May 8, 2008: Myanmar Cyclone Relief: UNICEF Direct or through Google Checkout.
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Thailand ( Siam ) History as understood by a Farang. Below is a short 'synopsis interpretation' of the Thai historical events listed in this Thai Timeline Chart Scattered throughout Thailand are ancient walled cities and huge elaborate ancient temples.
Ancient stone 'castle like' temples and walled cities provide an inspiring reminder to the level of advancement that the ancient Thai and Khmer civilizations attained. |
![]() Lore of Thai Kings and Burmese Princes settling national disputes through Elephant Jousting in 1593. |
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Thailand had functional transportation canals & was known as the Venice of the East
The canals / "klongs" provide extremely functional transportation in the 21st century.
Today's Thai people can boast of an archeologically documented societal / ethnic linage dating back over 6000 years
The Thai / Khmer kings built incredible Palaces / Temples with serious decorative embellishments.
You will see things in Amazing Thailand that you will never forget.

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An Ancient Site Day Trip is wonderful.
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Answer the same questions twice per day for 10 years (tourist ask 95% the same questions day after day) & the professional guide should have a well rehearsed accurate answer ready for most questions. Your guide should have a 'full quiver' of narratives ( animated, please! ) on history / relevance. + The guide should be able to present appropriate solutions for any and all tourist issues .. snacks, travel, eating, shopping, meals ..cold drinks .. coffee ..cold Heinekens No doubt the inventive tourist can 'stump the tour guide'! :-)
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In the 21st century Democratic Thailand has a strong economy and has accepted it's role as a world leader.
Since 1996 Thailand has had a positive balance of trade with both China & the US.
2004: Thailand provided the 10th largest contingent to the Iraq coalition.
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Ford / Mazda B-Car is produced at Ford's Rayong Plant. |
2006: Thailand is the world's 7th leading exporter of automobiles.
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Bangkok is a modern cosmopolitan city .. with 6 star hotels .. & $100 per month rooms.
Relatively unique globally Thailand avoided being an European colony.
LIFE Magazine July, 1939. "Only the canny rule of King Chulalongkorn in the late 19th Century saved Siam from being swallowed by Britain and France like the rest of Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula."
Thailand's avoidance of colonialism & hegemony allowed the Thai culture to flourish unimpeded
and the Thai Land of Smiles Society has resulted.
LIFE Magazine
July, 1939. "On June 24, 1939 the Government of Siam, the only
free nation ( = the only non-European colony ) in Southeast
Asia, changes its name to Thailand, which means 'Free Land' ".
Sayam, from which
Siam came, was the name for Thailand in the the Szechwan dialect
of Chinese. The Chinese T'ai of Southwestern
China, Szechwan, began traveling down the Mekong River into Southeast
Asia or Indochina in about 600 B.C. .. 2600 years ago.
Left: Wat Chedi Sukhothai. Right: 13th century Wat Chang
(elephant temple)
Thailand History: Bronze Age - 1511
Thailand
History: 1511 - 2007.

September 19, 2006. Thailand Military Coup D' Etat .. The Army was actually greeted with flowers! :-)
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King Rama IX is held to the esteem of a deity & is truly loved by the Thai people. Yellow ribbons on the Coup D'Etat's tanks signify loyalty to the king. |
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In 1932 Thailand became, & remains, a constitutional monarchy instead of an absolute monarchy.
In the past 75 years Thailand has had 17 constitutions & 18 Coups!
July 5, 2007. The Military Junta has approved a new constitution. The new constitution severely limits the power of the Prime Minister & is in effect an anti-Thaksin constitution, taking aim at precisely the abuses the former prime minister is charged with.
Copies of Thailand's 17th constitution in 75 years are to be distributed to every Thai household ahead of the proposed August referendum.
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"do not sell you vote" billboard |
The Thai Constitutional Election was held on Dec. 23, 2007 Reports from rural Issan of politicians offering Viagra for votes! "the stand up & vote party" January 1, 2008: Thaksin's Party, PPP, won the most seats but not a majority.
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The junta produced proposed constitution is a topic of great political discussion in the Fall of '07.
King Rama IX is the longest reigning monarch on the planet, he has held on to his throne for 60 years .. through 15 constitutions & 20 prime ministers.
June, 2006 was Rama IX's 60th anniversary as King. Rama IX celebrated his 80th birthday in 2007.
