Thailand splendens" species are native to Thailand and were first collected for fighting during the reign of King Rama III. Thailand Thailand () ( ), officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam (), is a country at the center of the Southeast Asian Indochinese peninsula composed of 76 provinces. At and over 68 million people, Thailand is the world's 50th largest country by total area and the 21st-most-populous country. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area. Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to
1958 Asian Games gold medallist and the first Asian Olympic champion in an individual event, Mikio Oda. A record total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 member nations of the Asian Games Federation participated in the Games. The number of participating countries was also greatest in comparison to the first two editions of the Games. The Thai delegation held a meeting on 22 May 1958 in Tokyo, and invitations were sent to the representatives of Malaysia, Burma and Laos. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of forming a regional multi-sport event on the lines of Asian Games for the countries