutthaya's expansion centered along the Menam while in the northern valley the Lanna Kingdom and other small Tai city-states ruled the area. In 1431, the Khmer abandoned Angkor after the Ayutthaya forces invaded the city.[15] Thailand retained a tradition of trade with its neighbouring states, from China to India, Persia and Arab lands. Ayutthaya became one of the most vibrant trading centres in Asia. European traders arrived in the 16th century, beginning with the Portuguese, followed by the French, Dutch and English.
Buddhist images at Wat Mahathat built during the Sukhothai period.

After the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 to the Burmese, King Taksin the Great moved the capital of Thailand to Thonburi for approximately 15 years. The current Rattanakosin era of Thai history began in 1782, following the establishment of Bangkok as capital of the Chakri dynasty under King Rama I the Great. A quarter to a third of the population of some areas of Thailand were slaves.[16][17]

Despite European pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation that has never been colonized. Two main reasons for this were that Thailand had a long succession of very able rulers in the 19th century and that it was able to exploit the rivalry and tension between French Indochina and the British Empire. As a result, the country remained a buffer state between parts of Southeast Asia that were colonized by the two powers, Great Britain and France.

Western influence nevertheless led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions, most notably being the loss of a large territory on the east side of the Mekong to the French and the step-by-step absorption by Britain of the Shan (Thai Yai) States (now in Burma)[citation needed] and the Malay Peninsula.
[edit] 20th century

The losses initially included Penang and eventually culminated in the loss of four predominantly ethnic-Malay southern provinces, which later became Malaysia's four northern states, under the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909.
Grand Palace in Bangkok built in 1782, is the official residence of the King of Thailand.

In 1932, a bloodless revolution carried out by the Khana Ratsadon group of military and civilian officials resulted in a transition of power, when King Prajadhipok was forced to grant the people of Siam their first constitution, thereby ending centuries of absolute monarchy.

During World War II, the Empire of Japan demanded the right to move troops across Thailand to the Malayan frontier. Japan invaded the country and engaged the Thai Army for six to eight hours before Plaek Pibulsonggram ordered an armistice. Shortly thereafter Japan was granted free passage, and on December 21, 1941, Thailand and Japan signed a military alliance with a secret protocol wherein Tokyo agreed to help Thailand regain territories lost to the British and French. Subsequently, Thailand undertook to 'assist' Japan in its war against the Allies, while at the same time maintaining an active anti-Japanese resistance movement known as the Seri Thai. About 200,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied POWs worked on the Thailand–Burma Death Railway.[18]

After the war, Thailand emerged as an ally of the United States. As with many of the developing nations during the Cold War, Thailand then went through decades of political instability characterised by coups d'état as one military regime replaced another, but eventually progressed towards a stable prosperity and democracy in the 1980s.
[edit] 2000s

Thailand experienced strong economic growth during the 2000s, recovering from 1997's Asian financial crisis. From 2004 onwards, Thailand has faced an insurgency in 3 Southern provinces.[19]

In 2006, the Thai government was overthrown in a coup d'état.[20][21] The political events of 2006 led to the 2008–2010 Thai political crisis, which saw violent clashes in Bangkok.[22][23]

The ruins of Wat Chaiwatthanaram at Ayutthaya, the city was burned and sacked in 1767 by a Burmese army under the Alaungpaya Dynasty.


Kosa Pan presents King Narai's letter to Louis XIV at Versailles, 1 September 1686


Pope Innocent XI receives the Siamese envoys, led by Father Tachard who reads the translation of the message from King Narai, December 1688


Chevalier de Chaumont presents a letter from Louis XIV to King Narai

King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) with Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in Saint Petersburg 1897


King Prajadhipok and Queen Ramphaiphanni with Konstantin von Neurath in Germany, 1934
[edit] Politics and government
Recentism.svg
This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. (October 2010)
Main articles: Politics of Thailand, Constitutions of Thailand, Law of Thailand, Government of Thailand, and Foreign relations of Thailand
[edit] History
Bangkok's Democracy Monument: a representation of the 1932 Constitution sits on top of two golden offering bowls above a turret.

Since the political reform of the absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has had 17 constitutions and charters.[24][25] Throughout this time, the form of government has ranged from military dictatorship to electoral democracy, but all governments have acknowledged a hereditary monarch as the head of state.[26][27]
[edit] 28 June 1932

Prior to 1932, the Kingdom of Siam did not possess a legislature, as all legislative powers were vested within the person of the monarch. This has been the case since the foundation of the Sukhothai Kingdom in the 12th century: as the king was seen as a “Dharmaraja” or “King who rules in accordance with Dharma” (the Buddhist law of righteousness). However on 24 June 1932 a group of civilians and military officers, calling themselves the Khana Ratsadon (or People’s Party) carried out a bloodless revolution, in which the 150 years of absolute rule of the House of Chakri was ended. In its stead the group advocated a constitutional form of monarchy with an elected legislature.

The "Draft Constitution" of 1932 signed by King Prajadhipok, created Thailand’s first legislature, a People’s Assembly with 70 appointed members. The assembly met for the first time on 28 June 1932, in the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall. The Khana Ratsadon decided that the people were not yet ready for an elected assembly; however they later changed their minds. By the time the "permanent" constitution came into force in December of that year, elections were scheduled for the 15 November 1933. The new constitution also changed the composition of the assembly to 78 directly elected and 78 appointed (by the Khana Ratsadon) together comprising 156 members.
[edit] 1997 to 2006
See also: 1997 Constitution of Thailand
Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, once the meeting place of the National Assembly, now used for the State Opening.
Parliament House, the meeting place of the two chambers of the National Assembly of Thailand.

