I was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War. The base I was at was an old Japanese fighter base. Many of the buildings were still being used. The hangers were built underground and were off limits. There was reportedly tunnels. In this particular area there were actually two German restaurants that were run by families. The male owner was an advisor during WWII and just didn’t go home.
Sawadee Cup. Saying 'good morning' or 'good afternoon', or 'good evening' all. Depends on the time of day. Lovely country and people, spent some time there in early 70's to 1975. Took 3 R&R's to Bangkok from Vietnam. What a city. Good duty and memories.
Great program! While working at the American Embassy in Bangkok in 2015 and 2016 I had the opportunity to attend annual luncheons honoring the Free Thai movement. Most of the Free Thai members had passed away or were no longer able to attend in person but their sons and daughters made a strong turnout. These folks are senior business, government and academic leaders in Thailand. Recruiting Thai students attending Ivy League colleges for Free Thai was one of the first big efforts of the OSS.
Caught the last 15 minutes & it was excellent… very knowledgeable speaker. Will go back & watch the rest. Thank you for always bringing the most interesting and fresh content.
Interesting program. I hooked up late, so I'll have to go back and catch the beginning. Learning experience as I had no knowledge of this segment of the war. Thanks to you and Panarat for an interesting presentation. Paul you have quite the repertoire of guest authors and historians--thx!!!
Woody, another great program on a topic and an area not covered very much, if at all, in the west. I know I have wondered a few times in the last few months about Thailand in WW2. Give Panarat Anamwathana a big thank you for all of us for doing this research and being willing to share with us
Hey Woody - just playing catch-up on a few old shows. This show was outstanding (I love a bit of social and economic history). Thanks Panarat and Paul!
Just watching the Thailand presentation by Dr. Anamwathana, wow fascinating I knew nothing about Thailand in WW2. Another brilliant subject and guest, thank you Paul.
Great Job Paul bringing little know parts into context. After all it was a world war and many countries large and small were involved in one form or another
Logistically, Thailand was essential to the Japanese war in Burma and to cutting the supplies to China. The Free Thai did have some effects with their efforts, they have a tendency to be much more subtle than the French Resistance were (as an example). It is important to note that the Free Thai were an OSS sponsored operation, coordinated with Donovan's other operations in SE Asia. I would argue that the existence of the Free Thai as well as how upset Britain was regarding how Thailand dealt with Japan meant that by 1945, Thailand had really no choice on who of the Allies to align themselves with. Most of the raids on Bangkok were not by B-29s (only the final raids were). B-29s first made a raid on Bangkok in June of 1944. Thailand had a strong Communist movement during the 1960s and 1970s. There is an entire museum about the fight in Pitsanalok. Monthly expenses is interesting. Similar expense for a minor Thai government official today would be between 300 and 1000 times that.
It is refreshing to see and hear the experience of Thailand during WWII from the perspective of someone from Thailand. It was a difficult position for this country to be in and I never considered the situation in such a way. I see comparisons with Norway and Holland in many ways. How does one deal with an 800 lb. Gorilla in the room? It puts me in mind of Belarus today-dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. Thanks as always Paul for getting us to see the human side of WWII history in an unbiased manner. Taking away the politics for a time and opening one's mind is what I try to do more often from watching WW2TV. I am glad to be a member and supporter. Thanks as well for allowing everyone to post their comments, even those of the naysayers.
