HISTORY OF THAILAND


This newsletter is going to deal with the history of Thailand, since its origins until today.
Thailand is culturally a very rich country and you will see that this history was sometimes tempestuous.

The oldest human remains are landscaped pebbles found in the province of Lampang. They are more than 700,000 years old and are attributable to Homo Erectus.
Site of Ban Chiang, in the northeast of the country, near Udon Thani were discovered in 1967, the remains of an unknown culture dating to the bronze age (4000-2500 BC). The inhabitants of this site had developed bronze tools and started the culture of rice in paddy field which indicates the beginning of an organized society. Tombs and a large number of painted pottery and bronze objects later have been discovered. The site was classified world heritage by UNESCO in 1992.

 
In the 3rd century, a maritime power known only by the name give Chinese texts, the Fou-Nan, whose economic center was located in the current region of Oc-Eo in Southern Viet Nam, control the South of Viet Nam, the lower Valley of the Chao Phraya River and the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. The description that gives the record of a mission Chinese come between 245 and 250, which described as "all ugly and black with curly hair, going naked and barefoot", we think that the inhabitants of the Fou-Nan were ethnically Khmer.


At the end of the 5th century, in the South of the current Laos, a new agrarian power appears, and known only  by his Chinese name: Chen-la. This Kingdom soon spans the current north Cambodia and northeast of the current Thailand, and eventually annexing the Fou-nan. We consider the Chen-la as the ancestor of Cambodia.

This vast region (equivalent of Indochina less the Dai Viet) was known by foreigners as the Sovannaphum or the Sovarnabhumi (which today is the name of the main airport of Bangkok).

The dispersion of sites attributed to Dvaravati makes think that its prosperity is linked to the trade which crosses the continental South-East Asia.

Between the 6th and 9th century, civilization so-called Dvaravati flourishes in the center of Thailand (see Indianization of the Indochinese Peninsula). The dispersion of sites attributed to Dvaravati makes think that its prosperity is linked to the trade which crosses the continental South-East Asia.

In the 7th century the Mons established on the site of the present Lopburi, the Kingdom of Lavo (disappeared in 1388), and to the 8th or 9th century, Haripunjaya (disappeared in the 13th century) on the current site of Lamphun.

Very early, the Malay peninsula becomes integrated into a maritime sales network which connects China in India, which we sometimes call the sea route of the silk. The cities estate - staes of the peninsula adopt indian cultural and political models (see indianisation of Indonesia). Chinese texts of the 3rd century after JC mentions an estate which they call Dun-sun, situated in the north of the peninsula, which controls both coasts.

 
 
Further south, we found, near the current city of Chaiya, vestiges which we dated the beginning of the 5th century and belonging to a city which the Chinese texts call Pan-pan.

To Chaiya, we found an inscription dated 697 of the era Saka (that is 775 after J.-C.), who proclaims that king of Sriwijaya, city - state where the location was on the current city of Palembang in the South of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erected a stupa there.

From the 9th century the Khmer, who established their capital at Angkor (see history of Cambodia), gradually take control of the whole of mainland Southeast Asia, imposing their domination on their cousins the Mons.

At that time, a first group of Thais, from southern China, began to settle in the Northern markets of the khmer empire, North of the Dangrek mountains. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the element Thai becomes dominant in the population of the region.
 


The kingdoms of Sukhothai and Lannathai (± 1238-1558)

According to tradition, Thai Sukhothai clan leaders free themselves from the suzerainty of the Khmer in 1238 and elect a King. The son of this King, Ramkhamhaeng, i.e. "Rama the fearless", is known by an inscription dated 1292, Thais consider the founding of their nation. After his death, the power of Sukhothai declined and became a subject of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya in 1365, which dominated the southern and Central Thailand until 1700.


Many other Thai States coexisted with Sukhothai, including the Kingdom of Lannathai or Lanna in the North. This State emerged in the same period as Sukhothai, but survived longer. Its independent history ended in 1558, when it fell into the hands of the Burmese; It has then been alternately dominated by Ayutthayala and Burma before being conquered by the Siamese King Taksin in 1775.


Sukhothai is the first capital of Siam (Thailand) founded in 1238 and ending to the khmer Kingdom of Angkor Wat. Sukhothai was listed in 1991 at the world heritage of humanity. The city is most famous for his art and for his political achievements.

