Thailand fun fact: As we all know, their capital is called Bangkok. However, it has a much longer ceremonial name than that, so long that it's actually the world's longest place name by far: Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit Which means: City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest
@@MattDoesNothingthat was the king’s plan, yes. He has specifically went to Russia earlier in his world tour for that photo which brought much breathing room for Siam at the time, before moving westward to warmup other western major power to see benefits in Siam’s independence
Very lucky to have the great King Rama V (Chulalongkorn) who expertly navigated these dangerous times for potential colonial targets. Very often leaders were seduced into giving up their sovereignty for personal gain or were conquered by the colonial powers.
@@MattDoesNothing hard to tell but it surely was one factor. In the end, Thailand was seen as a wonderland with sophisticated culture and more valuable as a partner than a subject. To achieve that, the king took several steps in diplomacy, westernizing his court, modernizing the military and trade - but very importantly importing the french legal code. Seeing Thailand adopt a european code of laws must have stood out for westerners - although I think it was because a french ship was accidentally shot down and forced this urgent move to avoid escalation. In only a few years, I think Thailand reputation went from an ancient exotic kingdom housing pirates to a modernized empire with rich trading opportunities.
Thailand was never colonized, but partially Westernized. It had the same strategy as Japan's when Europeans are starting to expand their influence in Asia.
Thailand, the only country in Southeast Asia not to be colonized definitely isn't a weak country. I'm not Thai, but as an Asian from Northeast India, I'm proud to know that such a fellow Asian country exists just next to our borders.
if you are from assam then we might long lost cousins, ahom are tai speaking peoples who migrated from south china into northeast India while other tais who went south in mainland Southeast Asia ended up as Shan in Burma or Thai and Laos here
We have this foreign policy called Bamboo in the wind, because we aren't strong but wouldn't want to be viewed as a weak nation as well, so we kind of play every sides. Sway like bamboos.
@@tomatogliderThere’s another metaphor about bamboo where the bamboo seeds can take over a month to sprout while it already have its root established and spread. So once it sprouts, it already has the foundation and it could survive much more successfully. It’s funny how bamboo is so “deeply rooted” in our culture, yet we don’t make much use of it.
The main, actual reason why Thailand didn't get colonized was because they skillfully played Britain and France against each other The video started out correct by stating that both Britain and France were eager to expand their influence into Thailand before the other Thailand saw this and made use of this by promoting itself as a neutral buffer zone between the two powers Britain and France agreed to this arrangement. If one of them ventured into Thailand, it would trigger opposition from the other. If Britain tried to colonize Thailand, Thailand would get help from France, and vice versa That was the main reason why they both left Thailand alone, not because Thailand imported European cars lmao
I think adopting European customs was also very important; is Thailand just played both sides, they would’ve been colonized by someone like the Netherlands on the qualms of “Stablishing a proper, European neutral buffer”, something like what happened to the Congo.
How arrogant to think that the Thai king could not out maneuver the European powers by playing two of them against each other. To think that the Thais had to act white and put all the European in positions of power to keep their freedom is a joke. Thai culture has remained intact and up until today europeans cannot come here and take all the resources and exploit the people.
@@Sa33d215 I didn’t say that they had to “act white”, since they could keep all the cultures themselves, but by adopting an ascetic of Europeans at least within the royal family made it more unjustifiable in the eyes of colonizers. This is not a what’s wrong, egoist or right; it’s about how the Thai where methodical in their thinking and keeping their independence’s, not only being shrewd by playing both sides, but adapting the country and getting some European customs and infrastructure themselves to be seen as a “legitimate” state to the colonizers.
Yeah yeah but still we are talking about france and britain here, they were both used it as a buffer just like what happened in africa, maybe what the king did played a roll but that was not the only reason because after all whst the king did france did still conquer some territory from thailand because of a border dispute
I'm so proud to be Thai. In this time the world is full of chaos, I still have full faith in my country that whatever happens, we will get through it. History will lead us the way in dealing with the present.
Thai(Siam) people has character on not bias agianst any alliens. So they were center in trade in South east Asia since ancient time. They had ever sent envoy to attend Pope in Vatican and later visit French Louise14th in 16th century.
@@tqlol3959 You mean King Taksin ? In the first year of his reign, Qing dynasty denied his envoys due to him not being an heir apparent from Ban Phlu Luang Dynasty and the two Princes.
This UA-cam is amazing. The story is concise and to the point, the pictures are beautiful, and most of the content is correct. Thank you to the creator of this UA-cam channel for making UA-cam so good for us to watch.
Yes, according to my Thai friends, the King spent tremendous amount of money in order to prevent being colonised. We used to visit Thailand every year before the pandemic. Certainly can't wait to visit again.
The fact that you explained this all in 6 minutes really shows that you're just interested in getting the point across. Other channels would have stretched it to 15 minutes just to favor UA-cam's algorithm. Thanks!
Rama the 5th gets the glory but really it was Rama the 4th (Mongkut) who did most of the hard work behind the scenes laying the foundation and setting the correct trajectory for the country. The foundation is always the most important part of a house, but it’s underground and can’t be seen.
Correct! and also Somdet Chaophraya Borom Maha Sri Suriwongse whose personal name was Chuang Bunnag, was a prominent 19th century Thai figure who served as the regent during the early years of the reign of King Chulalongkorn.
King Chulalongkorn did exactly what Emperor Meiji did. The two remains to be asian nations that never got colonized by Europeans. Thailand and Japan. Awesome.
Japan mostly made it illegal to trade with foreigners. I don't think thailand had that option and it would have weakened Siam and opened it to the west sending armies to force trading...