I 1st heard about your channel on Twitter and remember all the crap you took from men who objected to your channel offering a platform for women military historians. The way some of them were treated on Twitter, like Alexandra Churchill and Kate Jamieson, contributed to me leaving that platform. I understand why professionals like yourself and them have to maintain a social media presence, but I found it depressing vs. a fun place to seek out info. Kudo's again for offering a broad range of topics from such a diverse group of experts. Great stuff
The positives outweigh the negatives with regards Twitter, but I still do get crap. It's like this show, people are much quicker to pick up on a female's style of speech than a man's
Thank you, Paul and Panarat! Great stuff and a great introduction to this previously rather occluded topic. Finally got around to listening to this one, uninterrupted! Unless I am specifically directed, I don't go on Twitter. It seems to be even more of a nest of Vipers, Vietnamese Pit Vipers at that, than Facebook! I hear you deafeningly concerning the patronising, sneering and downright misogynistic attitudes displayed by some commenters and academics. Bloody rude and offensive. I have found Women Historians and Archaeologists, whether lecturers, authors, fellow students or Museum colleagues, to have been excellent. Broad brush, I know but I have generally found that women tend to be very thorough, showing a better attention to detail in my experience, thoughtful, well prepared, more than willing to declare a gap in their knowledge - a trait frequently lacking in some men! - so quite happy to listen to and/or accept that another historian may know more on a particular area of a topic than they might do: isn't that what contacts/colleagues are there for?! The study of History is supposed to be collaborative rather than competitive, I was led to believe, and no one is good at everything, after all! In addition to some men, and believe me I have experienced this, advertising almost adolescent levels of testosterone-fuelled competitive traits (I could have used the possibly accurate but inappropriate and imprecise phrase 'Willy-Waving' but I won't!😉) there can also be a tendency to leave reputations/memories/memoirs unsullied or critically reassessed. Bear with me on this but it can sometimes be extremely tricky to introduce new data, differing perspectives and altered contextual parameters without causing unintended offence. Rather than a 'doubling down', there can be a less than total willingness to employ the usual rigor in their objective analysis of some aspects of the historical record. It can take the form of 'Respect', almost a kind of 'loyalty to your own', but no one single person - no matter how great or good - 'owns' the History or the subsequent Historiography, for that matter. We suffer enough from simplistic narratives as it is, in my opinion. I hope the above makes sense, I'm not trying to dig anyone out or just cause a ruckus, but the issue of more 'traditional' elements dismissing that which does not 'fit' into their comfort zone is one which I have both witnessed and experienced. Ok, I'm off my soapbox now! (But I always carry a spare!)
These programs on war experiences of the counties that were not major belligerents are very interesting. The Thai scholar was very interesting Her and your efforts are most appreciated. The end was particularly interesting. She is exactly correct. I can not imagine a movie about a romance with a Japanese soldier anywhere else in the Japanese-occupied area, except perhaps Indonesiawhich collaborated closely with the Japanese but I am not sure how the occupation is looked on there.
What an amazing presentation by Dr. Anamwathana! I knew very little about Thailand (Siam) during World War 2 and now I have a working knowledge. I hope Dr. Anamwathana inspires other Thai scholars to examine their countries roll in World War 2.
Interesting talk. Re rice, Japanese consumers dislike the long-grain rice that's popular in SE and S. Asia. Korea was Japan's principal external rice supplier because they too grew short-grain rice. Thailand's pre-War agricultural importance was to Malaya, DEI, and Philippines. For example, DEI had just attained rice self-sufficiency before the outbreak of war. Peninsular Malaya was organised around the cash crops of palm oil and rubber, and its east coast had abundant iron ore deposits (Japan had already established mining there before the War). Then Japan screwed up the East Indies. Japanese rice producers were twice as productive, so the new admin believed that by importing Japanese agricultural practices and the short-grain sticky rice Japan liked its productivity would skyrocket. This required much more labour than the natives were used to expending. And it was producing a new rice they didn't like too. The result? Rice production fell 35%. Like elsewhere in the new empire, Japan brought Thailand into Japanese economic sphere but, unlike elsewhere, military scrip was not introduced. Thailand was forced to devalue the baht, which reduced the cost of Thai imports by Japan by one-third, and it had to accept yen as payment rather than hard currency. In the 1930s Japan was suffering a FX problem due to the fall of silk's value (export volume reached pre 1929 level in '35, though not as high as the peak in mid 1920s, but the value was half due to rayon and nylon); it left the gold standard in '32, which increased the cost of imports due to yen devaluation; and the shift of export trade from the developed economies, chiefly US, which was a source of hard currency, to Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan, etc, which weren't. To make up for the shortfall in silk exports, Japan shifted to cotton and rayon, which required an increase of feedstock imports of wood pulp from US and cotton from India and US. Silk required no foreign inputs, but cotton and rayon production required it, resulting in greater hard currency expenditure for less hard currency income. How do you tax poor people with no income? Corvee labour. Japan used both _romusha_ labour (forced and paid, though poorly, for long-term work) and _kinrohoshi_ (forced and unpaid, though for short period) in its occupied territories.