At the end of the 13th century, in the neighbouring countries, the Mongols attacked Vietnam and the Khmer Empire and ransack the beautiful Burmese city of Pagan (1287). Sukhothai expresses their vassal and took advantage of the situation. Ramkhamhaeng, said "Rama the Strong", monarch, respected for his fairness and wisdom, raises at its peak between 1275 and 1317. The original of the stele, bearing the oldest inscriptions in thai alphabet, is in the Museum of Bangkok.

Located about 450 kilometers north of Bangkok, the immense Sukhothai is now ruined. The wood Palace of its kings disappeared. However, the city still has many vestiges of temples, built in laterite and brick. Most of the buildings that have been discovered, and partly raised, are inside a rampart strengthened by staves . But many other buildings, scattered in the surrounding rice fields, waiting to be released from the envelope of Earth which recovers them.

A large part of the objects found in Sukhothai is located in the national museum in Bangkok.

Built on the banks of the Yom, 60 kilometers north of Sukhothai, Sri Satchanalai was the main satellite town of the Kingdom. It was a center of potters and excavations resulted underground ovens. On the outskirts of the city, they produced the famous ceramics known as Sawankhalok, of the name of the region at the beginning of the period of the Kings of Ayutthaya. Abandoned at the end of the 18th century, many of its monuments have been cleared and restored by the programs led by Khun Nikom.
 
The royal family runs away from the city where king starved to death ten days later, marking the end of the royal lineage of Ayutthaya.
 

The Bangkok period, Thonburi (1768-1932)

After more than 400 years of power, in 1767, the Kingdom of Ayutthaya is conquered by the Burmese armies, its capital burned and the territory dismembered. General Taksin managed to reunite Siam from its new capital of Thonburi and is proclaimed King in 1769.

However, King Taksin is declared insane, deprived of his title, imprisoned and executed in 1782. General Chakri succeeded him in 1782 as Rama I, first King of the new dynasty of Chakri. The same year, he founded a new capital, Bangkok, on the Bank of the Chao Phraya, in front of Thonburi.

In the 1790s, the Burmese are defeated and driven out of Siam. The Kingdom of Lannathai, also called Kingdom of Lanna, has being also rid of Burmese occupation, a King of a new dynasty is installed there in the 1790s.

Relations with the Europeans in the 19th century

After the English victory over the Burmese Kingdom of Ava in 1826, the heirs of Rama I worry about the threat of European colonialism. The first Thai recognition of a colonial power in the region is formalized by the signing of a Treaty of friendship and trade with the United Kingdom in 1826, the Burney Treaty.

In 1833, the United States inaugurated diplomatic exchanges with Siam. However, it is during the reigns of Mongkut (Rama IV) and his son King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) as the Thailand nears firmly Western powers. The Thais attribute to these monarchs diplomatic qualities and modernist reforms of their Governments the fact that Siam is the only country in Southeast Asia to escape colonization.
 
King RAMA V
We must to add a chapter on this legendary King who is today still highly respected by Thais.
 
 
Rama V, who reigned from 1868 to 1910, is the fifth King of the Chakri dynasty, founded in 1782, and who reigns since then on the Thailand formerly Siam. He is more known under the name of Chulalongkorn.

Eldest son of King Rama IV, he was born in Bangkok on 20 September 1853. Important innovation for the time, he received an education in both modern and traditional by Buddhist monks. After a 42-year reign, he died on 23 October 1910 after having 77 children of 36 of its 92 women.

L'originalité de son règne

Following the impetus given by his father, he was the great modernizer of the Kingdom of Siam. He was the first King to undertake journeys abroad, in Singapore, India and Europe. He was received in Belgium and France, in 1897 and 1907.
 
Inspired by the ideas he brings to these trips, his action was fundamental in all areas. First, he modernized and centralized the administration, then organized postal services (1885), railway (1893), founded the first University, the first school of administration, military school and naval school. Bank notes were introduced in 1902 and the decimal system imposed in 1908. Slavery was abolished on March 31, 1895, as well as the duty owed by the Freemen (phrai luang). In 1874, he founded the national museum in Bangkok.
To carry out all these reforms and innovations, he surrounded himself with foreign experts and advisers from Western countries. He named Gustave Rolin as as general counsel. This international law expert helped the King to draft the constitution and modernize public institutions. The King took the name of Rama V. The Western Customs and clothes were introduced in the Kingdom for the first time.
In addition to these domestic successes, the country had to face during his reign to settler pressure on the part of the British and the French. The King knew how skillfully play on the balance of forces and managed to maintain the independence of his country, but at the price of territorial concessions. He abandoned a part of Cambodia and Laos to France (1893-1907) and the Malaysia border territories to the United Kingdom (anglo-siamese Treaty of 1909).
Rama V and the Thailand of today
King Chulalongkorn was very loved by his people in his lifetime.
His subjects have benefited from many social measures, the economic growth has been spectacular.
This recognition is expressed by a quasi-canonization, and this King is till today the object of an active worship, very many Thai houses today are adorned with his portrait, the prayers are addressed to him and his portrait statues are erected in many places.
On October 23, anniversary of his death is holiday.
 