The 1997 Constitution was the first constitution to be drafted by popularly elected Constitutional Drafting Assembly, and was popularly called the "People's Constitution".[28] The 1997 Constitution created a bicameral legislature consisting of a 500-seat House of Representatives (สภาผู้แทนราษฎร, sapha phutaen ratsadon) and a 200-seat Senate (วุฒิสภา, wuthisapha). For the first time in Thai history, both houses were directly elected.

Many human rights are explicitly acknowledged, and measures were established to increase the stability of elected governments. The House was elected by the first past the post system, where only one candidate with a simple majority could be elected in one constituency. The Senate was elected based on the province system, where one province can return more than one senator depending on its population size.

The two houses of the National Assembly have two different terms. In accordance with the constitution the Senate is elected to a six year term, while the House is elected to a four year term. Overall the term of the National Assembly is based on that of the House. The National Assembly each year will sit in two sessions an "ordinary session" and a "legislative session". The first session of the National Assembly must take place within thirty days after the general election of the House of Representatives. The first session must be opened by the king in person by reading a Speech from the Throne; this ceremony is held in the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. He may also appoint the crown prince or a representative to carry out this duty. It is also the duty of the king to prologue sessions through a Royal Decree when the House term expires. The king also has the prerogative to call extraordinary sessions and prolong sessions at his discretion.

The National Assembly may host a "Joint-sitting" of both Houses under several circumstances. These include: The appointment of a regent, any alteration to the 1924 Palace Law of Succession, the opening of the first session, the announcement of policies by the Cabinet of Thailand, the approval of the declaration of war, the hearing of explanations and approval of a treaty and the amendment of the Constitution.

Members of the House of Representatives served four-year terms, while senators served six-year terms. The 1997 People's Constitution also promoted human rights more than any other constitutions. The court system (ศาล, saan) included a constitutional court with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, royal decrees, and political matters.

The January 2001 general election, the first election under the 1997 Constitution, was called the most open, corruption-free election in Thai history.[29] The subsequent government was the first in Thai history to complete a four-year term. The 2005 election had the highest voter turnout in Thai history.[30][31] Despite efforts to clean up the system, vote buying and electoral violence remained problems of electoral quality in 2005.[32]

The PollWatch Foundation, Thailand's most prominent election watchdog, declared that vote buying in this election, specifically in the North and the Northeast, was more serious than in the 2001 election. The organization also accused the government of violating the election law by abusing state power in presenting new projects in a bid to seek votes.
[edit] 2006 coup d'état
See also: 2006 Thai coup d'état
Armoured vehicles parked inside the compound of the Headquarters of the 1st Army

Without meeting much resistance, a military junta overthrew the interim government of Thaksin Shinawatra on 19 September 2006. The junta abrogated the constitution, dissolved Parliament and the Constitutional Court, detained and later removed several members of the government, declared martial law, and appointed one of the king's Privy Counselors, General Surayud Chulanont, as the Prime Minister. The junta later wrote a highly abbreviated interim constitution and appointed a panel to draft a permanent constitution. The junta also appointed a 250-member legislature, called by some critics a "chamber of generals" while others claimed that it lacks representatives from the poor majority.[20][21]

In this interim constitution draft, the head of the junta was allowed to remove the prime minister at any time. The legislature was not allowed to hold a vote of confidence against the cabinet and the public was not allowed to file comments on bills.[33] This interim constitution was later surpassed by the permanent constitution on 24 August 2007.

Martial law was partially revoked in January 2007. The ban on political activities was lifted in July 2007,[34] following the 30 May dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai party. The new constitution has been approved by a referendum on 19 August, which led to a return to democratic elections on 23 December 2007.
[edit] Political crisis
See also: 2008–2010 Thai political crisis
Royal Thai Policemen at the ready during the 2008 political crisis.
The demonstration of March 20, 2010, on Rama 4 road, Bangkok .

The People's Power Party (Thailand), led by Samak Sundaravej formed a government with five smaller parties. Following several court rulings against him in a variety of scandals, and surviving a vote of no confidence, and protesters blockading government buildings and airports, in September 2008, Sundaravej was found guilty of conflict of interest by the Constitutional Court of Thailand (due to being a host in a TV cooking program),[35] and thus, ended his term in office.

He was replaced by PPP member Somchai Wongsawat. As of October 2008, Wongsawat was unable to gain access to his offices, which were occupied by protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy. On December 2, 2008, Thailand's Constitutional Court in a highly controversial ruling found the Peoples Power Party [36] guilty of electoral fraud, which led to the dissolution of the party according to the law. It was later alleged in media reports that at least one member of the judiciary had a telephone conversation with officials working for the Office of the Privy Council and one other. The phone call was taped and has since circulated on the Internet. In it, the callers discuss finding a way to ensure the ruling PPP party would be disbanded. Accusations of judicial interference were levelled in the media but the recorded call was dismissed as a hoax. However, in June 2010, supporters of the eventually disbanded PPP were charged with tapping a judge's phone.

Immediately following what many media described as a "judicial coup"[citation needed], a senior member of the Armed Forces met with factions of the governing coalition to get their members to join the opposition and the Democrat Party was able to form a government, a first for the party since 2001. The leader of the Democrat party, and former leader of the opposition, Abhisit Vejjajiva was appointed and sworn-in as the 27th Prime Minister, together with the new cabinet on 17 December 2008.