Thank you for the discussion!! Thailand really owes its prosperity to HM King Rama V keeping the aggressive colonials at bay in the 19th century and HM King Phumiphon (Rama IX) for building Thailand to the post-war prosperity it enjoys today. I think the elephant in the room is that if the Empire of Japan whipped up hostility amongst the locals (rural Thai/ Burmese & Karen) it would have made occupation a good n proper nightmare for the Japanese and a dream come true for the Allies who could have quickly mustered and trained partisan resistance fighters. Finally it was told by some survivors of the Thai -- Burma Railway that there were small groups of partisans who tried to help the POWs.
There's a few things that I believe that the Professor should've mentioned, although I'll mention it about Thailand's involvement in WWII: Phibun never really did side with the Japanese 100% (one thing we can see throughout his career is that while Phibun had a moral compass, he was willing to consistently sacrifice it for opportunism for trying to get the best out of his country). By 1944, when the tide was really turning against Japan, Phibun went kind of crazy, secretly telling aides and everyone that at the right moment, Thailand will rise up against its Japanese occupiers (even though as the Professor said, Japan never really did envision occupying Thailand, at least until near the end of the war, and Phibun wasn't really affiliated with the Free Thai Movement), even devising a ludicrous plan on moving his capital to the remote Northern Thai province of Phetchabun, from where he was to command a 'war of liberation' against the Japanese and to create a 'Buddhist world city', or something along those lines. By this time, the Free Thai essentially completely infiltrated Phibun's government, even Pridi Banomyong (who was Regent of Thailand, a very high position within the Thai government, for the young Rama VIII at this time) sided with the Free Thai movement, were tired of Phibun and forced him to resign in October 1944. With the Allies were successfully reconquering Burma in 1944/45, fearing this threat on Thailand's footstep, the Japanese devised plans to take control of the Thai government in a coup d'teat, similar to what actually occurred when the Japanese military toppled the Vichy French regime in French Indochina, although this did not come to fruition. At the same time, the Free Thai were planning to conduct a full-scale uprising against the Japanese in late 1945, with most Thais essentially supporting the Free Thai by this point, however the war also ended before that was to occur, and the British temporarily occupied Thailand in late 1945. The British wanted to punish Thailand quite severely, wanting concessions on Thai rice, the return of all British land conquered by Thailand during the war, and to trial Phibun for war crimes. However with US assistance, Thailand was able to reduce British demands by returning all occupied British territory and selling Thai rice to the British. The French prevented Thailand's entry into the UN on the condition that it was to return occupied French lands held by Thailand in 1946. Phibun returned to become Thai Prime Minister in 1948, with the Cold War becoming the new focus of attention for the former Allies instead of people like Phibun, whose rule was backed by the US afterwards. Sources; Wyatt, David K., "Thailand: A Short History (Third Edition)" Wikipedia article for Thailand during WWII
Panarat is a very impressive young woman. Can’t believe that English is her second language … she’s very articulate & knowledgeable. She is the spearhead of WW2 historians in Thailand … a true pioneer! I look forward to great things from her.
I'd seen other videos about Thailand during WWII, so some of this was a bit more familiar than it otherwise would have been say six months ago. Interesting.