The 21st century Thai name for western foreigners is Farang,
There are several 'versions' of where Thai common usage for Caucasian as "Farang" or "Falang"
I subscribe to the theory that Farang is an abbreviation of the original Farangse - the Thai word for the French (François in French).
Another well accepted theory is that Farang is derived from an Ancient Persian word for 'foreigner'.
The term Farang had a negative connotation until after World War II.
King Nairi's resistance to Dutch aggression in the 16th century was the beginning of the Thai's victorious 300 year fight to avoid brutal European colonial domination.
Bronze Age & Iron Age tribal and regional chiefdoms led to the rather sophisticated Dvaravati and Angkor states which evolved into the modern kingdom of Thailand.
Pottery shards bearing the imprint of both grains and husks of rice were discovered at Non Nok Tha near Korat dating from at least 4000 B.C. (6000 years ago)
The pottery shards found at the Non Nok Tha site are amongst the world's oldest.
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Ban Chang is reputed to be the world's oldest bronze age culture.
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Driving from Bangkok, Korat marks the beginning of Issan Region of East Thailand.
Thai Highways provide an excellent road trip experience. The Thai highways are relatively well maintained. Plenty of road side stops, 7-11s, McDonalds, 5 star restaurants, thatched roof hooch bars & rural temples .. w/ occasional national parks or towns to explore.
At Ban Chang archeologists have unearthed iron spearheads, knives and bracelets dating to 1600 B.C.
Ban Chang is a short day drive on modern highway from Korat near Udon Thani.
The Ban Chang site is now protected by the Thai government.
Previously local relic hunters actually undermined a highway near the site.
The world's first domestic cultivation of rice was in Issan near today's Korat, Issan.
The indigenous Thai discovered rice cultivation for the world.
The Thai words for meal & rice are the same, 'kow'.
2006: Thailand is the world's leading exporter of rice. Vietnam is #2.
Thailand exported slightly over 8 million tons of rice in 2006.
2007: Many traditional varieties of rice have disappeared in favor of higher yielding, globalized & mostly tasteless varieties.
The ultra fragrant Pin Kaew variety that was named the best rice in the world in 1966 is no longer cultivated & no seeds were preserved.
Since 1982 over 17,000 ( ! ) varieties of traditional Thai rice have been preserved by the Thai National Rice Seeds Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resources which was initially financed by Japan. A seed bank in Manila has preserved over 100,000 varieties of Asian rice.
The indigenous Southeast Asians had agriculture and pottery at the same time as the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia.
History books generally attribute the first iron age culture to the Hittites of ancient Turkey / Mesopotamia.
Thai iron objects are just as old as anything the Hittites produced.
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Day trips in a Taxi with a selected driver is an excellent alternative to guided tours & tour vans .. way better than a tour van! ( tour vans mostly suck)
No guarantee the driver has a clue about anything... carefully select your taxi driver!
For 4000 THB ( to taxi daily rate add: $25.US, $30AUS, 20EU) have a bilingual professional guide in a luxury Volvo.
Issan train station 'taxi que'. |
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A recommended limo service is Swasdee Limousine Tel: +66 6-533-4822 Fax:+66 2-928-4655 Email: alann@asianet.co.thAirport - Sukhumvet Thb600 Ayuttaya RT 1500 Hua Hin 1 way 2500 |
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The water buffalo was domesticated to pull plows in about 1600 BC. The buffalo remains a primary beast of burden in Issan. Very often you will hear a Lao or Khmen (of Issan) in Bangkok speak of buying their Issan family another water buffalo. |
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Warfare seems to have been unknown, no pre 1000 BC burial site contained any weapon of war, no skeleton found to date shows signs of a violent death, and no settlement shows evidence of having been destroyed by fire or force of arms.
Many graves of the pre 1000 BC era have been found with burial artifacts indicating a leader or hunter but no weapons of war!
The Khmer ( Cambodia ) Empire dominated the area south & east of the Chao Praya River, the Korat plateau east, for several hundred years.
The first independent Thai Kingdom, Sukhothai or "Dawn of Happiness", was established in 1238 in North Central Thailand.
Thai city states flourished from the 12th - 17th centuries.
The first Europeans to reach Thailand were the Portuguese in 1511.
Followed in rapid succession by the Dutch, the English, the Spanish, and the French traders.