Thailand remains an active member of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).

As of April 2010, a set of new violent protests by the Red Shirt opposition movement, possibly backed financially by fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have resulted in 87 deaths (mostly civilian and some military) and 1,378 injured.[37] When the army tried to disperse the protesters on April 10, 2010, the army was met with automatic gunfire, grenades, and fire bombs from the opposition faction in the army, known as the "watermelon". This resulted in the army returning fire with rubber bullets and some live ammunition. During the time of the "red shirt" protests against the government, there have been numerous grenade and bomb attacks against government offices and the homes of government officials. Grenades were fired at protesters, that were protesting against the "red shirts" and for the government, by unknown gunmen killing one pro-government protester, the government stated that the Red Shirts protesters were firing the weapons at civilians. However, the police later stated the path of the grenades and amunitions was from the Chulalongkorn Hospital, which the army was occupying.[22][23][38][39]
[edit] Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Thailand
Thaksin Shinawatra and Surakiart Sathirathai meeting with former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on 19 September 2005
Pimpen Vejjajiva, Michelle Obama, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and U.S. President Barack Obama on 23 September 2009, in New York

The foreign relations of Thailand are handled by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand

Thailand participates fully in international and regional organizations. It is a major non-NATO ally of the United States. Thailand has developed increasingly close ties with other ASEAN members—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, and Vietnam—whose foreign and economic ministers hold annual meetings. Regional cooperation is progressing in economic, trade, banking, political, and cultural matters. In 2003, Thailand served as APEC host. Supachai Panitchpakdi, the former deputy prime minister of Thailand, currently serves as secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In 2005 Thailand attended the inaugural East Asia Summit.

In recent years, Thailand has taken an increasingly active role on the international stage. When East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, Thailand, for the first time in its history, contributed troops to the international peacekeeping effort. Its troops remain there today as part of a UN peacekeeping force. As part of its effort to increase international ties, Thailand has reached out to such regional organizations as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Thailand has contributed troops to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Thaksin initiated negotiations for several free trade agreements with China, Australia, Bahrain, India, and the US. The latter especially was criticized, with claims that high-cost Thai industries could be wiped out.[40]

Thailand joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, sending a 423-strong humanitarian contingent. It withdrew its troops on 10 September 2004. Two Thai soldiers died in Iraq in an insurgent attack.

Thaksin announced that Thailand would forsake foreign aid, and work with donor countries to assist in the development of neighbors in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.[41]

Thaksin was repeatedly attacked for acting undiplomatically with foreign leaders and the international community. Besides his famous swipe at the UN (see The 'war on drugs' above), there were also allegations of gaffes at international meetings.[42]

Thaksin was ambitious to position Thailand as a regional leader, initiating various development projects in poorer neighbouring countries like Laos. More controversially, he established close, friendly ties with the Burmese dictatorship, including extending the impoverished country a 4 billion baht credit line so it could conclude a satellite telecom deal with his family business.[43]

Thaksin energetically supported his former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai's somewhat improbable campaign to become UN Secretary General.

Abhisit appointed Peoples Alliance for Democracy leader Kasit Piromya as foreign minister. Prior to his appointment, Kasit had led anti-Cambodia protests and called Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen a "gangster minded (ใจนักเลง)" (he later claimed the word he used actually meant "a person who is lionhearted, a courageous and magnanimous gentleman"). In April 2009, "large-scale fighting" erupted between Thai and Cambodian troops amid the 900-year-old ruins of the Cambodian temple of Preah Vihear in Khmer Territory. The Cambodian government claimed its army had killed at least four Thais and captured 10 more, although the Thai government denied that any Thai soldiers were killed or injured. Two Cambodian soldiers were killed and three Thai soldiers were killed. Both armies blamed the other for firing first and denied entering the other's territory.[44][45]

President Putin with Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra before the start of the APEC Summit.


Abhisit with Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama on November 8, 2009, in Tokyo.


U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand in the Oval Office Dec. 14, 2001. The two leaders discussed economic issues and the war on terrorism.
[edit] Armed forces
Royal Thai Navy HTMS Chakri Naruebet aircraft carrier
F-16 Block 15OCUs in flight, Royal Thai Air Force
Gripen C/D to be delivered in January 2011, Royal Thai Air Force
Main article: Royal Thai Armed Forces

The Royal Thai Armed Forces (Thai: กองทัพไทย: Kongthap Thai) is the name of the military of the Kingdom of Thailand. It consists of the following branches:

* Royal Thai Army (กองทัพบกไทย)
* Royal Thai Navy (กองทัพเรือไทย, ราชนาวีไทย)
* Royal Thai Air Force (กองทัพอากาศไทย)
* Other Paramilitary Forces

Today the Royal Thai Armed Forces comprises about 1,025,640 personnel. The Head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย: Chomthap Thai) is His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX),[46] however this position is only nominal. The Armed Forces is managed by the Ministry of Defence of Thailand, which is headed by the Minister of Defence (a member of the Cabinet of Thailand) and commanded by the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, which in turn is headed by the Chief of Defence Forces of Thailand.[47]

According to the Constitution of the Kingdom, serving in the Armed Forces is a duty of all Thai citizens.[48] However only males over the age of 21, who have not gone through reserve training (Raksa Dindan - Ror Dor) are given the option of whether they want to volunteer for the armed forces, or pick the random draft. The candidates are subjected to varying lengths of training from 6 months to 2 years of fulltime service depending on their education, whether they have partially completed the reserve training course, and whether they volunteered before the drafting date (usually April 1 every year).