50:14 I heard this one story of my Thai grandmother having to hide or duck for cover somewhere during an Allied bombing run of Bangkok. My grand-aunt said that she had to flee to a different province (away from Bangkok while there was all of this bombing). Both were adolescents/minors at the time.
Panarat I still find it difficult to get a detailed understanding as to how Thailand negotiated a new agreement with the allies at the end of WW2 . Thank you for undertaking this study I have had good historians in thailand refuse to publish about Phoubin . One scholar called it a disgraceful period .
Julia Childs, wrote a little about US diplomacy and actions late in WWII and after the surrender. The former OSS Intelligence file clerk, was posted to Thailand for several months. The British insisted that Thailand be punished for “support” of Japan. The British aim was to “restore their Empire” and that it should be the policy of of the United States to help them accomplish this. Furthermore, the British believed that they should be “awarded” Thailand, for all of their efforts to combat the Axis. Regardless, the British drove American jeeps and trucks, around Thailand, complete with a large white star on the door, and most of the Tai people believed that they had been invaded by another white European power. Much of the arrogant white supremacy, exhibited by soldiers in the Thailand, was blamed on the Americans, deserving or not. The attitude of President Truman was, “haven't the British suffered enough?” and was much more sympathetic to their colonial aspirations than Roosevelt had been. Americans “looked the other way” to British executions and examples set to counter resistance by Thai persons. Much, if not most, of the support of British soldiers and diplomats in Thailand drew on US transportation and supplies according to Childs. Allied victory in the Pacific war, was advanced by British aircraft carriers and their operational example. Americans had difficulty getting strike aircraft airborne fast enough to mount a combined attack. The Japanese and British were clearly better at this. The British carrier Task Force 57 attacks on the Sakishima Islands and Formosa (Taiwan), were significant contributions to American efforts on Okinawa. After-all, the British Navy showed the Americans how to land their Corsairs on an aircraft deck! I don't want to come across as “anti” British, but to point out the “colonial” aspirations after the war clashed with American interests at time. Particularly in Thailand.
I would say there were two major and more impactful resistance movements in Japanese-occupied areas. Both the Filipinos and the Vietnamese. Of course, not including China which remained a belligerent because Japan was unable to occupy the country.
Perhaps it’s not your first language but do try to work on the incessant “ummms” in your future talks as an Oxford Ph.D. I could not finish this video that I was hoping would answer some research questions.
Sorry but couldn't watch this last night way too much use of the word British which glosses over all the commonwealth troops who did most of the fighting in for England in both world wars . And zero mention of the war crime that was the Burma-Thailand railway which the Thais must have to helped facilitate at the least .
I think you're being harsh. The show was not about the fighting and the references to the British were about the Empire. We said right at the outset it wasn't going to be about the military campaigns. We did however talk about the railway, but as Panarat explained few Thai workers were involved in the construction
Very, very, very biosed.... Not a neutral source . She says a lot of half truths and is very sympathetic to Thailand during war .more so then any non thai historians ....
I was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War. The base I was at was an old Japanese fighter base. Many of the buildings were still being used. The hangers were built underground and were off limits. There was reportedly tunnels. In this particular area there were actually two German restaurants that were run by families. The male owner was an advisor during WWII and just didn’t go home.
Sawadee Cup. Saying 'good morning' or 'good afternoon', or 'good evening' all. Depends on the time of day. Lovely country and people, spent some time there in early 70's to 1975. Took 3 R&R's to Bangkok from Vietnam. What a city. Good duty and memories.
Morning!
Great program! While working at the American Embassy in Bangkok in 2015 and 2016 I had the opportunity to attend annual luncheons honoring the Free Thai movement. Most of the Free Thai members had passed away or were no longer able to attend in person but their sons and daughters made a strong turnout. These folks are senior business, government and academic leaders in Thailand. Recruiting Thai students attending Ivy League colleges for Free Thai was one of the first big efforts of the OSS.
A few years ago, I met one of the few surviving members of the Free Thai movement. As you noted, "hi-so".