Yeah the king hired a British to be Minister of Foreign ministry, a Chinese merchant to be minister of ministry of Finance. An Italian man to be minister of fine arts to built western buildings and….
"They never got ✨Ethiopia✨" "Britain and France are still hungry!" "They never got ✨t h a i l a n d✨" The King really said "If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!" and it worked...what *"Modern problems require modern solutions"* energy. The Thais are lucky to have such a wonderful culture
One thing I found very interesting in Bangkok was how old some of the embassies were! It was honestly surprising to see European embassies dating back to the early 19th there.
If you familiar with "The King and I" you will know that king Monkut (Rama IV) in the play, he was the father of king Chulalongkorn, he hired British teacher to teach the crown prince so the prince could be ready for the colonialist in the future, this is on the play however in actual history, the threat of colonialism was started since the reign of king Monkut.
But if you learned more history, you might know Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix, a French Catholic priest, who was a very close friend of the King Mongkut. I think that British (half Indian) teacher, who had never been to the UK, was not important to The King Chulalongkorn that much. Even Dr.Bradley also dislike that British half Indian. *and plz bear in mind that the King Mongkut had a lot of foreigner friends, especially Christian missionaries.
The King had to counter power from France, England, Japan and the United States, not wanting the people to die from various wars and negotiations, thus preventing Thailand from being occupied.
Interesting fact: I was making a documentary about a hotel in Norway which exist since 1864. The owner told us, that kind of Siam visited it, and then he did the "Norway in nutshell" tour, which is still a favorite for todays tourists (it wasn't probably called like that back then)
Very nice video. It gives context for the overwhelming love the Thai have for their royal family. The country persisted because of a very forward-thinking monarch.
@@bruhmoment3478 Nah. Brits and the French had no buffer at Nigeria's borders. That's a myth. The real reason they didn't fully colonize Thailand was that it was their slave, and did what they wante, so there was no need to go further, especially when they were busy with more important things.
Wow, i am amazed at how much effort you put in making these videos, you my guy deserve more recognition!! It's such a shame that you're underrated but don't give up!
We have an expression “สนต้องลม” which means “Pine in strong winds” which means one should live like a pine tree, which when subjected to strong winds, sway. The pine does not stand straight and fight against the wind, because it might break, and die. So too should we live our lives.
Also around the same time but earlier than Thailand, the Japanese were doing very similar thing like Thailand but they did it earlier I believe but the war between Shogunate and the Meiji Restorationist, in short the Imperial supporters won and Japan adapted and become very Westernised, I am pretty sure the Thai court at the time including the king saw and believe it is the best way to survive the colonisation as Japan became pretty powerful nation in Asia later on and inspired the Thai.
@@dayangmarikit6860 When was that? As far as I'm concern we've always been open cause we still getting invade 24/7 by the Burmese. (Thats a joke btw) When was that though I am curious
@@taejo4975 Thai is also a powerful South East Asian country. Yes, Singapore and Malaysia are stronger, but that's due to commonwealth. Thai is losing on economy from those two, but militarily stronger. Indonesia is the largest SEA military, but Thai's infrastructures are much better and modernized. Also, Thai's Manpower : Weapon ratio is much better than Indonesia. At sport, lol, nobody beats Thailand. Their management and general achievements at sport trumps anyone in South East Asia, except some sports like Badminton. Football? Almost unbeatable. They have much better league management. This restoration and adaptation thing really helped nations, not only from colonial perspective, but on civil's mentality as well. Thailand is the only country in SEA that retained their Traditional culture on a large scale. The muslims and Christians like Philippines lost most of it already, but Thai is still intact. This boosted tourism and uniqueness of one country. Imagine Indonesia, but 90% full of Traditional temples, statues, and other arts like Bali.
@@thebluescaptain As Indonesian We have so many inscription about khmer mon in 9 to 13 centuries. And I know khmer lao champ inscription also mention java. But there is no thai inscription in 13 ce In our book from 14 ce said ayuthaya yavana khmer cham martaban (myanmar) and majapahit as mitreka satata = best freind country same as asean. We also have modern history after ww2 Thailand kingdom with indian and burma in 1948 help us to speak about dutch aggression in UN meeting. So, i would say thank you for your kindom did in 1948. Btw, about your comment I dont wanna to tell the world whos the bigger one in SEA. The whole world already know 😎 who read my comment Plz pray for our president who will meet Ukraine and Russia president, may the world always be at peace 🙏
@@dore3faso6sidoIn terms of ancient history, Nusantara was the powerhouse of South East Asia until Raden Patah destroyed it as he's an Islamic traitor that killed his own Father because he's "kafeer". I wouldn't deny Nusantara as the central of of SEA and part of Asia's central of civilization, but time has changed. Indonesia has been turned into backward South Asia by Islamic radicalism. When the Middle East knew Islam is obsolete, Indonesia literally longed to become Pakistan with their Jihadi mentality. Btw, I'm not Thai, and currently living in Indonesia so you can call me "Indonesian" lol. Their Islam is much different than Malaysian muslims. I don't fricking get it, they hate everything. Kafeer, Chinese (even muslim ones), tourist, Pork Rendang (even Malaysia has it), free beers for Muhammad, etc. About who's bigger in SEA, I don't even know what do you mean by that. In terms of territorial size and population, of course. But in terms of anything else, doubt it sorry. Didn't Luhut and Jokowi failed to convince Elon Musk to open up Tesla here? Putin and Zelenskyy would be safe, I don't doubt it. Heck, even Israeli team that plays U-23 World Cup. However, the point is that Indonesia will never reach 1/3 of Thailand's civilization in a near future.
Accepted, adapted and modified are the main ingredient of Thai culture. Thailand received many influences from China, India, Persia, Malayo-Indonesia, Europe and else as its position as the market.