Candidates with a recognized bachelor's degree will be subjected to 1 year of full-time service if they picked the random draft, or 6 months if they volunteer at their respective district office (Sassadee).

Likewise, the training length is also reduced for those who have partially completed the 3-year reserve training course (Ror Dor). A person who completed 1 year out of 3 will only have to serve full-time for 1 year. Those completed 2 years of reserve training will only have to do 6 months of full-time training. While those who complete 3 years or more of reserve training will be exempted.

The Royal Thai Armed Forces Day is celebrated on January 18 to commemorate the victory of King Naresuan the Great in battle against the Crown Prince of Burma in 1593.
[edit] Law enforcement in Thailand
Main article: Royal Thai Police
[edit] Education
This section reads like an editorial or opinion piece and may require cleanup. Please improve this article by rewriting this section in an encyclopedic style to make it neutral in tone. Please see WP:No original research and WP:NOTOPINION for further details. (October 2010)
Main article: Education in Thailand
Primary school students in Thailand

Thailand enjoys a high level of literacy, and education is provided by a well-organized school system of kindergartens, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools, numerous vocational colleges, and universities. The private sector of education is well developed and significantly contributes to the overall provision of education which the government would not be able to meet through the public establishments. Education is compulsory up to and including grade 9, and the government provides free education through to grade 6.

Education in a modern sense is therefore relatively recent and still needs to overcome some major cultural hurdles to ensure further development and improvement to its standards.[original research?]

The establishment of reliable and coherent curricula for its primary and secondary schools is subject to such rapid changes that schools and their teachers are not always sure what they are supposed to be teaching, and authors and publishers of textbooks are unable to write and print new editions quickly enough to keep up with the volatile situation.
Chulalongkorn University, established in 1917 is the oldest university in Thailand.

The issue concerning university entrance has therefore also been in constant upheaval for a number of years. Nevertheless, education has seen its greatest progress in the years since 2001. Most of the present generation of students are computer literate, and knowledge of English is on the increase at least in quantity if not in quality.[citation needed]

There has been concern in recent years regarding the low IQ scores of many Thai youth. A study in the Nation newspaper reported that the "Department of Health and the Department of Mental Health will (make) an effort to combat low intelligence, after it found the average IQ level among many youths was lower than 80."[49] In 2006, the Vice Minister for Education Watchara Phanchet reported that "the average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Thai children, somewhere between 87 and 88 points, remains in the "low average" category when ranked internationally.[50] Further, with the exception of the well-educated wealthy class, the level of English speaking remains quite low.
[edit] Administrative divisions
Main article: Subdivisions of Thailand

Thailand is divided into 76 provinces (จังหวัด, changwat), which are gathered into 5 groups of provinces by location. There are also 2 special governed districts: the capital Bangkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon) and Pattaya, of which Bangkok is at provincial level and thus often counted as a 77th province.

Each province is divided into districts and the districts are further divided into sub-districts (tambons). As of 2010 there are 878 districts (อำเภอ, amphoe) and the 50 districts of Bangkok (เขต, khet). Some parts of the provinces bordering Bangkok are also referred to as Greater Bangkok (ปริมณฑล, pari monthon). These provinces include Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Pathom and Samut Sakhon. The name of each province's capital city (เมือง, mueang) is the same as that of the province. For example, the capital of Chiang Mai province (changwat Chiang Mai) is Mueang Chiang Mai or Chiang Mai. The 76 provinces are as follows:
Map of Thailand
Wat Arun, in Bangkok
[edit] Central

1. Ang Thong
2. Bangkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon), Special Governed District of
3. Chai Nat
4. Kamphaeng Phet
5. Lopburi
6. Nakhon Nayok
7. Nakhon Pathom
8. Nakhon Sawan
9. Nonthaburi
10. Pathum Thani
11. Phetchabun
12. Phichit
13. Phitsanulok
14. Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
15. Samut Prakan
16. Samut Sakhon
17. Samut Songkhram
18. Saraburi
19. Sing Buri
20. Sukhothai
21. Suphan Buri
22. Uthai Thani

[edit] East

1. Chachoengsao
2. Chanthaburi
3. Chonburi
4. Prachinburi
5. Rayong
6. Sa Kaeo
7. Trat

[edit] North

1. Chiang Mai
2. Chiang Rai
3. Lampang
4. Lamphun
5. Mae Hong Son
6. Nan
7. Phayao
8. Phrae
9. Uttaradit

Wat Phra Sing, Chiang Mai Province
[edit] Northeast (Isan)
Main article: Isan

1. Amnat Charoen
2. Buri Ram
3. Chaiyaphum
4. Kalasin
5. Khon Kaen
6. Loei
7. Maha Sarakham
8. Mukdahan
9. Nakhon Phanom
10. Nakhon Ratchasima
11. Nong Bua Lamphu
12. Nong Khai
13. Roi Et
14. Sakon Nakhon
15. Si Sa Ket
16. Surin
17. Ubon Ratchathani
Phra Borommathat Nakhon Si Thammarat Thailand
18. Udon Thani
19. Yasothon

[edit] South

1. Chumphon
2. Krabi
3. Nakhon Si Thammarat
4. Narathiwat
5. Pattani
6. Phang Nga
7. Phatthalung
8. Phuket
9. Ranong
10. Satun
11. Songkhla
12. Surat Thani
13. Trang
14. Yala