Thailand is the only country in Indochina ( FRENCH Indochina ) to escape French colonialism.
The rest of SE Asia was 100% colonies: British ruled Burma & Malaysia, Dutch ruled Indonesia and both Spain & US ruled in the Philippines.
Thailand is the only sovereignty in an area covering 1/3 of the globe to avoid brutal colonial domination.
Quite amazing that Thailand was able to avoid being some Empire's colony.
& 500 years later Thailand remains the only stable democratic government in that entire region
A brilliant 'chess game like strategy' (small sacrifice for ultimate gain) executed by the Thai Kings kept the realm & thus the culture mostly intact.
Today's Thailand represents 'the evolutionary progression of a contiguous societal hierarchy' with an archeological record dating back over 6000 years.
The Thai heritage is a documented continuous linage of language, art, religion, architecture .. unimpeded natural progressions and adaptations. Societal evolution unimpeded by colonialism's hegemony.
The indigenous South East Asian Thai have a documented record 6000 years old.
The chain of events that resulted in today's Thai people.
Today's Thai population is comprised of a mixture of indigenous SE Asians, Chinese T'ai, Chinese Lao and Indian.
The Chinese / T'ai emigration followed by the Indian / Hindu immigration followed by the Chinese Lao, diverse immigrants mixing with the indigenous people.
T'ai immigration from the north & east (China). The T'ai began following river valleys into Southeast Asia in about 600 BC.
& the Hindu immigration came from the north & west (India) in the early 1st century AD.
The Chinese Lao also came down the Mekong, 2000 years after the T'ai in about 1500.
The T'ai also settled Burma and Vietnam & remain a dominate ethnic group in southwestern China, south of the Yangtze River ( 3 Gorges Dam fame ).
There is ongoing discussion as to whether the T'ai originated in southern China or northern Vietnam.
Pre modern geopolitical boundaries this area was not divided.
South of the Yangtze River 2 rivers flow from south-central China to the sea, the Mekong & Salween.
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Feb, 2007. Fishing the Mekong can no longer support a family. Lao fishermen in northern Issan report many days with a 0 catch. :-( |
The Salween
River flows southwest into Burma, is the Thai / Burmese
border & finally the
Andaman Sea / Indian Ocean. 2006: There are 13
hydroelectric / irrigation dams planned for the Salween. 5 Thai & 5 Chinese
dams. A pollution free
renewable resource has a lot of pluses! Consensus of opinion
is that the dams will devastate downstream minority
communities. 2007:
Current estimate is 83,000 hill tribe individuals will
be displaced.
These
2 rivers drain 10s of 1000s of sq miles of rain forest, huge
rivers!
The Indian / Hindu immigration began in about the 1st century. 01 AD.
The Indian / Hindu immigration followed the coast of the Andaman Sea south down the Malay Peninsula (to Indonesia) & east along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand (to Cambodia) into the southern region of Issan.
The Khmen of south eastern Issan are heavily influenced by Hindu genetics & culture.
Chinese Lao settled along the Mekong beginning in about 1500 AD.
The Lao immigration was during the same period as initial contact with Europeans were being made.
The Lao of Chinese decent melded into the indigenous population, did not try to dominate or colonize.
The Lao remain an important part of Thai culture in Issan.
Around Udon, eastern Issan, the Lao are the dominate ethnic group.
The far eastern regions of the Korat Plateau / Issan are more of 'Lao' culture.
In the Udon area a "Lao dialect" is common.
The immigrants from 2 distant geographic regions melding with the indigenous people of a third distinct geographic region.
The spread and natural convergence of people with extremely diverse genetic, cultural, lingual and religious backgrounds.
By the tenth century the Mons, from what is today Burma, had established themselves in Central Thailand and had established small Buddhist kingdoms in an area from Nakhon Pathon to Chiang Mai.
Along the northwestern side of the Central Valley, north of the Chao Praya River, adjacent to Burma.
Mon is spoken by Burmese hill tribes. Ethnic Mon tribes continue to live in the hills of Southern Burma.
The Mon ( Burmese ) influence ( genetic & cultural ) remains more dominate in the north, Chiang Mai / Golden Triangle.
The Mons ( along with the Karen ) are currently involved in a civil war against the ruthless Myanmar Communist government.
The Buddhism introduced by the Mons has melded with indigenous beliefs and thus evolved into today's Thai version of Buddhism.