@@Nogha2159 pride? It's not about pride. If you wanna evolve to be the superior self, better learn and adapt yourself to the new environment than doing things by the old stubborn ways.
@@buddhidev7877 It's not evolving if you are adapting just because you think you can't survive a war with someone. It is called cowering away. And no, i have nothing against them, life is precious too. But doesn't change the fact that they threw away their culture.
Wow, as a Thai who learned about our history when I was young, i really want to thank you for your understanding of how we adapt and survived the colonialism and made this video to show the world the facts as they are. It was not by chance, it was not a luck but strategies, visions of our Kings and adaptation of all Siamese to survive and kept out independence 😊🙏🏻 This colonialism spanned through the reigns of 3-4 Kings of Siam and the modernization had started earlier since the reign of King Rama III, as Siam saw Burma, our main opposition for hundred years, fell to colonialism in using military to fight back the Britain. King Rama III made good fortune in tradings with China and accumulated wealth that was later used to pay France to get Trat province (the eastern most province, next to Cambodia border) back to our possession in the reign of King Rama V. Also, King Rama IV, who’s the father of King Rama V, had his children studied English as he saw it was important (one of the teachers was Anna who wrote the King and I although the story wasnt completely accurate). Throughout this period, Thailand gave up lands that were in our possession or under our ruling (they are now parts of Mynmar, Malaysia and Cambodia) to Britain and France. There’s a lot we have given up to keep our independence.
SEEMS LIKE THAILAND HAD MUCH MORE WISER AND ACTUAL, ACTIVELY WORKING KINGS, DOING THINGS TO ENSURE SECURITY AND REAL WELFARE OF THEIR CITIZENS IN SUCH WIERD AND CONVOLUTED DIFFICULT TIMES OF ALL THOSE TWISTED COLONIALS COMING OVER LIKE A PLAGUE OVER THEIR PEOPLE! COMPARED TO THE ROYALTY THAT EXISTS NOW WHICH UNLIKE BEFORE NOW IS JUST SELLING OUT ITS SOCIETY AND PEOPLE TO WHOMEVER DESTROYING ALL ITS TRADITIONS ONLY AS LONG AS THEY CAN SURVIVE THOUGH ! 😒
@@srwla2501 and if Thailand declared itself as a Buddhist country they will protest and riot claiming they are Thai and Buddhism isn’t the main religion of Thailand! Scary and Sad Thailand is being taken over by another religion and can’t do anything!
This is an impressive video which is understandable (in 6 minutes) and might be an ideal to summarily explain things in short to foreigners for simplifying their curiosity without taking side. Thanks !
In the picture map, it's not complete. There are still four states in the Malayu Peninsula. in the north of present-day Malaysia and south of the Tanao Sri Mountain Range in Myanmar in which the British negotiated a request to seize territory from Siam.
I'm going to say it - This is the most underestimated chanel, and i bet in one day someone would read this comment and see under the video the way more then 2000 views, and 1.6k subscribes. Also all what you said in the video remind me about one movie Anna and the King ! Well done bro.
Siam Thailand 🇹🇭 I visited twice in 2005 and in 2015 I am a Aryan Sinhalese Buddhist from Sri Lanka Thailand is a Buddhist country and I visited many parts of Siam and 💯 of Thailand 🇹🇭 Buddhist Temples and ancient history museum and Capital cities A great country Siam ❤❤❤ Sarath Dassanaike from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Sinhalese Buddhist Kings who ruled Sri Lanka for over 2000 yrs till British occupation in 1815 Had ties with Siam on Buddhist way of life ,exchange of Buddhist Monks , pilgrimages , construction of Temples based on Architectural design I was so happy to visit Ayutthaya Buddhist Temples and ancient Siam Kingdom in 2005 and in 2015 I love Thailand 🇹🇭 and its people Similar to geographical and Historical and Religious traditions of Buddhism of my country Sri Lanka and Thailand 🇹🇭 Sarath Dassanaike from Sri Lanka
Wow. I did not know this one. Thank you so much for this information. Now I know why the Philippines was colonized. It was not a country until the Spaniards came. Although they had their own culture but as a whole, it was not seen as a country. The SIAM king was so smart! He is propably one of the smartest kings ever.
If you compare colonial buildings in other countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore, the architectural styles are totally different. The real colonies used British or French architects. However, in Thailand, most of the western buildings were designed by Italian architects precisely hired by the King in order to westernize by the root and also not from the colonizer country at the time. Many of them look like 100% copy-paste from Italy. I just noticed this when I traveled to Italy especially Florence; their buildings look so much like the colonial buildings in Thailand without any adaptation, unlike the colonial buildings in Thailand's neighboring countries. P.S. The father of Thai modern art is Silpa Bhirasri aka Corrado Feroci, and he was Italian from Tuscany. Many modern skyscapers build with roman arch style the architect were student of his students, you wouldnt see this kind of skyscspers style in Italy but there are many in Thailand; State Tower Bangkok for example it not really coincodent.
Honestly, the only nations that escaped colonialism were either then-emerging (Nepal) or fairly well-established empires themselves (Ethiopia, Thailand), or went right onto securing one once they smelt the coffee, and before the Europeans could get a solid military foothold, as is the case with Japan. The Qing empire is a massive exception, being a well established empire that frankly, through its arrogance, fell catastrophically. All the British initially demanded was de-monopolization of trade, but the Qing didn't want to engage with Britain as Equals... So Britain obliged and dealt with the Qing as Unequals. Just not in the way the Qing had expected. India also didn't count, as by that point, the Mughals were throughly curbstomped by their former local fiefs, and the Marathas didn't usurp the power vacuum fast enough to outcompete either of the 3 competing presidencies set up by the EIC. Still, about half of India was independent in all but foreign policy. As long as these princely states facilitated free trade (which required organic ability to enforce rule of law), the Brits were in no hurry to get themselves into more administration and spending. Because surprise, running an economically viable state entity requires upkeep. Outsource if you can get away with it.