Caught the last 15 minutes & it was excellent… very knowledgeable speaker. Will go back & watch the rest. Thank you for always bringing the most interesting and fresh content.
Excellent!
Interesting program. I hooked up late, so I'll have to go back and catch the beginning. Learning experience as I had no knowledge of this segment of the war. Thanks to you and Panarat for an interesting presentation. Paul you have quite the repertoire of guest authors and historians--thx!!!
Ty WW2TV for ALWAYS bringing cutting edge & fascinating content.
Woody, another great program on a topic and an area not covered very much, if at all, in the west. I know I have wondered a few times in the last few months about Thailand in WW2. Give Panarat Anamwathana a big thank you for all of us for doing this research and being willing to share with us
Love Thailand and the Thai people. Have been very fortunate to travel all over the country.
Very informative introduction to Thailand role in WW2. Look forward to future shows to add more detail.
Excellent presentation.
Thank you kindly!
Hey Woody - just playing catch-up on a few old shows. This show was outstanding (I love a bit of social and economic history). Thanks Panarat and Paul!
Just watching the Thailand presentation by Dr. Anamwathana, wow fascinating I knew nothing about Thailand in WW2. Another brilliant subject and guest, thank you Paul.
Great Job Paul bringing little know parts into context. After all it was a world war and many countries large and small were involved in one form or another
Logistically, Thailand was essential to the Japanese war in Burma and to cutting the supplies to China. The Free Thai did have some effects with their efforts, they have a tendency to be much more subtle than the French Resistance were (as an example). It is important to note that the Free Thai were an OSS sponsored operation, coordinated with Donovan's other operations in SE Asia. I would argue that the existence of the Free Thai as well as how upset Britain was regarding how Thailand dealt with Japan meant that by 1945, Thailand had really no choice on who of the Allies to align themselves with. Most of the raids on Bangkok were not by B-29s (only the final raids were). B-29s first made a raid on Bangkok in June of 1944.
Thailand had a strong Communist movement during the 1960s and 1970s. There is an entire museum about the fight in Pitsanalok.
Monthly expenses is interesting. Similar expense for a minor Thai government official today would be between 300 and 1000 times that.
It is refreshing to see and hear the experience of Thailand during WWII from the perspective of someone from Thailand. It was a difficult position for this country to be in and I never considered the situation in such a way. I see comparisons with Norway and Holland in many ways. How does one deal with an 800 lb. Gorilla in the room? It puts me in mind of Belarus today-dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. Thanks as always Paul for getting us to see the human side of WWII history in an unbiased manner. Taking away the politics for a time and opening one's mind is what I try to do more often from watching WW2TV. I am glad to be a member and supporter. Thanks as well for allowing everyone to post their comments, even those of the naysayers.
missed this one live, just finished watching it. Great show, its cool to hear about ww2 subjects that aren't covered that often. Great guest too!
I 1st heard about your channel on Twitter and remember all the crap you took from men who objected to your channel offering a platform for women military historians. The way some of them were treated on Twitter, like Alexandra Churchill and Kate Jamieson, contributed to me leaving that platform. I understand why professionals like yourself and them have to maintain a social media presence, but I found it depressing vs. a fun place to seek out info. Kudo's again for offering a broad range of topics from such a diverse group of experts. Great stuff
The positives outweigh the negatives with regards Twitter, but I still do get crap. It's like this show, people are much quicker to pick up on a female's style of speech than a man's
Thank you, Paul and Panarat! Great stuff and a great introduction to this previously rather occluded topic.
Finally got around to listening to this one, uninterrupted!
Unless I am specifically directed, I don't go on Twitter. It seems to be even more of a nest of Vipers, Vietnamese Pit Vipers at that, than Facebook!
I hear you deafeningly concerning the patronising, sneering and downright misogynistic attitudes displayed by some commenters and academics.
Bloody rude and offensive.