Thai Buddhism is a unique form of Buddhism & many Hindu practices are present in the Thai culture.
The Khmer ( in Thai: Khmen = Cambodian ) influence remains more dominate ( genetic & cultural ) east of the Central Valley on the Korat Plateau nearer the Cambodian & Lao borders.
Historically the Khmer dominated from Central Valley east & south to Eastern Laos & Northern Cambodia.
Along a line from Korat to Buri Ram to Surin to Ubon, southwestern Issan .. the Khmen are the dominate ethnic group. The Khmer influence continues on the Korat Plateau near the borders with southwestern Laos & eastern Cambodia.
Khmen language is very common in Surin and Buri Ram.
Thai script is a combination of Khmen & Mon script.
Khmen is spoken in southwestern Issan today.
Modern Thai architecture is heavily influenced by Northern Thai ( Lanna Thai ) style
In the Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai area some incredible Lanna Thai style houses are available for short term rental .. quite marvelous houses built from 100% teak. The house above rents for 17, 000 Thb ( US$400, Euro 325 per month )
The most famous Archeological Site is Angkor Wat,1150 AD, covering rai & rai (acres & acres) in northern Cambodia.
Many consider Siem Rep / Angkor Wat to be part of Thailand based on the 1941 Tokyo Convention.
An international court returned to Thailand territory 'forcefully taken' by colonial French Cambodia in the early 20th century..
The French colonialist ignored the international court's decision and Siem Rep is in today's Cambodia .. not in Thailand as it belongs.
For the past 800 years Thailand has remained relatively free of colonial or regional domination.
1238 the first independent Thai state. The "Dawn of Happiness", Sukhothai, was established in North Central Thailand.

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"Dawn of Happiness", pretty cool name for a country!
Language contains concepts that are not translatable.
The Thai concept expressed by the sound Sukhothai is not literally translatable into English.
Thai language, like
Chinese & Vietnamese, has pitches or is multi-tonal (same enunciation w/
different pitch = different word).
Khmen language is mono-tonal.
Farangs learning Thai say the funniest things, wrong choice of pitch can result in a drastically different meaning.
My Texas drawl often does terrible things to the Thai language .. Imagine George Bush speaking Thai .. :-)
Remember, English written words representing Thai script are generally 'British English' phonic representations of the spoken Thai language..say the Thai you read with a British accent ..but, please, not cockney.
The archeological sites at Ayutthaya & Chon Buri are nice day trips from Bangkok.
Ayutthaya ( 90+ minute taxi ride from Bangkok, taxis available for 3000 BT for the day ) is beautiful & awesome, but ( in my humble opinion ) more represents Khmer architecture.
At it's zenith the city state of Ayutthaya, 1350 - 1767, was among the largest & most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
The Burmese plundered / burned Ayutthaya in 1767, so there are more ruins than complete temples / governmental palaces.
:-( , it must have been quite a city before the events of 1767.
Stone(
all that was not stone burned ) Ayutthayan
temples are scattered over a very large area, throughout most the
small modern city of Ayutthaya.
Driving
down many streets in Ayutthaya
you pass incredible ruins of what were once magnificent temples. Scattered
amongst current homes are ancient stone ruins!
The most famous of the Ayutthaya sites is 110% commercialized & is the site of King Rama IX's summer palace.
This primary Ayutthaya site / park is huge, scattered & fully commercialized.
Beautifully landscaped & maintained.
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They have some true 'clipper artists' taking care of the King's Summer Palace.
A traditional Thai meal served on the bank of the Chao Praya River surrounded by ancient stone architecture is certainly memorable. Outside the main for fee park's front gate, Rama IX's summer palace .. facing the 'front gate bus parking area'.. go to the left side & past the private car parking area.. less than 100 meters.. to an open air lunch area ( not a special for tourist kinda place ) situated on the river across from an ancient Buddhist temple. Monks in saffron robes cross the river to the temple in a suspended 'open air gondola'. |
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The tours WILL NOT / CANNOT take you to any non-commercialized locations, no place to park the tour bus!
The Ayutthayan site across the Chao Praya from the King's mom's summer palace is particularly awesome.
Beautiful view across the river & the King's mum likes her quite & privacy. So NO buses!
Any guide worth his wages knows the site.
This is a HUGE & SCATTERED group of separate sites!