@@animeochio33 They were occupied and the Italians were unable to solidify control in most of the country as all rural areas were filled with fierce guerrilla fighters who in the end won out.
Wow, that's absolutely smart strategy i've ever seen from a king to avoid colonialization lmao. I envy you Thai people. This is what Indonesian kingdom should've done long time ago
The word "Buffer state" is only a dodgy excuse for failure to to take a real control over a target and declare it as "colonized". Have you ever seen two competitors racing for the same prize both agreed to leave that prize alone for a next-to-nothing "buffer" ? In any competition, when you surrendered a competitive goal, your outcome can be only called "failure", loss; no excuse.
A truth only counties who shared the same fate will straightly accept and are eligible to judge. The former colonizers can't accept the truth that they had actually failed and the colonized are prone to be envious and then twist their supports to the colonizers' side. Other countries who aren't involved in colonization matters are prone to support one of those mentioned above depending on their alliances with the former colonizers or with the colonized.
Thais have a magic culture called "Mai Pen Rai". Mai Pen Rai (no matter what and how) is a positive paradigm of thought of almost all Siames(Thais) until nowadays. This paradigm explanation could be derived like "Do not be fixed by the past or fear for the future. Today is the exact day we survive".
I am Thai and I still pround of my country that we survived the colonization. Yet, I still feel bad we have to thrown Laos and Cambodia under the bus like that.
Thanks to that we can still experience the unique culture, food and customs - most of which would be lost forever otherwise. Great leaders look far ahead their time 🙏
another two reasons: 1) Nicholas II king of Russia, after travelling to Siam told to europeans, that Siam under his protection 2) Siam gave two territories to europeans, namely Laos to French and southern part of Siam to British Malaysia. (Nowadays this terrytory is part of Malaysia)
You can find European architecture in almost all of Asia but not in India. They are just located in small clusters in Delhi,Chennai,Mumbai,Kolkata but not elsewhere. Even the British architectures copied several elements of our culture in the buildings.
Bruh, india is only known for architecture built by foreigners from taj mahal to india gate, one can hardly find indian architecture. Maybe bcoz indian architecture is only found in temples, haha
@@Aman-qr6wi lmao you clearly know nothing & have got a colonised mind/slave mentality. Go visit old cities like Pune in the West, Varanasi, Thanjavur, Angkor Wat, Bodh Gaya, etc. And stop lickin feet of others. Doesn't make you look good.
@@Aman-qr6wi "known for" is different. It's not entirely India's fault that the west only knows Taj Mahal and India Gate but doesn't know of the Sanchi Stupa, Ajanta Caves or the Sri Ranganathasvamy Temple; the Turkic Muslims and Brits only chose to highlight what was built by them to the rest of the world for centuries on end. Yes, NOW it's India's turn to highlight what it wants to highlight, and it's gradually working, with many people from the west coming to the Akshardham Temple in Delhi a lot. Akshardham cannot be compared to Taj Mahal today of course, because Taj Mahal has millennia of popularity BUT, if it even manages to make a small dent, it means India is on its path to make something known to the world which its indigenous religious and cultural population built, temple or not. Things will change, let time do its things.
@@rishabhrox1 akshardham is not historical. It's built in recent times. It won't have the same popularity as older temples, don't even think of taj mahal.
Thailand adopted the Japanese model of modernization. One reason for their succcess, But, there was pervasive French and British influence. The Kings political skills were remarkable. Also, both France and England really saw no profit in a fight either could have won--or lost.
No, different strategy. Jap tried to westernize with internal conflict. Siam didn't. Thai westernized without internal conflict as the western grand palace with Thai hat on top. 😂 It well represents the Thai mentality.
Good history summary. But, using national flags to color colonized areas is a confusing choice. Artistic, but confusing because France and Great Britain are both red-white-blue, and your graphic artist colored Siam/Thailand also red.
What was not mentioned that had a huge effect on preventing colonization was the Bowery Treaty, this provided foreigners protection from prosecution under the Thai judiciary via extraterritorial rights and allowed for land ownership which was exploited by European businesses and individuals. Basically westerners could exploit Thailand in the same manner as they would have been able to should they have actually colonized it. It was not until 1939 that all the extraterritorial rights were completely relinquished, resulting in a far more protectionist policy we see in Thailand today.
"Westerners could exploit thailand"; With your excellent mastery of history - in the future, would you care to study changes in population growth rates and urbanization of various countries in the centuries previous and during(thus literally bringing mass poverty into existence with little pre-existing development); And would you even more importantly take into account that European states were in fierce, existential competition with each other regularly going into devastating wars and thus required at all times maximum economic and military parity which was augmented via global trade - and global trade and the increasing wealth of a country (and the commodities which propped up their financial systems) was seen as literally in their existential interest no different than an arms race at any point in history? Are you your typical highly intelligent but lacking student of history that views it all from the prism of western capitalist oppression and the desire to spread the truth about this historical evil so that we may overthrow it in the present?
@@joeschmoe5583............ nah, sorry. The British Indian company, and other capitalist organizations that spearheaded conquest didn't colonize india because of any existential crisis. Stop rewriting history. The British didn't sell opium to China because of an arms race. It was for pure profit and greed. The world wars were far away and they enjoyed supremacy. The Belgian king did not cut off hands because Belgium was threatened. It was to instill terror. India was much better off before British colonization, the leading GDP region in the world, ended up exporting raw materials, importing finished products and completely deindustrialized due to dismantling of artisans.