[edit] West

1. Kanchanaburi
2. Phetchaburi
3. Prachuap Khiri Khan
4. Ratchaburi
5. Tak

Largest Metropolitan Areas of Thailand

Bangkok
Bangkok
Pattaya
Pattaya Beach

Pattaya
Nakhon Ratchasima
Rank Metropolitan area Population

Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai

Hatyai
Hatyai
1 Bangkok 11,971,000
2 Pattaya-Chon Buri 1,183,604
3 Chiang Mai 960,906
4 Hat Yai-Songkhla 801,747
5 Nakhon Ratchasima 439,546
[edit] Insurgency in Southern provinces
See also: South Thailand insurgency

The Malay Peninsula was once known as Tanah Melayu (Malay Land). It extends from Singapore to the Isthmus of Kra bordering Burma, Thailand and Malay Land. Phuket is Bukit (hill) in Malay, "Satun" is "Setol" (a tropical fruit) was the Province of "Kedah" under the Malay Sultanate and Patani (Land of Farmers) was also part of the Malay Sultanate. In these areas people once spoke both English as well as Sam-sam, a local version of the Siamese language. The majority of residents were Muslims. Thailand pushed to dominate the peninsula as far as Malacca in the 15th century and held much of the peninsula for the next few centuries, including Tumasek (Singapore) some of the Andaman Islands and a colony on Java, but eventually failed when the British used force to guarantee their suzerainty over the sultanate.

All the states of the Malay Sultanate presented annual gifts to the Thai king in the form of a golden flower, which understood the gesture to be tribute and an acknowledgment of vassalage. The British intervened in the Malay State and with the Anglo-Siamese Treaty tried to build a railway from the south to Bangkok, Thailand relinquished sovereignty over what are now the northern Malay provinces of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu to the British. Satun and Pattani provinces were given to Thailand. The Malay peninsula provinces were infiltrated by the Japanese during World War II, and by the Malayan Communist Party (CPM) from 1942 to 2008, when they decided to sue for peace with the Malaysian and Thai governments after the CPM lost its support from Vietnam and China subsequent to the Cultural Revolution. Recent insurgent uprisings may be a continuation of separatist fighting which started after World War II with Sukarno's support for the PULO, and the intensification. Most victims since the uprisings have been Buddhist and Muslim bystanders.

In 1934 the Assembly voted to amend the civil and military penal codes. One of the proposed changes would allow death sentences to be carried out without the King's approval.[51] The King protested, and in two letters submitted to the Assembly said ending this time-honoured custom would make the people think that the government desired the right to sign death warrants to eliminate political opponents. As a compromise he proposed holding a national referendum on the issue.[52]
[edit] Communications
Main article: Telecommunications in Thailand

* Telephone: Thailand has about 7,099,000 base telephones, and about 51,377,000 numbers for GSM/3G
* Radio: AM 238 stations, FM 351 stations
* Television: stations with 111 network stations. There are about 15,190,000 cable subscribers.
* Satellite: 4 satellites

[edit] Transportation
Main article: Transportation in Thailand
[edit] Geography
Main article: Geography of Thailand
Mountainous landscape of Northern Thailand.
Dawn at Patong beach, Phuket Province, Thailand.

Totaling 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi),[53] Thailand is the world's 50th largest country in land mass, while it is the world's 20th largest country in terms of population. It is comparable in population to countries such as France and the United Kingdom, and is similar in land size to France and California in the United States. The local climate is tropical and characterized by monsoons. There is a rainy, warm, and cloudy southwest monsoon from mid-May to September, as well as a dry, cool northeast monsoon from November to mid-March. The southern isthmus is always hot and humid.

Thailand is home to several distinct geographic regions, partly corresponding to the provincial groups. The north of the country is mountainous, with the highest point being Doi Inthanon at 2,565 metres (8,415 ft) above sea level. The northeast, Isan, consists of the Khorat Plateau, bordered to the east by the Mekong River. The centre of the country is dominated by the predominantly flat Chao Phraya river valley, which runs into the Gulf of Thailand. The south consists of the narrow Kra Isthmus that widens into the Malay Peninsula. Politically, there are six geographical regions which differ from the others in population, basic resources, natural features, and level of social and economic development. The diversity of the regions is the most pronounced attribute of Thailand's physical setting.

The Chao Phraya and the Mekong River are the sustainable resource of rural Thailand. Industrial scale production of crops use both rivers and their tributaries. The Gulf of Thailand covers 320,000 square kilometres (124,000 sq mi) and is fed by the Chao Phraya, Mae Klong, Bang Pakong and Tapi Rivers. It contributes to the tourism sector owing to its clear shallow waters along the coasts in the Southern Region and the Kra Isthmus. The Gulf of Thailand is also an industrial center of Thailand with the kingdom's main port in Sattahip along with being the entry gates for Bangkok's Inland Seaport.

The Andaman Sea is regarded as Thailand's most precious natural resource as it hosts the most popular and luxurious resorts in Asia. Phuket, Krabi, Ranong, Phang Nga and Trang and their lush islands all lay along the coasts of the Andaman Sea and despite the 2004 Tsunami, they continue to be and ever more so, the playground of the rich and elite of Asia and the world.

