About McDonald's Our story starts with one man. Back in 1954, a man named Ray Kroc discovered a small burger restaurant in California and wrote the first page of our history. From humble beginnings as a small restaurant, we're proud to have become one of the world's leading food service brands with more than 36,000 restaurants, in more than 100 countries. In Thailand, the first McDonald’s restaurant opened in 1985, making it the 35th country in the world to serve the great taste of hamburgers. McDonald's Thailand currently has 240 restaurants nationwide.