Gradually, in the 19th century, Siam back off in the face of two European powers: United Kingdom and France. These two powers nibble the country, territorially on its margins, and in its sovereignty.
France, in 1873 and 1883, occurs twice to end piracy of black flags in Tonkin, theoretically under Siamese protectorate. In response, the Siam occupies Luang Prabang in 1883, but can not prevent the installation of a french vice-consulate in this city in 1886 (Auguste Pavie) nor the 1888 annexation of 72 townships by France.
 
In 1893, several incidents bring into conflict the Siam and France: either this one causes them, or it exaggerates the importance, so making rise the pressure, until the illegal sending of two gunboats for the mouth of Chao Phraya, that their captains announce their intention to raise to Bangkok. The Siam puts itself at fault by opening the fire: the casus belli is seized by Pavie, French resident in Bangkok what activates the French-Siamese war of 1893. He requires the abandonment of the oriental bank of the Mekong; a blockade is set up in the mouth of Chao Phraya. The Siam gives in and France adds to its requirements a demilitarized zone 25 km wide along the western bank of the Mekong, more the provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap. The city of Chanthaburi is occupied by a French garrison (treaty signed on October 3rd, 1893).
On February 13th, 1904, France annexes Luang Prabang and Champassak.
Of the English side, provinces are gathered in Burma. The railroad towards Singapore is exclusively granted to a British company. The United Kingdom obtains from more the insurance than no channel will be drilled in the isthmus of Kra.
The anglo-siamois Treaty of 1909 established the modern border between Siam and British Malaysia. Siam to assign to England the Malay States of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, until here his vassals and who become British protectorates. The Thai suzerainty remained on the Kingdom of Patani (since divided to give the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat) and the district of Setul, detached from the Kedah (and became the province of Satun).
A series of treaties with France has set the present eastern border of the country with Laos and Cambodia, Siam earlier had made claims and to some extent controlled these two territories.
In total, Siam lost 456 000 km² during the reign of Chulalongkorn.
 
First word war
Although Siam is not concerned by the first world war, the King Rama VI decides to commit him to obtain the end of the unequal treaties. The country declaring war to the Germany and Austria-Hungary on 22 July 1917. His army seizes several German ships and a small expeditionary force is sent to Europe. This action allows the Siam to appear among the winners of the war to the Treaty of Versailles and among the founders of League of Nations.
When the president of the United States Woodrow Wilson declared the war in Germany in April, 1917, it was clear that the entering the war of the Americans beside the Agreement broke the balance to the detriment of the central powers (Germany, Autriche-Hongrie, Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire).
Stayed away from the conflict, king Vajiravudh (Rama VI) examined the opportunities which this one offered to him. Although the Siam remained neutral from the beginning of the World War I in August, 1914 and although the country enjoys friendly relations with Germany, Rama VI found advantageous to bind his fate to that of the allied powers.
The monarch was convinced that the participation of the Siam would be " an excellent opportunity(occasion) for us to obtain the equality with the other nations ", the Siam having suffered the imperialist aims so many British (transfer of four provinces of the South by the English-Siamese Treaty of 1909) as from French people with the loss of Laos and from the Cambodia.
Besides, the Siam having been forced to accept rights of extraterritoriality for the citizens of country as France, Great Britain and the United States, king Rama VI hoped that the Siamese participation in the war would allow a revision of these uneven treaties.
 
Triggering

On July 22nd, 1917, in spite of the reluctances of certain member of royal government, king Vajiravudh (Rama VI) declared the war in Germany and in Austria-Hungary, Siam seizing immediately and, later, keeping(preserving) as war damage eleven ships belonging to the company " North German Lloyd " ( LGN).
 
