by Emilio de Miguel Calabia
May 19, 2024
(Thai soldiers parading before the Arc de Triomphe in Paris)
During the first decade of the 20th century, the French and British divided up the world. After the Fachoda incident of 1898, they did not want any colonial dispute to trigger a war between the two. In 1907 they reached an agreement under which France recognized the interests of the British Empire west of the Chao Phraya basin and the latter did the same with respect to France east of said basin. Both powers agreed not to annex the Chao Phraya basin and to accept the independent existence of that truncated Thailand.
After that agreement France and the British Empire were free to swallow a little more Thai territory. On March 23, 1907, France and Thailand signed an agreement by which Thailand returned the western provinces of Cambodia that it controlled, Battambang and Siem Reap. Thailand did not respond to this assignment; I was aware of what the power relations were. On March 10, 1909, Thailand and the British Empire signed an agreement under which Thailand ceded Kelantan, T.andrandngganu, Kedah and Perlis (territories over which in 1826 the British had recognized the sovereignty of Thailand. Times change) to the British. The need to establish the border between British and Thai territories was also established. It should be noted that the Malay sultans concerned were not included in this agreement at all. Furthermore, the agreement put an end to the customary relations that the affected sultanates had had among themselves and which would now be divided by an international border.
After the Treaty of 1909, Thailand removed the powers that he still enjoyed from the Sultan of Pattani and replaced the vassalage system inspired by the traditional model with full integration into Thailand and the Thaiization of its inhabitants. The Thais had learned well the lesson from the Westerners about how territories are controlled.
lhe episodes of the late 19th century, especially the crisis of 1893, left a deep wound in the Thai psyche. Gregory Vincent Raymond in “Thai Military Power: A Culture of Strategic Accommodation” describes the national myth left by those crises. This myth is summarized in the following ideas: 1) Diplomacy is superior to military power as a way to resolve international crises.s. This does not prevent the military establishment is placed above the civil establishment. As in other semi-advanced states that were trying to resist the West, the Army was seen as an instance of modernization that, moreover, in its modern configuration had been established by the idolized king Chulalongkorn.; 2) The Monarchy as protector of the nation. Thai historiography has attributed much of the credit for maintaining the country’s independence to King Chulalongkorn; 3) Thailand was saved because it knew how to accommodate and be like grass, which bends depending on the wind that blows. Thailand exchanged territories to maintain its independence. Their fate can be compared to that of Burma and Vietnam, which were more inflexible and lost their independence.
dSince the reign of King Mongkut Thailand had begun to become familiar with and adopt Western ways. With the reign of Chulalongkorn, Westernization became an urgent task. Thailand understood that to safeguard its independence it needed the Western powers to accept it as an equal and eliminate the humiliating clauses of the unequal Treaties.
Westernization covered all areas: total centralization of the kingdom and replacement of the last remaining local kings with governors appointed by Bangkok; adoption of western clothing; introduction of the novel and use of themes other than traditional ones; appearance of the first comics directly influenced by the British; prohibition of polygamy; drafting European-style legislative codes… There are two books that describe this process very well: “Disturbing conventions: Decentering Thai Literary Cultures” by vvaa and “The Ambigous Allure of the West: Traces of the Colonial in Thailand” by vvaa.
The opportunity to Getting on par with the West, being accepted by it and finally freeing itself from unequal Treaties came with World War I. In its early stages, Thailand declared its neutrality. As happened in Spain, the elites did not agree on which side to follow and in doubt, neutrality seemed the most prudent option. King Vajiravudh, his AAEE Minister Devawongse Varopakarn and the king’s chief military advisor Chakrabongse Bhuvanad were pro-British, but there were influential nobles who championed the German cause.
In 1917, King Vajiravudh prevailed against the voices calling for prudence and joined the Allied powers in the war. Great Britain had been pressuring him in that sense and the incorporation of the United States into the war ended up deciding him; It was becoming increasingly clear that Germany would not win the war. Vajiravudh was aware that participating in the War would raise Thailand’s international stature and would surely lead to the abrogation of the unequal Treaties. There was also the prospect of expelling the Germans from the Thai economy and seizing their property.
Thailand decided to go a step further and send an expeditionary force. The modest force consisted of a 414-man pilot and aviation mechanic corps and an 870-man motorized corps that included drivers, mechanics, and medical personnel. The force, obviously, was symbolic, but it would allow the world to demonstrate Thailand’s modernity and when peace came, sit two inches closer to the center of the negotiating table. In this regard, Thailand participated in the Versailles Conference as a “country with limited interests.” Thailand asked for nothing more than that modest consideration.
After having received training, the Thais arrived at the front in October 1918. From the first moment relations with the French were bad. Added to the language and cultural barrier was the racism of the French officers who treated them as if they were subjects of their colonies in Indochina. The signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918 took the edge off the situation. The French authorities, who did not forget that their Indochinese possessions had a long border with Thailand, decided to give them the small satisfaction of allowing their motorized corps to enter Germany following the French troops. For eight months, Thailand was an occupying power of the defeated Germany!
TThailand derived significant benefits from its meager participation in World War I: its international image was enhanced, it began the process of abrogating unequal Treaties, starting with the one it had with Germany, and it became a founding member of the League of Nations. which gave him his first experience of multilateral diplomacy.
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Emilio de Miguel Calabia
May 19, 2024
