The Kingdom of Thailand sits at the nexus of mainland Southeast Asia. Located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, the country spans 513,120 km2 and has a population of almost 70 million people. Thailand is acutely vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather events, especially perpetual flooding. Prior to 1932, the Siamese Kings were feudal or absolute monarchs. Now, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, whereby a hereditary monarch serves as Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, and a defender of the Theravada Buddhist faith. Thailand is an emerging economy with robust export-oriented industries and strengths in agribusiness, tourism, automotive and electronics manufacturing.
The Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF) has approximately 350,000 active-duty personnel and 200,000 reservists which is nearly 1% of the country's population. The RTARF maintains security cooperation with several countries including Australia under the Joint Declaration on a Strategic Partnership Between the Kingdom of Thailand and Australia. Bangkok and Canberra are positioning to advance shared objectives by deepening security and defence engagement, exploring new bilateral dialogues, and expanding networking and information sharing.