@@CountingStars333 I am 25% Bengali - everyone knows in the world India's poverty problems are due from overpopulation not British rule. For all of human history until the 1700s+ - it took humanity every 1,000 years to double. Now it takes 20 years for Africa, 30 years for Latin America, etc. - exponential growth within the blink of an eye. There is no possible way that enough houses, roads, landfills, sewers, everything can be built at that rate. You have bred yourself into poverty due from multiple western technologies bestowed to you - vaccination and decreasing infant mortality - agriculture technology - etc. you are right the west created your poverty by giving apes technology and then using it to breed more poverty instead of uplifting themselves as individuals. You have no idea how markets or geopolitics work and it is a most gratifying version of history to view it from the lens of vain conquest alone. Even the participants of history themselves often overwhelmingly, especially on a cultural-mass level, are unaware of the true economic and geopolitical forces which are the true drivers of history. You actually believe that it was mere "greed" which drove global trade - you are an absolute fool. Even today nations seek to maximize their economic prosperity - for the governments existential well-being, for overflowing poverty - both from the world which continuously breeds its own poverty ad infinitum today and the moron corrupt leftist western governments who allow mass immigration to maintain GDP size and thus military (once again, an existential question). But please allow yourself to be one of the fools who think they understand history and with it lose the greatest treasure a person could have. You don't just insult Europeans - you insult everyone's ancestors.
@@joeschmoe5583 You are a complete nut, UA-cam producers way too many crazy people, go and share your crackpot theories somewhere else. You writings are very similar to the Unabomber, get help. While your in hospital read Hans Roslings book Factfulness, if you want to learn something about global population and poverty.
theres also a fair bit of luck on thailands side when the europeans arrived, myanmar and thailand were constantly in power stuggles for supremacy in the region and at varying points in history burma or thailand was the dominant force, thailand happened to be the dominant force at the time of european expansion in the region which greatly benefited them and neutralized their historal rival, the burmese.
thanks for your vedio. love my king long live the king my king and family are love Thai people same son and daughter, So they try to do everything for save land and Thai people. for now many new generation try to destroy king in Thailand because then not learn about history
Guys hold your horses, the Portuguese arrived in Thailand in 1511! Long before both Britain and France could even understand what a colony really was, basically the Portuguese chose not to colonize Thailand and instead established a friendly diplomacy which lasts until our time. The Portuguese greatly influenced Thai culture, including Thai cuisine with many of their distinctive dishes being adapted from the Portuguese cuisine and many products firstly introduced in Thailand by Portuguese merchants such as Potatoes, cashews, peanuts, bananas, pineapples and even some spices. The video is clearly lacking more investigative work! For more information, search about the Portuguese military presence in Siam
I could listen to you about this! I’m a history nerd… well, I nerd out on history. lol I want to see more videos about the accomplishments of the Portuguese.
@@BankC6969you can watch ygai series Love destiny. Tell you a lot about western people in Thai. Constantine Phaulkon from greek and Maria Guyomar de Pinha from protugese.
Thailand’s Independence is the effort of at least THREE Kings. Rama III : Begin to see the threats of European Colonizers-> amassed loads and loads of private wealth (Spanish gold/silver coins etc.) and gave them to the next reign in case of hard time, which really did happen later (during Rama V’s Reign). Rama IV: Hire European Tutors to educate his young children and later sent them to study abroad as adults to bring knowledge back to modernize Siam. Rama V: Modernized and Reformed Siam to be more European in most aspects , sent his children, relatives and any talented personnels to study abroad to bring back knowledge . Hire western advisors. Play Acrobatic Diplomacy in Europe to Legitimize his Country. He may lost some territories but never the Country’s Independence.
1. Thailand used itself as a buffer zone. If either side started to invade Thailand, Thailand would join the other side. France tried to invade but failed for this reason. Then there was the agreement between UK and France afterward. 2. Thailand agreed to give their pieces of land to UK and France in order to keep its sovereignty. Thailand was so much bigger than today. For example, Thailand used to own today Cambodia. Thailand was rather lose some limbs and keep their life ie keep the independence and sovereignty. It would be stupid to lose your life just to keep your lifeless limbs ie got colonized. 3. Thailand convinced to the Europeans that they were not barbaric people and they were capable of learning the Western cultures and civilizations. This would server the purpose for that most colonizers only wanted to spread their influences and their cultures. Thus, they did not have to colonize Thailand to force their cultures into Thai people. As a result, Thailand learnt some Western cultures as if they got colonized but t he difference was, they got to keep their natural resources intact, without being extracted. 4. Unlike other native people, which their balls bigger than their brains. Thailand tried to resolve the problems through diplomacy instead of military because its impossible to win by forces.
I wish my country would have the SAME...my culture is destroyed 1000years of humiliation here...love to THAILAND..I studied and have many friends from Thailand...
And why didn’t you guys unite when islamic invaders and brits came? You only cared about your religion and Rajputs welcomed british in and wanted to “reform” India.
King Chulalongkorn had great vision, change Thailand to civilization so he went to Europe to relation and he had been our beloved king🙏❤️, On October 23 every years is the day of recognize to King Chulalongkorn.