If it were me, I'd find a knowledgeable guide in Bangkok & negotiate a flat rate "per day" trip.
Can be done in one day, but really needs more time than that.
Several locations have been restored, the ruins repaired to match the original buildings.
Many other locations have not been restored or only partially restored & will require some imagination to realize what was there before the Burmese turned as much of it to rubble as they could.
To totally destroy an entire city.. destruction of such magnitude, multiple huge stone temples . without bull dozers.. it must have been quite a demolition project!

Thailand was known as the Venice of the East.
Highly Recommended: A/C luxury motor launch to Ayutthaya.
See the ancient site from the river instead of the street.
The river & canals were the Primary Transportation system for the ancient City.
Via boat, on the river & canals is how the citizens of Ayutthaya saw the temples.
The temples were designed to be accessed from the river / canals!
In 1767 the Thai capital was moved to Thon Buri, across the Chao Praya River from today's Bangkok.
It was determined that the Ayutthaya location, easily accessed from the ocean via the Chao Praya River & transversed by the planned & functional transportation canals, was not easily defended!
The canals worked for the society & commerce but not for military defense.
During the period from 1350 (Ayutthaya) to 1769 ( Thon Buri ) the Thai society & architecture distanced itself from the Khmer influence.
You will see architectural similarity between the Ancient Site at Chon Buri Sukhumvit & temples in Bangkok Sukhumvit!
Thon Buri is the site that the Thai capital was moved to after the Burmese destroyed the City State of Ayutthaya in 1769.
Bangkok was founded when King Rama I moved the city across the Chao Praya River from Thon Buri in 1782.
The Chon Buri Sukhumvit Ancient Site sculptures & temples are well preserved.
A few miles ( 45 minute taxi ride from central Bangkok, 1000 THB taxi fare for several hours ) from the modern cosmopolitan city that is Bangkok is the less ancient but well preserved Ancient Site.

The Ancient Site historical park is well maintained & has limited facilities.
On the days I have been there, this Ancient Site historical park has been all but empty.
Not a tour bus in sight! :-)
Eat a traditional ( Note I mention food at each location! ) Thai meal in a traditional rural Thai setting.
Where ever you go in Thailand there are food vendors. :-)
I've never resisted Thai 'cart cuisine' & have never had 'digestive problems'.
Khmer sites, 1000 AD, in southern Buri Ram province / Issan ( near the Cambodian border ) are far from the beaten path. 2 hours west of the Korat - Buri Ram City - Surin railway / highway on red dirt roads are scattered ancient fort / temples, mostly un-restored & very near the Cambodian border.
Beginning in the early 16th century the European competition for colonial Empire left the Thai in conflict with the European Colonialists & Hegemonists.
Relatively unique globally Amazing Thailand avoided being an European colony.
The Dutch were negotiated out, the French were thrown out, the British were bought out, the Japanese were nuked out & the Americans voted themselves out
... but they're all back on vacation now ;-).
music video on myspace.. : Jeff & Soi Dog do traditional Blues .. Blues sung in Thai (Way Cool!)
Soi Dog live music video, Hey Joe, from the Phuket Blues Festival .. also on myspace.
There were also sporadic continuations of on going disputes ( err, wars ) with Vietnam & Burma during this period.
Vasco
de Gama rounded the (South African) Cape of Good Hope and sailed
across the Indian Ocean in 1498.
The fate of the
entire non European world became
one of conflict with the Europeans and their dreams of colonial
empire.
Colonial economic and
political policy was designed to milk ( = steal / rob / plunder ) the colony of
it's resources & enrich the
'mother country'.
The first Europeans to reach
Thailand were the Portuguese in 1511.
Followed in rapid
succession by the Dutch, the English, the Spanish, and the French traders.
From that first Farang step
forward, things became complicated for the Thai Kings The Spanish made the
Philippines
their
regional capital, the French focused on Indochina, the Dutch
were occupied with Indonesia while the Brits ruled over Malaysia
& 'most' everything west of Thailand all the way to the Mediterranean
Sea.
Thailand was an island of soverngnty
in an area spanning 1/3 of the globe.
& Thailand remains an
island of sanity in that huge geographic region today! The historical record of the last 500 years shows a brilliant
'chess game like strategy' executed by Thai kings.
The Thai kings choose to loose selected 'small battles' but win
the larger societal war.
