ales are
registered at 18 years of age; conscript service obligation - two
years; 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 21-49: 14,903,855
females age 21-49: 15,265,854 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 21-49: 10,396,032
females age 21-49: 11,487,690 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 526,276
females age 21-49: 514,396 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$1.775 billion (FY00)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.8% (2003)

Transnational Issues Thailand

Disputes - international:
separatist violence in Thailand's predominantly Muslim southern
provinces prompt border closures and controls with Malaysia to stem
terrorist activities; southeast Asian states have enhanced border
surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; talks continue on
completion of demarcation with Laos but disputes remain over several
islands in the Mekong River; despite continuing border committee
talks, Thailand must deal with Karen and other ethnic rebels,
refugees, and illegal cross-border activities, and as of 2006,
130,000 Karen, Hmong and other refugees and 15,000 asylum seekers
from Burma; Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of historic
boundary with missing boundary markers; Cambodia claims Thai
encroachments into Cambodian territory and obstructing access to
Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in
1962; Thailand is studying the feasibility of jointly constructing
the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween river near the border with Burma; in
2004, international environmentalist pressure prompted China to halt
construction of 13 dams on the Salween River which flows through
China, Burma and Thailand

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 116,499 (Burma) (2006)

Illicit drugs:
a minor producer of opium, heroin, and marijuana; illicit transit
point for heroin en route to the international drug market from
Burma and Laos; eradication efforts have reduced the area of
cannabis cultivation and shifted some production to neighboring
countries; opium poppy cultivation has been reduced by eradication
efforts; also a drug money-laundering center; minor role in
methamphetamine production for regional consumption; major consumer
of methamphetamine since the