 
 
 


The Siam sent to Europe a small expeditionary force, under the command of general Phya Pijaijarnrit (afterward promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general and known under the name of Phya Devahastin). it consisted of 1 284 volunteers and contained a detachment of 95 pilots of the air force, a contingent of the company of transport, a medical unit and one of the maintenance which had to serve with the British and French forces on the Western front.

The Siameses arrived in 1918 and the staff of the Air Force began to form in French piloting Schools of Avord and Istres. More than 95 men were patented experimental and some were sent to the School of bombardment of Crotoy, to the School of gratitude of Chapelle-la-Reine, to the School of shooting of Biscarosse, and to the School of hunting of Pitch. According to some sources, the pilots made their first ones taken out in the last weeks of the war, although others argue that the Siameses ended their training too late to participate in it.

The medical unity included nurses; they were, according to Thai sources, the only women to serve in the trenches of the western front.
 
A memorial was erected in honor of the expeditionary force in Bangkok, on Sanam Luang (at the corner near the national museum). Are the names of the 19 soldiers killed on the Western front. A memorial individual (Sergeant Major Charern Pirod) are also within the walls of the Den Chai police station (Phrae province).

 
 
Consequences

The Siam participated in the Treaty of Versailles (articles 135, 136 and 137 of the treaty of Versailles are dedicated to it).

Rights and German interests overseas - Section III - The Siam

Article 135

Germany re-knows that all the treaties, the conventions and the agreements between Germany and the Siam, as well as all the rights, title and derived privileges from there, including all rights of extraterritorial jurisdiction, came to an end as from July 22nd, 1917.

Article 136

All the goods and the properties situated in the Siam belonging to the German empire or other German state, excepted the used places as residences or diplomatic or consular offices, pass right now and without compensation to the Siamese government. The goods, the properties and the private laws of the German nationals in the Siam will be handled according to the capacities of the part X ( economic clauses) of the present Treaty.
 
Article 137
Germany gives up any complaints against the Siamese government on his behalf either that his nationals, complaints concerning the seizure or the condemnation of the German boats, the liquidation of the German properties, or the internment of the German nationals to the Siam. This measure will not affect the rights of interested parties as for the amount of the compensation of such a liquidation, rising who will be governed by the measures of the part X ( economic clauses) of the present Treaty.
Other benefits
In January, 1920, the Siam was one of founder members of League of Nations.
September 1st, 1920, decision of king Vajiravudh to enter the war was justified when the United States abandoned their rights of extraterritoriality. After five years of negotiations, France gave up the same rights in February, 1925 and Great Britain in July of the same year.
Second world war
The coup d'état of June 24th, 1932 in the Siam is a transition without bloodshed of an
absolute monarchy in a constitutional monarchy. Among the conspirators is the lieutenant-colonel Plaek Pibulsonggram, more known under the name of Phibun.
In 1935, king Prajadhipok abdicates. His nephew Ananda Mahidol, a child who follows his education in Switzerland, is appointed to succeed him.
 
 
In 1938 Phibun, who has now the rank of chief warrant officer - general, becomes Prime Minister. It is an admirer of Mussolini. He makes 40 political opponents stop in 1939, monarchic as well as democratic. After a parody of trial, 18 of them are executed. Phibun changes the name of the country, which of Siam becomes Prathet Thai, "country of Thaïs" or Thailand. This name implied a unity of all the peoples of Thai language, what included Lao of Laos and Shan of Burma, but excluded the Chinese. The slogan of the regime is moreover the " Thailand in Thai ". Another argument is etymological, the also "free" significant Thai word. The name of Prathet Thai is used at first not officially between 1939 and 1945 then declared official on May 11th, 1949.

In 1940, taking advantage of the weakening of France after the defeat of June in front of the Germans, Thailand attacks French Indochina. The French-Thai war lasts a few months, and ends in the annexation of some provinces by Thailand, in particular thanks to the arbitration of the Empire of Japan, worried of leaving an ally in Asia.

The French-Thai war ( 1940-1941 ) brought into conflict the Thailand of general Plaek Pibulsonggram, said Phibun, and the French State in the Indo-Chinese peninsula. it precedes by a few months the release of the war of Pacific itself.

The negotiations with France before the Second World War had proved that the French government was inclined to make minor modifications in the borders between the Thailand and French Indochina. After the defeat of France in 1940, the Chief warrant officer-general Plaek Pibulsonggram, Prime Minister of the Thailand, decides that the situation gives to the Thais an even better chance to get back to territories lost during the reign of King Chulalongkorn.