If the reader should choose .. this "Thailand History" page has now
been divided into 3 sections.
Thai proverb, "the tree that bends with the wind is the tree that survives the storm"
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The ever so wise Thai kings of the Ayutthayan period offered small trade concessions & grants to avoid all out colonial hostilities.
Even though the Dutch had a generous trade agreement they wanted to dominate & control Thai imports / exports.
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1st it was the Dutch whose demands became unreasonable (more & more generous trade agreements) & King Narai finally resisted the increasing Dutch colonial demands for domination of the Thai trade options.
The 'quick' 7 month dangerous sea voyage around Africa to communicate with the French meant that events happened in slow motion compared to today's millisecond communication.
Rounding the cape of Good Hope, where the Atlantic Ocean & Indian Ocean currents collide presents some of the most violent 'ocean swell action' on this planet. Modern hull 1000'+ oil tankers bounce like corks, cannot imagine what a 100' rounded wooden hulled top heavy sailing vessel was like.
OK, I'll stop complaining about the 14 hours in tourist (cattle car?) class.
The purpose of Ambassador Kosapan's mission to Versailles was to offer a trading post to Louis XIV in Singor (now Songkhla) in southern Siam, where the Compagnie des Indes Orientales and a handful of troops would establish themselves and provide a counterweight to the all-powerful Dutch.
King Louie XIV dispatched 1400 troops to Ayutthaya.
The ever so gracious Dutch politely agreed to return to the originally negotiated agreement.
Thank goodness the French had their eye on the colonial-ization of Thailand.
Score: Thailand 1 Colonialist 0
The Thai then severed relations with the French to avoid becoming the last piece for a 100% French Indochina.
Score: Thailand 2 Colonialist 0
King Louie's attempt to Christianize King Narai was perceived as subversive by the Thai people.
The Thai people revolted against the 'French dependant' Thai government's position.
The 21st century Thai name for western foreigners is Farang, an abbreviation of the original Farangse - the Thai word for the French (François in French). The term Farang had a negative connotation until after World War II.
King Narai was a displaced ruler when he died 2 months after the 'revolt'.
1688, Sep 30 - All French troops leave Siam after negotiations with the new Siamese king, Phra Petraja. Phra Petraja takes European missionaries as hostages, pending the safe return of a Siamese embassy still in Europe.
1689, Dec - The Siamese embassy to Europe returns & the honorable King Phra Petraja releases all his European hostages and restores religious freedom but implements a policy of eliminating foreign political influence in the kingdom.
1698, Oct - A French envoy is sent to Ayutthaya with the offer of a new treaty, but the offer is declined by King Phra Petraja. France gives up her political interest in Ayutthaya.

King Phra Petraja closed Thailand's doors to the west for over 100 years.
Score: Thailand 3 Colonialist 0
Between 1824 & 1884 there were 3 Anglo-Burmese wars.
Significant that none of these wars occurred in 'Anglo land'.
This is one reason I am offended by the current usage of 'Anglo' in 21st century America.
The silly Burmese resisted brutal British colonial domination.
The ever so wise Thai King immediately granted the British Empire land concessions on the Malay Peninsula & the land hungry colonialists were gratified.
A few million rai sacrificed for good of the realm.
Thailand could easily have been devastated by brutal British colonialism .. but the wisdom & foresight of the King kept the realm intact!
Again the wisdom of the Thai King kept the realm mostly intact!
By granting land to the colonialist the Thai King avoided war.
In American baseball it's called a 'sacrifice bunt'... run scores.
Score: Thailand 4 Colonialist 0
Thailand
had actually declared war on the British Tea Company, British
National Opium Distribution, 100 years
earlier.
The British
Government's
"Tea Company" was the first international drug cartel.
Spreading opium from one milked colony to their other 'valued
colonial possessions'. The
first international drug lord was the British King.
Seems I've read that opium poppies are 'milked' of the opium .. & The British Empire was certainly for any colonial milking it could achieve.
Keeping the British Empire at bay was like controlling 21st century hooligans at the World Cup!
Much like
modern day fast food, the immediate gratification of the 'Thai
Fast
No War Land Lane'
quickly satisfied the Empires land hunger.
The "super
sized colonial edict land order" was transmitted through an extremely
functional British cannon barrel.
Unfortunately,
more traditional Burma only offered 'sit down land'.