It's sad that to this day, the traditional clothing used by government and royals in non western nations is only used ceremonially, when it was always so amazing. I mean, suits are cool, but where's the fun with everyone using them
This is a really interesting subject. I've seen some colonial architecture like that Starbucks just off Khao San Road, but never knew the Thai to have copied European culture, customs, and dress before for that isn't really how it is today. That's cool they did that when it was old Siam years ago. I did wonder a number of times how Thailand escape being colonized and just taken. Some neighboring countries, actually all of them, did have a British and French colonial era when lots of Europeans lived and worked there as if those where just an extension of Europe. The whole world was new America, if you will, or actually, New Europa. America was basically an extension of the European continent, but became it's own country, culturally speaking, once the bombs got dropped in 1945 and the automotive lobbies in Washington had the old public transit and cobbled walking streets mostly destroyed so people would be dependent on cars and gas which they didn't mind for it was a given that America was to be energy independent and economical so everyone could have a home, drive, and just participate in the economy instead of crazy high prices and rising homelessness. However energy independence and full everything for everyone is not the case today so I'm needing a new country.
The neighbouring countries searched help from the Europeans in order to deter the thais from continously molesting them. Look at the history of Malaysia and Cambodia. Actually the thais don't even belong to the region they came from southern China.
Thailand has a principle called 'two-headed bird,' which is the country's diplomatic strategy, including during World War II. Thailand managed to remain neutral without taking sides and acted as a mediator between the conflicting parties. When either side seemed likely to win, Thailand revealed its alignment with that side.
Good historical details about when Siamese borders was permanently etched on maps to delineate it's territory. Just as it is to solidify any private or commercial land from being encroached by seemingly 'frienemies'(crooked friends).
Thailand fun fact:
As we all know, their capital is called Bangkok. However, it has a much longer ceremonial name than that, so long that it's actually the world's longest place name by far: Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit
Which means: City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest
Kim Jong-Un is so knowledgeable, as expected from our Supreme Leader
Is it a Sanskrit name?
@@captainstark5496 I guess...Like Vishvakarma and Indra already mentioned here...
@@captainstark5496 yep
@@captainstark5496 Ya because of cholas and kalinga kings who controlled these south east Asian areas and spread Hinduism in these
One of the huge game changing was meeting the Russian royal family and delivered the photo to all well-known newspapers in Europe.
Totally agree
Was it also related to Thailand having a good relationship with Russian, which is why French didn’t make further move or something?
@@MattDoesNothingthat was the king’s plan, yes. He has specifically went to Russia earlier in his world tour for that photo which brought much breathing room for Siam at the time, before moving westward to warmup other western major power to see benefits in Siam’s independence
Very lucky to have the great King Rama V (Chulalongkorn) who expertly navigated these dangerous times for potential colonial targets. Very often leaders were seduced into giving up their sovereignty for personal gain or were conquered by the colonial powers.
@@MattDoesNothing hard to tell but it surely was one factor. In the end, Thailand was seen as a wonderland with sophisticated culture and more valuable as a partner than a subject. To achieve that, the king took several steps in diplomacy, westernizing his court, modernizing the military and trade - but very importantly importing the french legal code. Seeing Thailand adopt a european code of laws must have stood out for westerners - although I think it was because a french ship was accidentally shot down and forced this urgent move to avoid escalation. In only a few years, I think Thailand reputation went from an ancient exotic kingdom housing pirates to a modernized empire with rich trading opportunities.
Thailand was never colonized, but partially Westernized. It had the same strategy as Japan's when Europeans are starting to expand their influence in Asia.
cant be conquered by the white if you become the white
Nobody is wearing gowns or corsets there
There is something called modern society even western world opposed that modern society but accepted later on
@@Pusphabala well yes, change takes time
If only more countries in Africa adapted like that
@@nightwatcher114 Africa is weak
Thailand, the only country in Southeast Asia not to be colonized definitely isn't a weak country. I'm not Thai, but as an Asian from Northeast India, I'm proud to know that such a fellow Asian country exists just next to our borders.
if you are from assam then we might long lost cousins, ahom are tai speaking peoples who migrated from south china into northeast India while other tais who went south in mainland Southeast Asia ended up as Shan in Burma or Thai and Laos here
We have this foreign policy called Bamboo in the wind, because we aren't strong but wouldn't want to be viewed as a weak nation as well, so we kind of play every sides. Sway like bamboos.
@@tomatogliderThere’s another metaphor about bamboo where the bamboo seeds can take over a month to sprout while it already have its root established and spread. So once it sprouts, it already has the foundation and it could survive much more successfully.
It’s funny how bamboo is so “deeply rooted” in our culture, yet we don’t make much use of it.
@EngPheniks thank you for appreciating my country :)
@EngPheniks
You mean, "...but as an East Asian..."
There are two main races in Asia, Africans and East Asians.
You're welcome.
The main, actual reason why Thailand didn't get colonized was because they skillfully played Britain and France against each other
The video started out correct by stating that both Britain and France were eager to expand their influence into Thailand before the other
Thailand saw this and made use of this by promoting itself as a neutral buffer zone between the two powers
Britain and France agreed to this arrangement. If one of them ventured into Thailand, it would trigger opposition from the other. If Britain tried to colonize Thailand, Thailand would get help from France, and vice versa
That was the main reason why they both left Thailand alone, not because Thailand imported European cars lmao
I think adopting European customs was also very important; is Thailand just played both sides, they would’ve been colonized by someone like the Netherlands on the qualms of “Stablishing a proper, European neutral buffer”, something like what happened to the Congo.
How arrogant to think that the Thai king could not out maneuver the European powers by playing two of them against each other. To think that the Thais had to act white and put all the European in positions of power to keep their freedom is a joke. Thai culture has remained intact and up until today europeans cannot come here and take all the resources and exploit the people.
@@Sa33d215 I didn’t say that they had to “act white”, since they could keep all the cultures themselves, but by adopting an ascetic of Europeans at least within the royal family made it more unjustifiable in the eyes of colonizers.
