Geography of Thailand political development of this region. International access through the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand made the south a crossroads for both Theravada Buddhism, centered at Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Islam, especially in the former Pattani Kingdom on the border with Malaysia. Thailand's regions are divided politically into a total of 76 provinces plus Bangkok, which is a special administrative area. Thailand's climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast monsoon). The southwest monsoon, which starts from May until October is characterized by movement of warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean
Sex trafficking in Thailand Lao people trafficked into Thai brothels in northern provinces such as Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai; central and eastern provinces such as Trat, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Chonburi, and Chumphon; and, Songkhla, Narathiwat, and Pattani near the southern Malaysian border. More than 80,000 people have been sold into the Thai sex industry since 1990. The majority of sex workers in Thailand are foreigners and more than 60% of females entering the country to work in the sex industry are under the age of 18. There are 75,000 prostituted children in Thailand. This includes both children trafficked into Thailand and local