Context

On June 12th, 1940, the Thai government had agreed to sign with France a non-aggression pact but after the French collapse of 1940, Thai Prime Minister Phibun glimpses a chance for the Thailand to get back territories abandoned in France during the reign of Chulalongkorn (provinces of Melou Prei and Tonlé Repou in 1904, and provinces of Battambang, Sisophon and Siem Reap in 1907 which was given up in 1867 against the recognition of the protectorate on the Khmer kingdom; these provinces were quite connected in the Cambodia, and to avenge the humiliations undergone in 1893 (fastening of Laos with French Indochina) and on 1904.
 
The weakening of the metropolis made the maintenance of french control on Indochina hazardous and difficult. Private aid and reinforcements, the colonial administration was forced to allow the Japanese to settle in French Indochina after Nghệ son (offensive of 22-25 September 1940). The French resistance in the face of this invasion convinced the Phibun regime that a military confrontation would turn to his advantage.
The forces in presence
The French forces in Indochina consisted of an army of approximately 60 000 men, among which 12 000 were native of metropolis (and served in the said regiments of "sovereignty"), organized in 41 battalions of infantry, two regiments of artillery, and a battalion of the genius. The most obvious weakness of the French army was its lack of tanks: she could align only 20 FT-17 Renault against 134 for the Thai army.
The pro-Vichy air force in Indochina consisted of hundred planes, among which approximately sixty could be sent in the front line: 30 Potez 25, four Farman 221, six Potez 542, new(nine) Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and eight Loire 130.
 
The French forces in Indochina consisted of an army of approximately 60 000 men, among which 12 000 were native of metropolis (and served in the said regiments of "sovereignty"), organized in 41 battalions of infantry, two regiments of artillery, and a battalion of the genius. The most obvious weakness of the French army was its lack of tanks: she could align only 20 FT-17 Renault against 134 for the Thai army.

The pro-Vichy air force in Indochina consisted of hundred planes, among which approximately sixty could be sent in the front line: 30 Potez 25, four Farman 221, six Potez 542, new(nine) Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and eight Loire 130.
 
 
The Thai army was equipped relatively well. It consisted about sixty thousand men, divided into four armies, the most important being the army of Burapha with five divisions. The independent trainings under the direct authority of the high command of army included two battalions motorized of cavalry, a battalion of artillery, a battalion of transmissions, a battalion of the genius and an armored regiment. The artillery had at her disposal old Krupp, howitzers modern Bofors and mortars of campaign, whereas sixty universal carriers Carden-Loyd and thirty Vickers 6-Ton made up the armored weapon.

The aviation and the Thai navy had benefited in the 1930s from the attention of the Thai government. The Thai royal air force arranged 200 planes of fight and 120 planes of training. The American embargo of October, 1940 had urged Bangkok to provide itself more in Japan: during the winter, 1940, the country received 33 Nakajima Ki-27 and 9 bombers Mitsubishi Ki-21-I, as well as around thirty Mitsubishi Ki-30. She committed however rather older models, in particular Martin B-10.
 
 
The navy included for its part around thirty units, among which two armoured coastguards of Japanese construction, Thonburi and Sri Ayuthaya (armed with four artillery of 203 mm calibre), nine torpedo boats of Italian construction (provided with six torpedo tubes of 533 mm) and four coastal submarines (delivered in 1938 by Japan). it also contained a small anti-submarine aviation, and two battalions of marines.

Release and operations

After nationalist and anti-French demonstrations in Bangkok, border skirmishes follow one another along the Mekong. The superior, Thai aviation in number, bombards in the daytime Vientiane, Sisophon, and Battambang with complete impunity. The French air forces try raids in retaliation, but the damages caused in the Thailand are much lesser. Admiral Jean Decoux, governor general of Indochina, recognizes moreover that the Thai airmen pilot as men having several campaigns to their credit. In December, 1940, Thailand occupies Pak-Lay and the Province of Champassak.

In the beginning of January, 1941, Burapha Thai and the armies Isaan throw an offensive on Laos and Cambodia. The French resistance is immediately ready, but numerous units are surpassed by the Thai forces, better equipped. The Thais quickly occupy Laos, while in the Cambodia the French resistance is more effective.

January 16th, France throws a wide counter-offensive led by the 5th foreign regiment of infantry on the Thai villages of Yang Dang Khum and of Phum Preav, where take place the wildest fights of the war. The French counter-attack is blocked and ends with a pension, but the Thais cannot pursue the French forces, their tanks having been nailed on the ground by a French antitank gun.
 
