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, the Thai government was placed under Plaek Phibunsongkhram. Although Japanese troops maintained a heavy military presence, Thailand was officially an ally rather than a completely occupied territory, as the Thai government retained autonomy over its domestic affairs, military command, and judiciary. They 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.Ronald Bruce St. John, The Land Boundaries of Indochina: Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, p. 20.
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.E. Bruce Reynolds (1994). Thailand and Japan's Southern Advance 1940–1945. St. Martin's Press. . 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.James F. Dunnigan. The World War II Bookshelf: Fifty Must-Read Books. Kensington Pub Corp, 2005. , p. 16.
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,Tim Lambert. A Short History of Thailand. 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 7,600 people (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.Eiji Murashima, "The Commemorative Character of Thai Historiography: The 1942–43 Thai Military Campaign in the Shan States Depicted as a Story of National Salvation and the Restoration of Thai Independence" Modern Asian Studies, vol. 40, no. 4 (2006), pp. 1053–96, p. 1057n.Sorasanya Phaengspha (2002). The Indochina War: Thailand Fights France. Sarakadee Press.
History
Background
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.
Military dictatorship
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.
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.
On 23 June 1939,Thailand (Siam) History , CSMngt-Thai. Phibun changed the country's name from Siam to Thailand, said to mean "land of the free". This was directed against the ethnic diversity in the country (Malay, Chinese, Lao, Shan, etc.) and is based on the idea of a "Thai race", a Pan-Thai nationalism whose policy is the integration of the Shan, the Lao and other Tai peoples, such as Vietnam, Burma and South China, into a "Great Kingdom of Thailand" ()
Modernisation was also an important theme in Phibun's new Thai nationalism. From 1939 to 1942 he issued a set of twelve Cultural Mandates. In addition to requiring that all Thais salute the flag, sing the national anthem, and speak the national language, the mandates also encouraged Thais to work hard, stay informed on current events, and to dress in a Western fashion. The mandates caused performances of traditional Thai music, dance, theatre and culture to be abolished, and changed into Western style.
Meanwhile, all cinemas were instructed to display Phibun's picture at the end of every performance as if it were the king's portrait, and the audience were expected to rise and bow. Phibun also called himself The Leader, in a bid to create a personality cult.
Thai-Japan naval co-operation
The Royal Thai Navy contracted the Japanese Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation of Kobe and Mitsubishi to construct coastal defence ships and submarines.
Thai Invasion of French-Indochina (1940–1941)
At the start of World War II, Phibun shared many of his countrymen's admiration of fascism and the rapid pace of national development it seemed to afford. Consequently, Phibun cultivated and intensified militarism and nationalism while simultaneously building a cult of personality using modern propaganda techniques.
The regime also revived irredentist claims, stirring up anti-French sentiment. Seeking support against France, Phibun cultivated closer relations with Japan. Faced with American opposition and British hesitancy, Thailand looked to Japan for help in the confrontation with French Indochina.Richard J. Aldrich (1993) The Key to the South. Oxford University Press. Although the Thais were united in their demand for the return of the lost provinces, Phibun's enthusiasm for the Japanese was markedly greater than that of Pridi Banomyong, and many old conservatives as well viewed the course of the prime minister's foreign policy with misgivings.
Franco-Thai War
In October 1940, the Franco-Thai War broke out. The war was a sporadic battle between Thai and French forces along Thailand's eastern frontier and culminated in an invasion of Laos and Cambodia in January 1941. The Royal Thai Armed Forces were successful in occupying the territories in French Indochina, with the French scoring their only notable victory at sea at the Battle of Ko Chang.
Japan used its influence with Vichy France to obtain concessions for Thailand. As a result, Vichy France agreed in March 1941 to cede 54,000 square kilometres of Laotian territory west of the Mekong and most of the Cambodian province to Thailand. The recovery of territory and the regime's apparent victory over a European colonial power greatly enhanced Phibun's reputation.
Because Japan wanted to maintain both its working relationship with Vichy and the status quo, the real beneficiaries of the conflict were the Japanese. They were able to expand their influence in both Thailand and Indochina. The Japanese intention was to use Thailand and Indochina as their military base to invade Burma and Malaya in the future.
The Thais accepted a quarter of the territory that they had lost to the French, in addition to having to pay six million piastres as a concession to the French. Relations between Japan and Thailand subsequently stressed as a disappointed Phibun switched to courting the British and Americans in the hopes of warding off what he saw as an imminent Japanese invasion.Charivat Santaputra (1985) Thai Foreign Policy 1932–1946. Thammasat University Press. Judith A. Stowe. (1991) Siam becomes Thailand: A Story of Intrigue. University of Hawaii Press.
Adoption of neutrality After the Franco-Thai War, Phibun compromised with Pridi, and the Thai government adopted a policy of neutrality. Pridi himself sponsored production of a Thai historical drama film, The King of the White Elephant. The film carried a propaganda message from anti-war interests in Thailand: Thailand should remain neutral, only going to war to defend its sovereignty against foreign invaders.
War comes to Thailand