Thailand was part of World War II's Axis of Evil

Pibulsonggram at Hyde Park, New York, 1955.

Anonymous said...

Thailand supported Japan to invade Burma and Malaya

On 8th December 1941, Thai Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkram's regime allowed the Japanese Imperial Army, which was part of the Axis Powers that comprised of Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy and Japan, to access through the country for Japanese forces to invade the British-controlled Burma and Malaya. Phibun assured the country that the Japanese action was prearranged with a sympathetic Thai government. Later in the month, Phibun signed a mutual defense pact with Japan. Pridi resigned from the cabinet in protest but subsequently accepted the nonpolitical position of regent in the absence of King Ananda Mahidol.

With the supports from Japan, Thailand declared war on Britain and the United States in January 1942, but the Thai ambassador in Washington, Seni Pramoj, refused to deliver the declaration to the United States government. Accordingly, the United States refrained from declaring war on Thailand. With American assistance, Seni, a conservative aristocrat whose anti-Japanese credentials were well established, organized the Free Thai Movement, recruiting Thai students in the United States to work with the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The OSS trained Thai personnel for underground activities, and units were readied to infiltrate Thailand. From the office of the regent in Thailand, Pridi ran a clandestine movement that by the end of the war had with Allied aid armed more than 50,000 Thai to resist the Japanese.

Phibun was rewarded for close cooperation with Japan during the early years of the war with the return of further territory that had once been under Bangkok's control that had been lost to its neighbouring countries, including portions of the Shan states in Burma and the four northernmost Malay states. Japan meanwhile had stationed 150,000 troops on Thai soil and built the infamous "death railway" through Thailand using Allied prisoners of war.

History had shown that Siam/Thailand had always attached itself to any rich and powerful nations to enhance its strength. Siam allied with the Mongols to attack and invade Burma after Burma captured Ayuttaya. During the European colonial era, Siam appeared very fond and adopted much of the influences from England, which was a very rich and powerful nation having great wealth and colonies throughout the world. With this as collateral, Siam/Thailand was able to grab some large chunk of land in the south from Malaysia. Siam also attempted to sweet its deal with Japan in WW2 after seeing Japan had conquered most of the land in the Asian continent.

With Japan as its backbone, Siam/Thailand had attempted to retake Khmer territories, such as Battambang, Siem Reap and Sirisophorn provinces, lost during the Franco-Siamese agreements almost four decades prior, in 1907. It was able to retake these Cambodian provinces from the much weakened combined Cambodian-French colonial armies and controlled them from 1941-1946. Now, Thailand is kissing up to America to earn love and affection. What is nasty about it is, anytime Thailand attached itself to those rich and powerful nations, Thailand becomes very arrogant and start pushing and bullying its neighbors for the sake of enlarging its territory. This is the attitude of the Thais.