Plans have resurfaced of a logistical connection of the two bodies of water which would be coined the Thai Canal, analogous to the Suez and the Panama Canal. Such an idea has been greeted with positive accounts by Thai politicians as it would cut fees charged by the Ports of Singapore, improve ties with China and India, lower shipping times and increase ship safety owing to pirate fears in the Strait of Melaka and, support the Thai government's policy of being the logistical hub for Southeast Asia. The ports would improve economic conditions in the south of Thailand, which relies heavily on tourism income, and it would also change the structure of the Thai economy moving it closer to a services center of Asia. The canal would be a major engineering project and has expected costs of 20–30 billion dollars.
[edit] Economy
Main article: Economy of Thailand
Bangkok, the largest city, business and industrial center of the country
Bangkok, All Seasons Place, Bangkok, China Resources Building
Bangkok at night, view from State Tower
View of the Business district skyline in Bangkok
Night view of Bangkok city
Thailand is the largest rice exporter in the world

Thailand is an emerging economy and considered as a newly industrialized country. Thailand enjoyed the world's highest growth rate from 1985 to 1996 – averaging 9.4% annually. In 1997 the economy contracted by 1.9% and increased pressure on Thailand's currency, the baht, led to a crisis that uncovered financial sector weaknesses and forced the Chavalit Yongchaiyudh administration to float the currency. However, Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was forced to resign after his cabinet came under fire for its slow response to the crisis. The baht was pegged at 25 to the US dollar from 1978 to 1997, however, the baht reached its lowest point of 56 to the US dollar in January 1998 and the economy contracted by 10.8% that year. This collapse prompted the Asian financial crisis.

Thailand's economy started to recover in 1999, expanding 4.2% and 4.4% in 2000, thanks largely to strong exports. Growth (2.2%) was dampened by the softening of the global economy in 2001, but picked up in the subsequent years owing to strong growth in Asia, a relatively weak baht encouraging exports and increasing domestic spending as a result of several mega projects and incentives of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, known as Thaksinomics. Growth in 2002, 2003 and 2004 was 5–7% annually. Growth in 2005, 2006 and 2007 hovered around 4–5%. Due both to the weakening of the US dollar and an increasingly strong Thai currency, by March 2008, the dollar was hovering around the 33 baht mark.

Thailand exports an increasing value of over $105 billion worth of goods and services annually.[54] Major exports include Thai rice, textiles and footwear, fishery products, rubber, jewellery, cars, computers and electrical appliances. Thailand is the world’s no.1 exporter of rice, exporting more than 6.5 million tons of milled rice annually. Rice is the most important crop in the country. Thailand has the highest percentage of arable land, 27.25%, of any nation in the Greater Mekong Subregion.[55] About 55% of the arable land area is used for rice production.[56]

Substantial industries include electric appliances, components, computer parts and cars, while tourism in Thailand makes up about 6% of the economy. Prostitution in Thailand and sex tourism also form a de facto part of the economy. Cultural milieu combined with poverty and the lure of money have caused prostitution and sex tourism in particular to flourish in Thailand. One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$4.3 billion per year or about three percent of the Thai economy.[57] According to research by Chulalongkorn University on the Thai illegal economy, prostitution in Thailand in the period between 1993 and 1995, made up around 2.7% of the GDP.[58] It is believed that at least 10% of tourist dollars are spent on the sex trade.[59]

The economy of Thailand is an emerging economy which is heavily export-dependent, with exports accounting for more than two thirds of gross domestic product (GDP).

Thailand has a GDP worth 8.5 trillion Baht (on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis), or US$627 billion (PPP). This classifies Thailand as the 2nd largest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Despite this, Thailand ranks midway in the wealth spread in Southeast Asia as it is the 4th richest nation according to GDP per capita, after Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia.

It functions as an anchor economy for the neighboring developing economies of Laos, Burma, and Cambodia. Thailand's recovery from the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis depended mainly on exports, among various other factors. Thailand ranks high among the world's automotive export industries along with manufacturing of electronic goods.

Most of Thailand's labor force is working in agriculture. However, the relative contribution of agriculture to GDP has declined while exports of goods and services have increased.[1]

Tourism revenues are on the rise. With the instability surrounding the recent coup and the military rule, however, the GDP growth of Thailand has settled at around 4-5% from previous highs of 5-7% under the previous civilian administration, as investor and consumer confidence has been degraded somewhat due to political uncertainty.

The incumbent elected civilian administration under Samak Sundaravej in power from January 29 to September 9, 2008 stated that the economy will have grown by 5.5% to 6% by the end of 2008. Due to rising oil and food prices, the annual inflation rate for 2008 shot up to 9.2% in July; a 10-year high, but it will unlikely reach double digit rates later this year as oil and food prices are stabilizing

Thailand generally uses the metric system but traditional units of measurement for land area are used, and imperial measure (feet, inches etc.) are occasionally used with building materials such as wood and plumbing sizes. Years are numbered as B.E. (Buddhist Era) in education, the civil service, government, and on contracts and newspaper datelines; in banking, however, and increasingly in industry and commerce, standard Western year (Anno Domini [A.D.], Christian or Common Era) counting prevails.[60]
The Rajprasong, Chidlom and Sukhumvit skylines of Bangkok at night.
[edit] Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Thailand
[edit] Language

The official language of Thailand is Thai, a Kradai language closely related to Lao, Shan in Burma, and numerous smaller languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Yunnan south to the Chinese border. It is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout the country. The standard is based on the dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida script that evolved from the Khmer script. Several other dialects exist, and coincide with the regional designations. Southern Thai is spoken in the southern provinces, and Northern Thai is spoken in the provinces that were formally part of the independent kingdom of Lannathai.

Thailand is also host to several other minority languages, the largest of which is the Lao dialect of Isan spoken in the northeastern provinces. Although sometimes considered a Thai dialect, it is a Lao dialect, and the region in where it is traditionally spoken was historically part of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. In the far south, Yawi, a dialect of Malay, is the primary language of the Malay Muslims. Chinese dialects are also spoken by the large Chinese population, Teochew being the dialect best represented.