& please no "After Thai Land ..colonialist will be land hungry again in hour.." jokes!
But... actually the Brits did slowly, seemingly insatiable kingdom that it was, consume more & more Burmese territory.
Bit by bit from 1823 til 1886, when the Brits occupied the entire country and there was no more Burma.
The Brits gave up on the Burmese colony in 1935.
112 years ..3 wars fought... then Milk & Run diplomacy ..
& historically significant Burma / Myanmar remains a society destroyed by colonialism, a country controlled by a cut throat junta until today.
2005: US Secretary of State Condi Rice includes Myanmar in the US Axis (now the Quadal of evil?) of Evil.
As a direct result of British colonial policy Burma / Myanmar remains a ruined country until today.
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Colonial demands continued into the 20th century! In the 1893 Paknam Incident, French and Siamese ( Thai ) gunboats engaged in a gun battle that set the stage for the Franco-Siamese Treaty Convention of October 1893. Under a 'colonial kangaroo court' French Colonial Cambodia forced the Thai to abandon part of it's soverngnty: Battambong, Siam Reap ( Angkor Wat ), Champasak and Lanchang Score: Thailand 4 Colonialist 1 Above: Siem Rep just above & to the right of "Tonle Sap Lake" .. on the edge of the green color & well inside Thailand! LIFE Magazine, July 1939. Only the canny rule of King Chulalongkorn in the late 19th Century saved Siam from being swallowed by Britain and France like the rest of the peninsula. In May 1941 an international court returned to Thailand the same territories taken in the 1893 French land grab. |
A series of incidents between French colonial forces in Indochina and Thailand escalated into open war in late November, 1940
During the Franco-Thai war, 1940-1941, Japan supported Thailand .. supplying bomber aircraft.
The war ended on January 28, 1941, after Japanese diplomatic intervention.
France was forced to cede a considerable amount of previously taken territory back to Thailand.
The Thai only wanted back what the French Colonialist had taken in 1891.
Or, Thailand kicked France's butt & took the stolen property back.
Before Vietnam in the 50s booted the Colonial French, the Thai had done it 20 years before!
This last colonial land / territory / border dispute with French Colonial Cambodia was settled in Thailand's favor by the 1941 Tokyo Accord.
An international court ruled the 1893 land grab by French Colonial Cambodia to be illegal & invalid.
Score: Thailand 5 Colonialist 0
.. previous Colonialist point ruled invalid & disallowed.
International boundaries were arbitrarily reassigned by the French colonialist as they abandoned their dream of world empire & abruptly abandoned their dependant colonies after World War II..
The French Colonialist needed to make an arrogant declaration of score:
A quick border relocation as they "turned out the lights".
The location of the Thai Cambodian border remains an area of 'negotiation' between Cambodia & Thailand until today.
A recent, 2003, incident in Phnom Penh: Cambodians demonstrated in front of / stoned the Thai Embassy after a Thai movie star stated Siem Reap ( Angkor Wat ) should be in Thailand.
Thailand's fans of soverngnty are insisting on a review of this questionable and typically arrogant colonialist edict.
Score:
Thailand 5 Colonialist 1
The era of European colonialism ended with WW II.
Interesting, :-o, that the Japanese ( Tokyo Accord ) were assisting the Thais resist European Colonialism 6 months before Pearl Harbor.
Bangkok newspaper Thai Mai, 1939: " What can small nations situated in the battle zone do? If Siam takes the side of Japan and the predicted troubles in the British and French colonial empires do not come off, then Siam would be in an unpleasant position."
Thailand is so placed on the map as to be a natural steppingstone for Japan in a drive against the great British base of Singapore at the end of the Malay peninsula.
Thailand desired to be completely neutral. Thailand was caught in-between global military powers.
On the 8th of December 1941 the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Thailand.
The Thai forces resisted as best they could, but were overwhelmed by the numerically superior Japanese forces.
Thailand was controlled by the Japanese during WW II but is historically considered to be part of the Allied efforts.
The first Japanese forces entered Thailand on December 8.
Due to the international date line Thailand was on the 8th & Pearl Harbor was on the 7th .. Actually Thailand was invaded a few hours before Pearl Harbor was attacked.
The Japanese invasion force landed at four different places along the Thai coastal provinces, including Samut Prakarn south of Bangkok.
Japanese controlled Thailand was bombed by the Allies during WW II.