 
Battle of Koh Chang

While the situation on the ground is critical for France, admiral Jean Decoux gives the authorization to admiral Terraux, commander of Marine in Indochina, to execute an operation against Thai Marine.

The order is given to the available warships to attack in the gulf of Thailand. An air reconnaissance is made on January 16th to Satahib (East point of Bangkok bay) and to Koh Chang.

In the morning of January 17th, 1941, the " occasional group ", floats of circumstance formed by the cruiser La Motte-Picquet, colonial escort vessels Dumont d' Urville, Admiral Charner and escort vessels La Marne and Tahure, placed under the command of captain Régis Bérenger, commanding the cruiser La Motte-Picquet, attack the Thai ships to Koh Chang.

Although the Thai fleet is more modern and outclasses in number the French navy, this one leads the attack with boldness and the fight ends with a complete victory. At the end of the battle which lasts almost two hours, the balance sheet is heavy Thai side. Torpedo boats Chomburi, Trat and Songkla is poured. Coastguards Dombhuri battleship capsizes, in flames. Its sister ship, Ahidea is too poured. A large part of the Thai naval navy fleet is so destroyed.

The balance sheetof the human losses diverges according to sources. According to the French navy, more than 300 men died from the Thai side and there are hardly only 80 survivors.

It is an important victory: the battle of Koh Chang is the last naval battle gained by France.

However, on January 24th, the final air battle takes place

When the French airport of Siem Reap, near Angkor, is affected by a raid of the Thai bombers.
 
 
Conclusion and consequences

The balance sheet of the war diverges according to sources. Some mention approximately 3 400 deaths.

Japan, willing to make sure the military collaboration of the Thailand, quickly intervenes in mediator in the conflict. An ultimatum imposes at first on both belligerent parties an armistice, proclaimed on January 28th. May 9th, France, under Japanese constraint, signs a peace treaty, by which it abandons the provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap, taken in the Cambodia, Champassak and Sayaburi (taken in Laos which so gives up territories on the right bank of the Mekong) is a territory of more than 97 600 km22 inhabited by 420 000 people. This treaty is followed by an other one between France and Laos on August 21st.

This annexation causes, in July, 1941, the imposition by the United States of an embargo on the deliveries of oil towards Japan and the creation, by means of the Anglo-Saxon secret services, of the Thai Séri ( the free Thai), the anti-Japanese secret organization.

The Thai government promises orally to the Japanese to leave them the passage on its territory within the framework of the attack on the Malaysia planned by the Empire.

December 8th, 1941, Thailand not having still answered the Japanese demands, Japan decides to pass besides and, to be able to pass in Malaysia, invades the territory of the Thailand. This invasion ends in the battle of Prachuab Khirikhan and a cease-fire a few hours later, then, the Thailand becomes allied in Japan.

Territories annexed by the Thailand are restored only in November, 1947 in France, which does not keep them for a long time, because the territories of Indochina obtain the independence shortly after. The weakness which France revealed is one of factors of this decolonization.

Losses

The French army had a total of 321 persons killed, among which 15 officers. After January 28th, it counted 178 missing persons (6 officers, 14 non-commissioned officers, and 158 enlisted men). The Thais captured 222 men (North African 17, 80 French people, and 125 Indo-Chineses). In 1955, 178 missing persons were recognized as died, what carries the balance sheet to 499 military deaths between the end of 1940 and the beginning of 1941.

