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Thailand in World War II
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Thailand in World War II
Thailand officially adopted a neutral position during World War II until the five hour-long Japanese invasion of Thailand on 8 December 1941, which led to an armistice and military alliance treaty between Thailand and the Empire of Japan in mid-December 1941. At the start of the Pacific War, the Japanese Empire pressured the Thai government to allow the passage of Japanese troops to invade British-held Malaya and Burma. After the invasion, Thailand ceasefire and negotiations. The Thai government under Plaek Phibunsongkhram considered it profitable to co-operate with the Japanese war efforts, since Thailand saw Japan as a partner who promised to help it gain some of the Indochinese territories (in today's Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam). Following added pressure from the start of the Allied bombings of Bangkok due to the alliance with Japan, Thailand declared war on the United Kingdom and the United States and annexed territories in neighbouring countries, expanding to the north, south, and east, gaining a border with China near Kengtung.
After becoming an ally of the Empire of Japan, Thailand retained control of its armed forces and internal affairs. The Japanese policy on Thailand differed from their relationship with the puppet state of Manchukuo. Japan intended bilateral relationships similar to those between Nazi Germany and Finland, Bulgaria, and Romania. However, Thailand at that time was labelled by both the Japanese and the Allies as the "Italy of Asia" or "Oriental Italy," a secondary power.
Meanwhile, the Thai government had split into two factions: the Phibun regime and the Free Thai Movement, a well-organised, pro-Allied resistance movement that eventually numbered around 90,000 Thai guerrillas, supported by government officials allied to the regent Pridi Banomyong. The movement was active from 1942, resisting the Phibun regime and the Japanese. The partisans provided espionage services to the Allies, performed some sabotage activities, and helped engineer Phibun's downfall in 1944. After the war, Thailand returned the annexed territories but received little punishment for its wartime role under Phibun.
Thailand suffered around 5,569 military deaths during the war. Deaths in combat included 150 in the Shan States, 180 on 8 December 1941 (the day of both the brief Japanese invasion and the failed British assault on the Ledge), and 100 during the brief Franco-Thai War.
Thailand, formerly known as Siam, was at the time one of few independent countries in Asia. However, the country was also struggling to modernize. Under absolute monarchy, the government was plagued by incompetence. Government service was lacking, poverty was high and even government official positions were fraught with glass ceilings. Thai culture was rooted in the idea that the country belonged to the monarch. Absolute monarchy was only ended by the 1932 Revolution carried out by Khana Ratsadon on 24 June 1932, and Thailand was still struggling to set up a modern government.
The civilian government set up by the Khana Ratsadon was embroiled in conflict with old conservative factions, and the new system of democracy was short lived. In April 1933, the first prime minister Phraya Manopakorn Nitithada dissolved the parliament and suspended the judiciary in a coup. His government then began to adopt more monarchist and conservative policies. It was in this era that Thailand saw its first anti-communist legislation passed, which would later be used by various governments to silence political opponents. The generals of Khana Ratsadon launched a second coup in June to regain power. This new government headed by Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena would attempt to carry out elections and follow the constitution. His government would also see a civil war that killed 17 members of the government force and an unknown amount of rebel forces. The end of this conflict saw the military promote themselves as the protector of democracy. Under the Phraya Phahon government, the parliament saw its first elected representatives, lasted its entire four-year term, and was succeeded by another elected parliament. Prime Minister Phraya Phahon left office on 13 December 1938, citing that the military should not be running the country and his health problems. He was succeeded by Plaek Phibunsongkhram. Under Phibun, Thailand saw a decline in democracy.
Prior to Phibun's premiership, the Thai military led by Phibun as defence minister, and the civilian liberals led by Pridi Banomyong as foreign minister, worked together harmoniously for several years, but when Phibun became prime minister in December 1938 this co-operation broke down, and military domination became more overt. His regime soon developed some fascist characteristics. In early 1939 forty political opponents, both monarchists and democrats, were arrested, and after rigged trials eighteen were executed, the first political executions in Siam in over a century. Many others, among them Prince Damrong Rajanubhab and Phraya Songsuradet, were exiled. Phibun launched a demagogic campaign against the Chinese business class. Chinese schools and newspapers were closed, and taxes on Chinese businesses increased.[citation needed]
Phibun and Luang Wichitwathakan, the government's ideological spokesman, copied the propaganda techniques used by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to build up the cult of the leader. Aware of the power of mass media, they used the government's monopoly on radio broadcasting to shape popular support for the regime. Popular government slogans were constantly aired on the radio and plastered on newspapers and billboards. Phibun's picture was also to be seen everywhere in society, while portraits of the ex-monarch King Prajadhipok, an outspoken critic of the autocratic regime, were banned. At the same time Phibun passed a number of authoritarian laws which gave the government the power of almost unlimited arrest and complete press censorship. During the Second World War, newspapers were instructed to print only good news emanating from Axis sources, while sarcastic comments about the internal situation were banned.[citation needed]
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Thailand in World War II
Thailand officially adopted a neutral position during World War II until the five hour-long Japanese invasion of Thailand on 8 December 1941, which led to an armistice and military alliance treaty between Thailand and the Empire of Japan in mid-December 1941. At the start of the Pacific War, the Japanese Empire pressured the Thai government to allow the passage of Japanese troops to invade British-held Malaya and Burma. After the invasion, Thailand ceasefire and negotiations. The Thai government under Plaek Phibunsongkhram considered it profitable to co-operate with the Japanese war efforts, since Thailand saw Japan as a partner who promised to help it gain some of the Indochinese territories (in today's Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam). Following added pressure from the start of the Allied bombings of Bangkok due to the alliance with Japan, Thailand declared war on the United Kingdom and the United States and annexed territories in neighbouring countries, expanding to the north, south, and east, gaining a border with China near Kengtung.