Numerous tribal languages are also spoken, including those belonging to the Mon-Khmer family, such as Mon, Khmer, Vietnamese, Mlabri; Austronesian family, such as Cham, Moken, and Orang Asli, Sino-Tibetan family such as Lawa, Akhan, and Karen; and other Tai languages such as Nyaw, Phu Thai, and Saek. Hmong is a member of the Hmong-Mien languages, which is now regarded as a language family of its own.

English is a mandatory school subject, but the number of fluent speakers remains very low, especially outside the cities.
[edit] Religion
Main article: Religion in Thailand
Thailand religiosity[61]
religion percent
Buddhism

94.6%
Islam

4.6%
Christianity

0.7%
Others

0.1%

Thailand has a prevalence of Buddhism that ranks among the highest in the world. The national religion is Theravada Buddhism. According to the last census (2000) 94.6% of the total population are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Muslims are the second largest religious group in Thailand at 4.6%.[62][63] Thailand's southernmost provinces – Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of Songkhla Chumphon have dominant Muslim populations that belong to the Sunni sect and are mostly ethnic Malay. Christians represent 0.5% of the population. A tiny but influential community of Sikhs in Thailand and some Hindus also live in the country's cities, and are heavily engaged in retail commerce. There is also a small Jewish community in Thailand, dating back to the 17th century.
[edit] Culture
Main article: Culture of Thailand
See also: Music of Thailand and Isan
Theravada Buddhism is highly respected in Thailand.

Thai culture has been shaped by many influences, including Chinese, Lao, Burmese, Cambodian, and Indian.

Its traditions incorporate a great deal of influence from India, China, Cambodia, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Thailand's national religion Theravada Buddhism is important to modern Thai identity. Thai Buddhism has evolved over time to include many regional beliefs originating from Hinduism, animism as well as ancestor worship. The official calendar in Thailand is based on the Eastern version of the Buddhist Era, which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian (western) calendar. For example, the year AD 2010 is 2553 BE in Thailand.

Several different ethnic groups, many of which are marginalized, populate Thailand. Some of these groups overlap into Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia and have mediated change between their traditional local culture, national Thai and global cultural influences. Overseas Chinese also form a significant part of Thai society, particularly in and around Bangkok. Their successful integration into Thai society has allowed for this group to hold positions of economic and political power.

Life in Thailand

The traditional Thai greeting, the wai, is generally offered first by the younger of the two people meeting, with their hands pressed together, fingertips pointing upwards as the head is bowed to touch their face to the hands, usually coinciding with the spoken word "Sawasdee khrap" for male speakers, and "Sawasdee ka" for females. The elder then is to respond afterwards in the same way. Social status and position, such as in government, will also have an influence on who performs the wai first. For example, although one may be considerably older than a provincial governor, when meeting it is usually the visitor who pays respect first. When children leave to go to school, they are taught to wai to their parents to represent their respect for them. They do the same when they come back. The wai is a sign of respect and reverence for another, similar to the namaste greeting of India and Nepal.

Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, is the national sport in Thailand and its native martial art call "Muay". In the past "Muay" was taught to royal soldiers for combat on battlefield if unarmed. After they retired from the army, these soldiers often became Buddhist monks and stayed at the temples. Most of the Thai people's lives are closely tied to Buddhism and temples; they often send their sons to be educated with the monks. ”Muay” is also one of the subjects taught in the temples.[64] Muay Thai achieved popularity all over the world in the 1990s. Although similar martial arts styles exist in other Southeast Asian countries, few enjoy the recognition that Muay Thai has received with its full-contact rules allowing strikes including elbows, throws and knees.

Association football, however, has possibly overtaken Muay Thai's position as most widely viewed and liked sport in contemporary Thai society and it is not uncommon to see Thais cheering their favourite English Premier League teams on television and walking around in replica kits. Another widely enjoyed pastime, and once a competitive sport, is kite flying.
Thai seafood curry, an example of Thai cuisine.

Thai cuisine blends five fundamental tastes: sweet, spicy, sour, bitter and salty. Some common ingredients used in Thai cuisine include garlic, chillies, lime juice, lemon grass, and fish sauce. The staple food in Thailand is rice, particularly jasmine variety rice (also known as Hom Mali rice) which is included in almost every meal. Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice, and Thais domestically consume over 100 kg of milled rice per person per year.[65] Over 5000 varieties of rice from Thailand are preserved in the rice gene bank of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), based in the Philippines. The king of Thailand is the official patron of IRRI.[66]

As in most Asian cultures, respect towards ancestors is an essential part of Thai spiritual practice. Thais have a strong sense of hospitality and generosity, but also a strong sense of social hierarchy. Seniority is an important concept in Thai culture. Elders have by tradition ruled in family decisions or ceremonies. Older siblings have duties to younger ones.

Taboos in Thailand include touching someone's head or pointing with the feet, as the head is considered the most sacred and the foot the dirtiest part of the body.Thai society has been influenced in recent years by its widely available multi-language press and media. There are some English and numerous Thai and Chinese newspapers in circulation; most Thai popular magazines use English headlines as a chic glamor factor. Many large businesses in Bangkok operate in English as well as other languages.