This is not a what’s wrong, egoist or right; it’s about how the Thai where methodical in their thinking and keeping their independence’s, not only being shrewd by playing both sides, but adapting the country and getting some European customs and infrastructure themselves to be seen as a “legitimate” state to the colonizers.
@@newguy8288 the thai monarchy restructured its government and military very early on by employing western bureaucrats, that's a major factor
Yeah yeah but still we are talking about france and britain here, they were both used it as a buffer just like what happened in africa, maybe what the king did played a roll but that was not the only reason because after all whst the king did france did still conquer some territory from thailand because of a border dispute
I'm so proud to be Thai. In this time the world is full of chaos, I still have full faith in my country that whatever happens, we will get through it. History will lead us the way in dealing with the present.
“How to not be colonized by Europe”
*become Europe*
callin' that semi-colonized!
Maybe that's a good thing 😂 150 years ago. People here were still crawling like lizards
@@timothy-xd8hkno it’s not a good thing and who calling like lizard
@@timothy-xd8hkAhh yes Timothy’s other comments are “shit culture”
Totally not biased and bitter right Timothy?
@@Bell_plejdo568pHe just making stuff up tbh. Borderline delusional and racist.
Thai(Siam) people has character on not bias agianst any alliens. So they were center in trade in South east Asia since ancient time. They had ever sent envoy to attend Pope in Vatican and later visit French Louise14th in 16th century.
Even one of their 6 greatest kings who rebuilt modern Thailand had a Chinese merchant dad from China.
@@tqlol3959 You mean King Taksin ? In the first year of his reign, Qing dynasty denied his envoys due to him not being an heir apparent from Ban Phlu Luang Dynasty and the two Princes.
@@41S.Fman98No, King rama 4 has Chinese descent even he was very nationalist.
This UA-cam is amazing. The story is concise and to the point, the pictures are beautiful, and most of the content is correct. Thank you to the creator of this UA-cam channel for making UA-cam so good for us to watch.
Yes, according to my Thai friends, the King spent tremendous amount of money in order to prevent being colonised.
We used to visit Thailand every year before the pandemic. Certainly can't wait to visit again.
it's true. evidently this quality of leadership was very rare because almost everywhere else got colonized at the time.
The fact that you explained this all in 6 minutes really shows that you're just interested in getting the point across. Other channels would have stretched it to 15 minutes just to favor UA-cam's algorithm. Thanks!
This comment should be top comment for all to see. It's very important because integrity is a rare sight when there's money in the picture.
@@SicMundusss i dont want to see comment like this in every video, shorter than 10 minutes.
One of the best examples on how important good leader can be. My most beloved King of Thailand King Rama the Fifth.
Atleast Thailand is still modern and progressive society unlike India which could never turn into progressive society no matter who colonies them .
The best king to ever exist!
as a world traveler and documentary photographer, now based in Thailand, I loved this video! brilliant and simple! well done
Rama the 5th gets the glory but really it was Rama the 4th (Mongkut) who did most of the hard work behind the scenes laying the foundation and setting the correct trajectory for the country.
The foundation is always the most important part of a house, but it’s underground and can’t be seen.
That's true.
Correct! and also Somdet Chaophraya Borom Maha Sri Suriwongse whose personal name was Chuang Bunnag, was a prominent 19th century Thai figure who served as the regent during the early years of the reign of King Chulalongkorn.
ในฐานะคนไทย ฉันขอบคุณผู้สร้างวิดิโอนี้ที่ทำได้อย่างถูกต้อง ประเทศไทยยินดีต้อนรับ หากคุณจะมาท่องเที่ยว คุณต้องมาพิสูจน์ว่าคนไทยเป็นแบบไหน แล้วคุณจะได้เห็นมนุษย์ที่มหัศจรรย์ ไม่ใช่เก่ง ฉลาด แต่คนไทยอบอุ่น คุณจะได้พบบ้านหลังที่สองของคุณ
🙏🙏🙏🙏❤❤
✅
King Chulalongkorn did exactly what Emperor Meiji did. The two remains to be asian nations that never got colonized by Europeans. Thailand and Japan. Awesome.
And china atleast not fully
Japan mostly made it illegal to trade with foreigners. I don't think thailand had that option and it would have weakened Siam and opened it to the west sending armies to force trading...
Yeah the king hired a British to be Minister of Foreign ministry, a Chinese merchant to be minister of ministry of Finance. An Italian man to be minister of fine arts to built western buildings and….
See, we showed European football clubs how business should be done from way back when
"They never got ✨Ethiopia✨"
"Britain and France are still hungry!"
"They never got ✨t h a i l a n d✨"
The King really said "If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!" and it worked...what *"Modern problems require modern solutions"* energy. The Thais are lucky to have such a wonderful culture
Ethiopia was never formally colonized but it was occupied for 8 years
The United states ran out of density to manifest so they're looking for more
@@kentuckyfriededgar so had italy been for a year or so
Same with Afghanistan, Turkey, Yemen, Iran, Nepal and Bhutan
Ethiopia 1936 was part of the Italian empire and controlled by the Italian emperor Vittorio Emanuele III
One thing I found very interesting in Bangkok was how old some of the embassies were! It was honestly surprising to see European embassies dating back to the early 19th there.
ที่น่าทึ่งมากกว่านี้คือ ถ้าอยุธยาไม่ล่มสลาย อย่างน้อยคงจะมีสถานฑูตโปรตุเกส,ฮอลันดา,ฝรั่งเศส,จีน,อิหร่านและญี่ปุ่นอยู่ในนั้นแล้ว
I am from India 🇮🇳 and super impressed by this video channel's content..Look forward to a video related India
I did a video proving Hinduism wrong.
I also did a video about the world, and I proved Hitler liberated India. Gandhi was a worthless racist.