I have found Women Historians and Archaeologists, whether lecturers, authors, fellow students or Museum colleagues, to have been excellent. Broad brush, I know but I have generally found that women tend to be very thorough, showing a better attention to detail in my experience, thoughtful, well prepared, more than willing to declare a gap in their knowledge - a trait frequently lacking in some men! - so quite happy to listen to and/or accept that another historian may know more on a particular area of a topic than they might do: isn't that what contacts/colleagues are there for?!
The study of History is supposed to be collaborative rather than competitive, I was led to believe, and no one is good at everything, after all!
In addition to some men, and believe me I have experienced this, advertising almost adolescent levels of testosterone-fuelled competitive traits (I could have used the possibly accurate but inappropriate and imprecise phrase 'Willy-Waving' but I won't!😉) there can also be a tendency to leave reputations/memories/memoirs unsullied or critically reassessed.
Bear with me on this but it can sometimes be extremely tricky to introduce new data, differing perspectives and altered contextual parameters without causing unintended offence.
Rather than a 'doubling down', there can be a less than total willingness to employ the usual rigor in their objective analysis of some aspects of the historical record.
It can take the form of 'Respect', almost a kind of 'loyalty to your own', but no one single person - no matter how great or good - 'owns' the History or the subsequent Historiography, for that matter.
We suffer enough from simplistic narratives as it is, in my opinion.
I hope the above makes sense, I'm not trying to dig anyone out or just cause a ruckus, but the issue of more 'traditional' elements dismissing that which does not 'fit' into their comfort zone is one which I have both witnessed and experienced.
Ok, I'm off my soapbox now!
(But I always carry a spare!)
WW2 is a huge canvas and Paul fills in the spaces for the WW2TV community. Great show, Pail and Dr. Anamwathana.
These programs on war experiences of the counties that were not major belligerents are very interesting. The Thai scholar was very interesting Her and your efforts are most appreciated. The end was particularly interesting. She is exactly correct. I can not imagine a movie about a romance with a Japanese soldier anywhere else in the Japanese-occupied area, except perhaps Indonesiawhich collaborated closely with the Japanese but I am not sure how the occupation is looked on there.
A much-neglected topic ! Cheers for having it covered ! Marvelous.
Glad you liked it!
What an amazing presentation by Dr. Anamwathana! I knew very little about Thailand (Siam) during World War 2 and now I have a working knowledge. I hope Dr. Anamwathana inspires other Thai scholars to examine their countries roll in World War 2.
:)
I'm the same
Love to hear the bits as yet too little or even unsaid
2:50 I'm also a fan of Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit's work as well Professor Anamwathana!
Great!
Interesting talk.
Re rice, Japanese consumers dislike the long-grain rice that's popular in SE and S. Asia. Korea was Japan's principal external rice supplier because they too grew short-grain rice. Thailand's pre-War agricultural importance was to Malaya, DEI, and Philippines. For example, DEI had just attained rice self-sufficiency before the outbreak of war. Peninsular Malaya was organised around the cash crops of palm oil and rubber, and its east coast had abundant iron ore deposits (Japan had already established mining there before the War). Then Japan screwed up the East Indies. Japanese rice producers were twice as productive, so the new admin believed that by importing Japanese agricultural practices and the short-grain sticky rice Japan liked its productivity would skyrocket. This required much more labour than the natives were used to expending. And it was producing a new rice they didn't like too. The result? Rice production fell 35%.
Like elsewhere in the new empire, Japan brought Thailand into Japanese economic sphere but, unlike elsewhere, military scrip was not introduced. Thailand was forced to devalue the baht, which reduced the cost of Thai imports by Japan by one-third, and it had to accept yen as payment rather than hard currency. In the 1930s Japan was suffering a FX problem due to the fall of silk's value (export volume reached pre 1929 level in '35, though not as high as the peak in mid 1920s, but the value was half due to rayon and nylon); it left the gold standard in '32, which increased the cost of imports due to yen devaluation; and the shift of export trade from the developed economies, chiefly US, which was a source of hard currency, to Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan, etc, which weren't. To make up for the shortfall in silk exports, Japan shifted to cotton and rayon, which required an increase of feedstock imports of wood pulp from US and cotton from India and US. Silk required no foreign inputs, but cotton and rayon production required it, resulting in greater hard currency expenditure for less hard currency income.