The Thai army had a total of 54 persons killed and 307 wounded persons. 41 sailors and soldiers of the Thai navy were killed, and 67 wounded persons. In the battle of Koh Chang, 36 men were killed, among which 20 crew members of the HTMS Thonburi, 14 of the HTMS Songkhla, and 2 of the HTMS Chonburi. The Thai Air Force lost 13 men. 21 Thai servicemen were captured by the French people.
Approximately 30 % of the French planes had been made unusable towards the end of the war, a part because of minor damage, not repaired afterward, caused during the air raids. The Air Force of Vichy admitted the loss of a Farman F221 and two Morane-Saulnier MS.406 destroyed on the ground, but in reality its losses were bigger.
During its first experience of fight, the Thai Royal Air Force claimed to have shot down five French planes during flight and seventeen destroyed on the ground, for the loss of three of its own planes in the sky and from five to ten destroyed in French air raids on the Thai airports.
On December 8th, 1941, a few hours after Pearl Harbor's attack, the 25th Japanese army invades the South of the Malaysia, then under British protectorate. The Thai government having delayed giving the authorization to cross its territory, Japan passes in force. Clashes occur between Thai and Japanese, but a cease-fire is decreed the same day. Noticing the lightning advance of the Japanese in the Battle of Malaysia, the Thai government forgets its reluctances and becomes allied with the Empire of Japan. The imperial Headquarters signs December 21st a "treaty of friendship" with the Thai government and brings it to leave it the use of its military bases for the invasion of the other Asian countries of the Southeast. On January 22nd, 1942, the 55th Japanese division throws since Rahaeng in Thailand (province of Pathum Thani) an attack on Burma through the pass of Kawkareik in Karen country. The 17th Indian division of the British army, which guarded the sector, formed hastily and badly trained, has to beat a retreat westward.
In agreement with the military alliance between Thailand and Japan signed December 21st, 1941, January 25th, 1942, Thailand declares the war to the United States and United Kingdom. Elements of the Thai army cross the border and penetrate in the state Shan (who the inhabitants are of language of the same family as the Thai) in Burma on May 10th, 1942. Three infantry divisions and a division of cavalry, preceded by groups of gratitude and supported by the aviation, enter in touch with the 93rd Chinese division, which has to beat a retreat. Kengtung is taken on May 27th. New offensives push away the Chinese troops in Yunnan in the South of China.
In August, 1943, the Allies create South East Asia Command ( SEAC) with the aim of coordinating their present various troops on the theater of South-East Asia. The first zone of operation for the ground forces of the SEAC is constituted by India, Burma, Ceylon, Malaysia, Sumatra (in current Indonesia) and Thailand.
An opposition to the politics of Plaek Pibulsonggram appears in Thailand. Seni Pramoj, ambassador of Thailand in United States, refuses to put back the declaration of war, and bases in Washington the Free Thai Strengths. Queen Ramphaiphanni, widow of former King, livens up a government in exile in the United Kingdom. The regent Pridi Banomyong livens up secretly anti-Japanese movements. The economy of Thailand suffers from its participation in the world conflict. As allied by Japan, the country undergoes bombardments.
With the successive setbacks of Japan, Phibun is put in minority to the Assembly and forces to resign. At the end of the war, the Allies judge it for war crimes and collaboration with the enemy. But the public opinion, which is favorable, affable to him in the stay of proceedings.
After the second word war
Young King Ananda Mahidol returns in Thailand at the end of 1945, after years of absence. but, on June 9th, 1946, he is found dead.
His brother Bhumibol Adulyadej succeeds him.
In November, 1947, units of the army controlld by Phibun force the government to resign. Phibun becomes again first Secretary in April, 1948.
This time, his regime adopts a democratic facade.
He receives the help of United States when Thailand participated in the multinational strength of United Nations during the war of Korea.
 
 
Phibun takes up with his anti-Chinese politics of the 1930s. His government stops the Chinese immigration and takes diverse measures to restrict the economic domination of the Chinese Thailand. Schools and Chinese associations are again forbidden.

In 1951, while he assists a ceremony aboard US Manhattan of the American navy, Phibun is taken hostage by a group of officers of the Thai navy. Fights burst in the streets of Bangkok between the navy and the land forces, the latter being supported by the Air Force. Phibun manages to escape. The sailors lay down arms.

The Thailand becomes an official ally the United States with the signature of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954. During the War in Indochina, she stays nevertheless aside.

In 1957, marshal Sarit Dhanaraj =(Thanarat) takes the power and forces Phibun to exile itself in Japan. The latter will remain there until he dies in 1964

Thailand makes a secret agreement with United States in 1961. It sends troops in Vietnam and in Laos and authorizes the United States to settle air bases in the east of the country, where from the bomber B-52 takes off which bombard the North Vietnam.

1973 and later: the beginning of democracy

The history of Thailand since 1973 was a continuation of difficult and sometimes bloody transitions between the military and civil power. The revolution of 1973 was followed of brief one and unstable democracy, then of return in a military regime, elected by a coup d'état in 1976. This military regime was very unstable because of the multiple coups d'état. During the largest part of the 1980s, general Prem Tinsulanonda reigned over the Thailand at the head of the military regime, and it is true with a democratic mandate  from 1983. Afterward, the country remained a democracy, set apart a brief period under a military regime from 1991 till 1992. The Thai party Rak Thai (Thai like Thai) led by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra steered from 2001 until a new coup d'état knocks down him in 2006.

