Covering more than half a million square km, Thailand is at the heart of South East Asia and has land borders with Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Malaysia.

The extreme north is mountainous and is home to Thailand's traditional and well known hill tribe communities.

Heading south, Thailand has two spectacular coastlines, the Gulf of Thailand on the east and the Andaman Sea to the west.

Numerous islands are dotted along both coastlines leading down to the border with Malaysia.

The south has a few mountain ranges but is mostly jungle and forest area.