How do you tax poor people with no income? Corvee labour. Japan used both _romusha_ labour (forced and paid, though poorly, for long-term work) and _kinrohoshi_ (forced and unpaid, though for short period) in its occupied territories.
Thanks for the supplemental info
Thank you for the discussion!!
Thailand really owes its prosperity to HM King Rama V keeping the aggressive colonials at bay in the 19th century and HM King Phumiphon (Rama IX) for building Thailand to the post-war prosperity it enjoys today.
I think the elephant in the room is that if the Empire of Japan whipped up hostility amongst the locals (rural Thai/ Burmese & Karen) it would have made occupation a good n proper nightmare for the Japanese and a dream come true for the Allies who could have quickly mustered and trained partisan resistance fighters.
Finally it was told by some survivors of the Thai -- Burma Railway that there were small groups of partisans who tried to help the POWs.
There's a few things that I believe that the Professor should've mentioned, although I'll mention it about Thailand's involvement in WWII:
Phibun never really did side with the Japanese 100% (one thing we can see throughout his career is that while Phibun had a moral compass, he was willing to consistently sacrifice it for opportunism for trying to get the best out of his country). By 1944, when the tide was really turning against Japan, Phibun went kind of crazy, secretly telling aides and everyone that at the right moment, Thailand will rise up against its Japanese occupiers (even though as the Professor said, Japan never really did envision occupying Thailand, at least until near the end of the war, and Phibun wasn't really affiliated with the Free Thai Movement), even devising a ludicrous plan on moving his capital to the remote Northern Thai province of Phetchabun, from where he was to command a 'war of liberation' against the Japanese and to create a 'Buddhist world city', or something along those lines. By this time, the Free Thai essentially completely infiltrated Phibun's government, even Pridi Banomyong (who was Regent of Thailand, a very high position within the Thai government, for the young Rama VIII at this time) sided with the Free Thai movement, were tired of Phibun and forced him to resign in October 1944.
With the Allies were successfully reconquering Burma in 1944/45, fearing this threat on Thailand's footstep, the Japanese devised plans to take control of the Thai government in a coup d'teat, similar to what actually occurred when the Japanese military toppled the Vichy French regime in French Indochina, although this did not come to fruition. At the same time, the Free Thai were planning to conduct a full-scale uprising against the Japanese in late 1945, with most Thais essentially supporting the Free Thai by this point, however the war also ended before that was to occur, and the British temporarily occupied Thailand in late 1945. The British wanted to punish Thailand quite severely, wanting concessions on Thai rice, the return of all British land conquered by Thailand during the war, and to trial Phibun for war crimes. However with US assistance, Thailand was able to reduce British demands by returning all occupied British territory and selling Thai rice to the British. The French prevented Thailand's entry into the UN on the condition that it was to return occupied French lands held by Thailand in 1946. Phibun returned to become Thai Prime Minister in 1948, with the Cold War becoming the new focus of attention for the former Allies instead of people like Phibun, whose rule was backed by the US afterwards.
Sources;
Wyatt, David K., "Thailand: A Short History (Third Edition)"
Wikipedia article for Thailand during WWII
Great show, More insights about the role of the King during this period would have been interesting.
Panarat is a very impressive young woman. Can’t believe that English is her second language … she’s very articulate & knowledgeable. She is the spearhead of WW2 historians in Thailand … a true pioneer! I look forward to great things from her.
Third language technically. She's also fluent in French!
@@WW2TV wow! All the more impressed with her… would like to have a cup of tea with her and chat. Such a lovely and genuine person !