Revolution

In October, 1973 the massive demonstrations took place in Bangkok, requiring the end of the military regime. General Thanom Kittikachorn answered with strength, and up to 70 demonstrators were killed in streets, something unheard of in Thailand. This violent intervention of the military regime incited king Rama IX to make its first intervention in the Thai politics by removing its support for the military regime, and on October 14th, 1973, general Thanom Kittikachorn resigned and left the country.

The events of October, 1973 showed themselves a revolution in the Thai politics. For the first time, the urban bourgeoisie, led by the students, had undone the strengths combined by the old ruling class and by the army and won the visible blessing of King for a transition towards the full democracy, symbolized by a new constitution which plans a completely elected legislature.

Unfortunately, Thailand had not produced a political class in measure yet to run this new democracy smoothly. The elections of January, 1975 did not produce a stable majority, and a new election in April, 1976 gave the same results. The politician-veteran Seni Pramoj and his brother Kukrit Pramoj alternated in the power, but were not able of leading a coherent reform of the political system. The sharp increase in oil prices in 1974 led to a recession and to an inflation, weakening the position of the government. The most popular political gesture of the democratic government was to order the retreat of the American forces of Thailand.

 
The wisdom of this gesture was soon questioned, when the communists took the power in Vietnam, in Laos and in Cambodia in April and May, 1975. The arrival of communist regimes to the borders of Thailand, the abolition of 600 years of Laotian monarchy and the arrival of a great deal of refugees from Laos and Cambodia, made tip over the Thai public opinion again towards the right and the conservatives did much better in the elections of 1976 when in 1975. The left wing of the students' protest movement did not accept their victory and continued to demonstrate for radical changes.

Military regime

At the end of 1976, the moderate bourgeoisie turned the back on the more and more militant radicalism of the students based at the university Thammasat. The army and the right parts fought against the left radicals with paramilitary groups such as "Village Boy scouts" and "Red Gaurs". The example appeared in October when Thanom returned in Thailand to enter the monastery. Students' violent demonstrations came up against counter-demonstrators. October 6th, 1976, army released the paramilitary on the demonstrators, organizing the massacre of Thammassat, and used this orgy of violence, in which hundreds of students were tortured and killed, to suspend the constitution and resume the power.

Elections and coups d'état

In 2001, the Thai party Rak Thai (Thai likes Thai) led by Thaksin Shinawatra won the elections and launched a number of reforms to destinations of lower classes, especially rural and in the east of the country. On September 19th, 2006, while Prime Minister Thaksin was in New York, he was knocked down by a part of armed forces (see Coup d'état of September, 2006 in Thailand). The head of the army, general Sonthi Boonyaratglin, age 59, the first Muslim to occupy this post in the Buddhist kingdom, took the lead (was a headache) of a Council for the democratic reform formed by commanders of three weapons and of the police, which repealed the Constitution, decreed a martial law in the badly defined outlines, dissolved the government and taken all the powers. Since this date, several Prime Ministers followed one another, and the instability remained latent, peaking in 2010 in important démonstrations.
 
ln 2011, the sister of Taksin, Yingluck Shinawatra, becomes a Prime Minister. At the end of 2013, accused of being the political puppet of his brother, always in exile, it is the target of demonstrations of the opposition (urban and royalist, while the Prime Minister is supported by the rural farmers) who ask for its resignation, while is envisaged a project of amnesty being able to facilitate the return of Thaksin in Thailand. Even if thousands of demonstrators manage to invade the seat of government, this action is not considered as a political victory, while a truce takes place to celebrate 86 years of king Bhumitbol and while the army refuses to take a stand. it decides finally to dissolve the Parliament and to organize anticipated general election which will be held on february 2nd, 2014.

In May, 2014, the country knows its 12th coup d'état since the institution of the constitutional monarchy in 1932.

2016 saw the disappearance of the King RAMA IX at the age 88 years and after 70 years of reign, what makes of him King having reigned longer to the world.

A mourning of 1 year was decreed, mourning profoundly respected by Thai people which lost the father of the Nation, respected by all without political distinction.

He was also the one who knew during all his reign to maintain a unity in spite of all the coups d'état and to avoid in the country to fall over to the civil war.
 
His elder son succeeds him and becomes RAMA X
 
 


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