Thailand is the largest newspaper market in Southeast Asia with an estimated circulation of at least 13 million copies daily in 2003. Even upcountry, out of Bangkok, media flourishes. For example, according to Thailand's Public Relations Department Media Directory 2003-2004, the nineteen provinces of Isan, Thailand's northeastern region, hosted 116 newspapers along with radio, TV and cable.
[edit] Cinema
Main article: Cinema of Thailand

The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by the Thai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry was started and in the 1930s, the Thai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films. Like some Southeast Asian film industries, the Thai film industry once had a decline, with the number of films made during the 1990s dropped from 113 in 1990 to only 32 in 1996. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thai: ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ, translit. Lung Boonmee raluek chat), directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
[edit] Sports
Main articles: Thailand at the Olympics and Thai national football team
Thammasat University Stadium national sport
Rajamangala National Stadium
Muay Thai is Thailand's national sport
Muay Thai Pone Kingpetch, 1960s Muay Thai champion.

Thai boxing

Muay Thai (Thai: มวยไทย, RTGS: Muai Thai, IPA: [muɛj tʰaj], lit. "Thai Boxing") is a form of hard martial art practiced in large parts of the world, including Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. The art is similar to others in Southeast Asia such as: Pradal Serey in Cambodia, Lethwei in Burma, Tomoi in Malaysia, and Muay Lao in Laos. Muay Thai has a long history in Thailand and is the country's national sport.

Pone Kingpetch was a Thai boxer, from Hua Hin, who defeated Pascal Perez, an Argentinean boxer to become the first Thai WBC Flyweight Champion on 16 April 1960 and later a 3 time WBC Flyweight Champion. Pone Kingpetch originally known as Mana Sidokbuab, assumed this name from his training camp; Kingpetch. Thai fighters traditionally take on the name of the camps they train for. That owner of the gym and head coach’s, Thongtos Intratat is present in these pictures. Thongtos Intratat is also known for being the first person to officially formulate and bottle Namman Muay (Thai Liniment) which is desired for his fighter, Pone Kingpetch. Namman Muay (Thai Liniment) is still only produced by his direct descendants in Thailand.

Traditional Muay Thai practiced today varies significantly from the ancient art Muay Boran and uses kicks, punches and knee and elbow strikes in a ring with gloves similar to those used in Western boxing and this has led to Thailand gaining medals at the Olympic Games in Boxing.

Sepak Takraw

Takraw (Thai: ตะกร้อ) is a sport native to Thailand, in which the players hit a rattan ball and are allowed to use only their feet, knees, chest and head to touch the ball. Sepak Takraw is a form of this sport which resembles volleyball where the players volley a ball over a net with the aim of causing it to hit the ground on the opponent's side. It is also popular in other countries in Southeast Asia.

Rugby

Rugby is also a growing sport in Thailand with the Thailand national rugby union team rising to be ranked 61st in the world.[67] Thailand became the first country in the world to host an international 80 kg welterweight rugby tournament in 2005.[68] The national domestic Thailand Rugby Union (TRU) competition includes several universities and services teams such as Chulalongkorn University, Mahasarakham University, Kasetsart University, Prince of Songkla University, Thammasat University,Silpakorn University, Rangsit University, the Thai Police, the Thai Army, the Thai Navy and the Royal Thai Air Force. Local sports clubs which also compete in the TRU include the British Club of Bangkok, the Southerners Sports Club (Bangkok) and the Royal Bangkok Sports Club.

Golf

Main article: Golf in Thailand

Thailand has been called the Golf Capital of Asia[69] as it is a popular destination for golf. The country attracts a large number of golfers from Japan, Korea, Singapore, South Africa and Western countries who come to play golf in Thailand every year.[70] The growing popularity of golf, especially among the middle classes and expats, is evident since there are more than 200 world-class golf courses nationwide,[71] and some of them are chosen to host PGA and LPGA tournaments, such as Amata Spring Country Club, Alpine Golf & Sports Club, Thai Country Club and Black Mountain Golf Club.

Snooker

Snooker is also increasingly popular in Thailand, following the success of James Wattana, a former world number three, who helped raise the profile of the sport in Thailand and the rest of Asia. There have been several other Thai players who have competed on the main tour including Supoj Saenla and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, although they have yet to emulate the acievements of Wattana. Currently Issara Kachaiwong, Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon and Noppon Saengkham are competing on the main tour along with Wattana.

Other sports

Other sports in Thailand are slowly growing as the country develops its sporting infrastructure. The success in sports like weightlifting and Taekwondo at the last two Summer Olympic Games has demonstrated that boxing is no longer the only medal chance for Thailand.

Football

Main article: Football in Thailand

Thammasat Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 25,000. It is located in Thammasat University's Rangsit campus.

It was built for the 1998 Asian Games by construction firm Christiani and Nielsen, the same company that constructed the Democracy Monument in Bangkok.

Its appearance is that of a scaled down version of the Rajamangala Stadium. The tribunes form a continuous ring which are quite low behind each goal but rise up on each side. Unlike the Rajamangala though, Thammasat has a roof covering both side tribunes. Most striking about this stadium are the floodlights. Thai architects usually favour concrete pylons but these are the steel variety. As viewed from the exterior of the stadium the base of each pylon seems to grip the outside of the stadium and they dramatically lean over the tribunes so as to better illuminate the playing area.

Thammasat was going to be used for PEA FC's match against Singapore Armed Forces FC in an Asian Champions League qualifier in February 2009 but the pitch was deemed unplayable and the match was switched to the Rajamangala.

Rajamangala National Stadium is the biggest sporting arena in Thailand. It currently has a capacity of 65,000. It is located in Bang Kapi, Bangkok. The stadium was built in 1998 for the 1998 Asian Games and is the home stadium of Thailand national football team up to present.