I'd seen other videos about Thailand during WWII, so some of this was a bit more familiar than it otherwise would have been say six months ago. Interesting.
50:14 I heard this one story of my Thai grandmother having to hide or duck for cover somewhere during an Allied bombing run of Bangkok. My grand-aunt said that she had to flee to a different province (away from Bangkok while there was all of this bombing). Both were adolescents/minors at the time.
Panarat I still find it difficult to get a detailed understanding as to how Thailand negotiated a new agreement with the allies at the end of WW2 . Thank you for undertaking this study I have had good historians in thailand refuse to publish about Phoubin . One scholar called it a disgraceful period .
Smart and beautiful!
Julia Childs, wrote a little about US diplomacy and actions late in WWII and after the surrender. The former OSS Intelligence file clerk, was posted to Thailand for several months. The British insisted that Thailand be punished for “support” of Japan. The British aim was to “restore their Empire” and that it should be the policy of of the United States to help them accomplish this. Furthermore, the British believed that they should be “awarded” Thailand, for all of their efforts to combat the Axis. Regardless, the British drove American jeeps and trucks, around Thailand, complete with a large white star on the door, and most of the Tai people believed that they had been invaded by another white European power. Much of the arrogant white supremacy, exhibited by soldiers in the Thailand, was blamed on the Americans, deserving or not. The attitude of President Truman was, “haven't the British suffered enough?” and was much more sympathetic to their colonial aspirations than Roosevelt had been. Americans “looked the other way” to British executions and examples set to counter resistance by Thai persons. Much, if not most, of the support of British soldiers and diplomats in Thailand drew on US transportation and supplies according to Childs.
Allied victory in the Pacific war, was advanced by British aircraft carriers and their operational example. Americans had difficulty getting strike aircraft airborne fast enough to mount a combined attack. The Japanese and British were clearly better at this. The British carrier Task Force 57 attacks on the Sakishima Islands and Formosa (Taiwan), were significant contributions to American efforts on Okinawa. After-all, the British Navy showed the Americans how to land their Corsairs on an aircraft deck! I don't want to come across as “anti” British, but to point out the “colonial” aspirations after the war clashed with American interests at time. Particularly in Thailand.
I would say there were two major and more impactful resistance movements in Japanese-occupied areas. Both the Filipinos and the Vietnamese. Of course, not including China which remained a belligerent because Japan was unable to occupy the country.
Howdy
Siam seems like some of the South Ameriicam countries, in the British Empire 'sphere of influence', but not part of the empire.
Yep pretty much
Perhaps it’s not your first language but do try to work on the incessant “ummms” in your future talks as an Oxford Ph.D. I could not finish this video that I was hoping would answer some research questions.
It's not her first language
Algorithm. Japanese. Thai food. Face off.
Dr. Anamwathana is super hot! Also, she is super smart!😍
You know you know you know
It's just a manner of speech. Why not just listen to the content?
I suspect her English is a damn sight better than your Thai, Daddio.
Sorry but couldn't watch this last night way too much use of the word British which glosses over all the commonwealth troops who did most of the fighting in for England in both world wars . And zero mention of the war crime that was the Burma-Thailand railway which the Thais must have to helped facilitate at the least .
I think you're being harsh. The show was not about the fighting and the references to the British were about the Empire. We said right at the outset it wasn't going to be about the military campaigns. We did however talk about the railway, but as Panarat explained few Thai workers were involved in the construction
Sort of sort of sort of sort of
So, just don't watch
Very, very, very biosed.... Not a neutral source . She says a lot of half truths and is very sympathetic to Thailand during war .more so then any non thai historians ....
Thanks for the comment
Did notme tiom the Victory Monument in Bangkok 1941 - Victory over who - the French over some islands on the border with Cambodia
Come on. Fifteen minutes in and it’s the setup
Another day, another set of negative comments from MashupDad. Why do you bother watching?