Bangkok was a regular target of allied bombs.
WW II era 'dumb bombs' were very accurate, they hit the ground 100% of the time.
Most major cities ( civilian population centers, there were few military targets ) in Thailand were bombed during the war.
The Japanese brutality in Asia is infamous.
Japanese atrocities in Thailand building the Siam Burma Railroad were among the worst of WW II.
Post WW II military courts, 1946-47, in Japan returned several 'SE Asian' war crime convictions.
12,000 Allied troops died on the Siam Burma railroad.
50% of Thai citizens that were Japanese prisoners of war died. Less than 10% of German military POWs died in captivity!
The infamous "Bridge on the River Kwai" ( Japanese war atrocity movie fame ) is a popular tourist day trip from Bangkok.
2005: A sunken Japanese World War II-era train train complete with steam engine & caboose has recently been located next to a current Thai bridge, Chulalongkorn Bridge over the Mae Klong River in Ratchaburi.
Local Thai were used as slave labor by the Japanese to build a bridge, part of the Japanese Siam Burma Railroad network.
Local lore has it that the Thai workers made the bridge weak intentionally.
The intentionally weak bridge collapsed with the fully loaded train.
Japanese soldiers 'tested' the load-bearing capacity of the Mae Klong Railway Bridge by having a fully crewed & loaded train run over it.
Excavation depends on the current bridge structural integrity.
The Mae Klong is 10m / 30' deep at this point.
If you are into WW II Siam Burma Railway history, Ratchaburi is a short drive down highway 3274 from the River Kwai site, on the way back to Bangkok.
The Karen tribe of the Thai Golden Triangle & Burma fought the Japanese with extreme vigilance.
The Karen fought a war that greatly benefited colonial British interests in SE Asia.
The Karen guerilla action was the most successful Allied guerrilla action against the Japanese in WW II.
The British promised the Karen an independent country for their cooperation with the allied war plan.
The more assets Japan dedicated to SE Asia the fewer resources it had for the rest of the Pacific region.
Many Karen villages were destroyed by the Japanese.
The Karen tribe is famous for the 'long neck women'.

Then the British Post WW II Labor Party reneged on the promises made by the wartime allegiance.
It is said that Winston Churchill was upset when the Post WW II British Labor Party choose to forgot their good friends & warrior allies .. The Karen were sold out after WWII.
In 1949 the brave warrior Karen began a civil war against the post WW II Burmese government with large quantities of stashed WW II weaponry.
The Brits supplied weapons to the Burmese government to fight their former warrior allies.
The communist military government of the Socialist Republic of Myanmar, Burma, is one of the most ruthless governments in the world today.
The Mon and Karen have fought a 60 year guerrilla war against the brutal Burmese / Myanmar government.
2006: The Mon & Karen struggle with the brutal Burmese Junta continues until today. Current escalation of Karen guerrilla activity is due to a 36" oil pipeline that transverses their traditional ethnic homeland.
The Myanmar Junta is building natural gas pipeline from Myanmar to Thailand. Problem is it passes through Karen ethnic territory.
The Junta has been hired by the 'oil project participants' to 'protect' the pipeline.
"As the Unocal official's denial of company responsibility for the forced road-clearing attests, it is impossible to operate in a completely abuse-free environment when you have the Burmese government as a partner.." the embassy report concluded.
The Karen's primary problems are with the ruthless Myanmar government not the Thai, but the Karen's traditional homeland spans the Myanmar / Thai border.
The pipeline will provide the Junta $400m per year.
The Thai government is also a participant. The 36" pipeline project is owned by a French company Total, a California company Unocal, along with the Thai & Myanmar governments.
2002: There are allegations of slave labor as well as forced relocations of entire Karen villages. International relief organizations have set up large refugee camps to feed & house the Mon & Karen displaced by the project.
March 22, 2005. US oil giant Unocal has agreed to compensate Burmese ( Karen & Mon ) villagers over abuses committed during the construction of a gas pipeline. www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4371995.stm
Court documents demonstrate Unocal Management did not stop Burmese troops guarding the project from abusing the indigenous people.
To avoid the entire & detailed truth coming out regarding Unocal's US management's complicity in allowing the mass murder / rape during sworn testimony Unocal agreed to a huge out of court settlement.
2004: Rumor had it, Unocal would be controlled by