After becoming an ally of the Empire of Japan, Thailand retained control of its armed forces and internal affairs. The Japanese policy on Thailand differed from their relationship with the puppet state of Manchukuo. Japan intended bilateral relationships similar to those between Nazi Germany and Finland, Bulgaria, and Romania. However, Thailand at that time was labelled by both the Japanese and the Allies as the "Italy of Asia" or "Oriental Italy," a secondary power.
Meanwhile, the Thai government had split into two factions: the Phibun regime and the Free Thai Movement, a well-organised, pro-Allied resistance movement that eventually numbered around 90,000 Thai guerrillas, supported by government officials allied to the regent Pridi Banomyong. The movement was active from 1942, resisting the Phibun regime and the Japanese. The partisans provided espionage services to the Allies, performed some sabotage activities, and helped engineer Phibun's downfall in 1944. After the war, Thailand returned the annexed territories but received little punishment for its wartime role under Phibun.
Thailand suffered around 5,569 military deaths during the war. Deaths in combat included 150 in the Shan States, 180 on 8 December 1941 (the day of both the brief Japanese invasion and the failed British assault on the Ledge), and 100 during the brief Franco-Thai War.
Thailand, formerly known as Siam, was at the time one of few independent countries in Asia. However, the country was also struggling to modernize. Under absolute monarchy, the government was plagued by incompetence. Government service was lacking, poverty was high and even government official positions were fraught with glass ceilings. Thai culture was rooted in the idea that the country belonged to the monarch. Absolute monarchy was only ended by the 1932 Revolution carried out by Khana Ratsadon on 24 June 1932, and Thailand was still struggling to set up a modern government.
The civilian government set up by the Khana Ratsadon was embroiled in conflict with old conservative factions, and the new system of democracy was short lived. In April 1933, the first prime minister Phraya Manopakorn Nitithada dissolved the parliament and suspended the judiciary in a coup. His government then began to adopt more monarchist and conservative policies. It was in this era that Thailand saw its first anti-communist legislation passed, which would later be used by various governments to silence political opponents. The generals of Khana Ratsadon launched a second coup in June to regain power. This new government headed by Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena would attempt to carry out elections and follow the constitution. His government would also see a civil war that killed 17 members of the government force and an unknown amount of rebel forces. The end of this conflict saw the military promote themselves as the protector of democracy. Under the Phraya Phahon government, the parliament saw its first elected representatives, lasted its entire four-year term, and was succeeded by another elected parliament. Prime Minister Phraya Phahon left office on 13 December 1938, citing that the military should not be running the country and his health problems. He was succeeded by Plaek Phibunsongkhram. Under Phibun, Thailand saw a decline in democracy.
Prior to Phibun's premiership, the Thai military led by Phibun as defence minister, and the civilian liberals led by Pridi Banomyong as foreign minister, worked together harmoniously for several years, but when Phibun became prime minister in December 1938 this co-operation broke down, and military domination became more overt. His regime soon developed some fascist characteristics. In early 1939 forty political opponents, both monarchists and democrats, were arrested, and after rigged trials eighteen were executed, the first political executions in Siam in over a century. Many others, among them Prince Damrong Rajanubhab and Phraya Songsuradet, were exiled. Phibun launched a demagogic campaign against the Chinese business class. Chinese schools and newspapers were closed, and taxes on Chinese businesses increased.[citation needed]
Phibun and Luang Wichitwathakan, the government's ideological spokesman, copied the propaganda techniques used by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to build up the cult of the leader. Aware of the power of mass media, they used the government's monopoly on radio broadcasting to shape popular support for the regime. Popular government slogans were constantly aired on the radio and plastered on newspapers and billboards. Phibun's picture was also to be seen everywhere in society, while portraits of the ex-monarch King Prajadhipok, an outspoken critic of the autocratic regime, were banned. At the same time Phibun passed a number of authoritarian laws which gave the government the power of almost unlimited arrest and complete press censorship. During the Second World War, newspapers were instructed to print only good news emanating from Axis sources, while sarcastic comments about the internal situation were banned.[citation needed]
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