If you familiar with "The King and I" you will know that king Monkut (Rama IV) in the play, he was the father of king Chulalongkorn, he hired British teacher to teach the crown prince so the prince could be ready for the colonialist in the future, this is on the play however in actual history, the threat of colonialism was started since the reign of king Monkut.
Raja not king non Europe
But if you learned more history, you might know Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix, a French Catholic priest, who was a very close friend of the King Mongkut.
I think that British (half Indian) teacher, who had never been to the UK, was not important to The King Chulalongkorn that much.
Even Dr.Bradley also dislike that British half Indian.
*and plz bear in mind that the King Mongkut had a lot of foreigner friends, especially Christian missionaries.
it's actually not that different, "king" in European sense is the God ordained ruler, while Thai "Raja" is god (Rama) incarnate.
And now they are one of the countries with strongest cultural heritage
This is just magnificent
now 8th country rich culture in the world 🥰🥰
Thailand - "Muang Thai" or "Land of the Free"; the only ASEAN country that is not colonised by any European power.
---But now being slowly absorbed into China! Just keep borrowing the Chinese money---coming soon!
You forgot Nepal
@@YashTrivedi21 he's talking about southeast asian nations
It was deal between French and English to keep Thailand as buffer state..
@@YashTrivedi21 he did Said ASEAN not Asian
The King had to counter power from France, England, Japan and the United States, not wanting the people to die from various wars and negotiations, thus preventing Thailand from being occupied.
Interesting fact: I was making a documentary about a hotel in Norway which exist since 1864. The owner told us, that kind of Siam visited it, and then he did the "Norway in nutshell" tour, which is still a favorite for todays tourists (it wasn't probably called like that back then)
Very nice video. It gives context for the overwhelming love the Thai have for their royal family. The country persisted because of a very forward-thinking monarch.
It survived because both fyrench and British wanted a buffer between them to not fight over colonies.
@@bruhmoment3478 Nah. Brits and the French had no buffer at Nigeria's borders. That's a myth. The real reason they didn't fully colonize Thailand was that it was their slave, and did what they wante, so there was no need to go further, especially when they were busy with more important things.
Wow, i am amazed at how much effort you put in making these videos, you my guy deserve more recognition!! It's such a shame that you're underrated but don't give up!
Every channel has its own start. You're just already very good.
To be popular, you have to be superficial. No one goes deep into real history, and they stick only to mainstream PG Disneyesque stories.
I love this type of content thank you for this video
We have an expression “สนต้องลม” which means “Pine in strong winds” which means one should live like a pine tree, which when subjected to strong winds, sway. The pine does not stand straight and fight against the wind, because it might break, and die. So too should we live our lives.
Also around the same time but earlier than Thailand, the Japanese were doing very similar thing like Thailand but they did it earlier I believe but the war between Shogunate and the Meiji Restorationist, in short the Imperial supporters won and Japan adapted and become very Westernised, I am pretty sure the Thai court at the time including the king saw and believe it is the best way to survive the colonisation as Japan became pretty powerful nation in Asia later on and inspired the Thai.
And Thailand also imposed 150 years of isolation.
@@dayangmarikit6860 When was that? As far as I'm concern we've always been open cause we still getting invade 24/7 by the Burmese. (Thats a joke btw)
When was that though I am curious
@@taejo4975 Thai is also a powerful South East Asian country. Yes, Singapore and Malaysia are stronger, but that's due to commonwealth. Thai is losing on economy from those two, but militarily stronger. Indonesia is the largest SEA military, but Thai's infrastructures are much better and modernized. Also, Thai's Manpower : Weapon ratio is much better than Indonesia.
At sport, lol, nobody beats Thailand. Their management and general achievements at sport trumps anyone in South East Asia, except some sports like Badminton. Football? Almost unbeatable. They have much better league management.
This restoration and adaptation thing really helped nations, not only from colonial perspective, but on civil's mentality as well. Thailand is the only country in SEA that retained their Traditional culture on a large scale. The muslims and Christians like Philippines lost most of it already, but Thai is still intact. This boosted tourism and uniqueness of one country. Imagine Indonesia, but 90% full of Traditional temples, statues, and other arts like Bali.
@@thebluescaptain
As Indonesian
We have so many inscription about khmer mon in 9 to 13 centuries.
And I know khmer lao champ inscription also mention java.
But there is no thai inscription in 13 ce
In our book from 14 ce said ayuthaya yavana khmer cham martaban (myanmar) and majapahit as mitreka satata = best freind country same as asean.
We also have modern history after ww2
Thailand kingdom with indian and burma in 1948 help us to speak about dutch aggression in UN meeting.
So, i would say thank you for your kindom did in 1948.
Btw, about your comment
I dont wanna to tell the world whos the bigger one in SEA.
The whole world already know 😎
who read my comment
Plz pray for our president who will meet Ukraine and Russia president, may the world always be at peace
🙏
@@dore3faso6sidoIn terms of ancient history, Nusantara was the powerhouse of South East Asia until Raden Patah destroyed it as he's an Islamic traitor that killed his own Father because he's "kafeer". I wouldn't deny Nusantara as the central of of SEA and part of Asia's central of civilization, but time has changed.
Indonesia has been turned into backward South Asia by Islamic radicalism. When the Middle East knew Islam is obsolete, Indonesia literally longed to become Pakistan with their Jihadi mentality. Btw, I'm not Thai, and currently living in Indonesia so you can call me "Indonesian" lol. Their Islam is much different than Malaysian muslims. I don't fricking get it, they hate everything. Kafeer, Chinese (even muslim ones), tourist, Pork Rendang (even Malaysia has it), free beers for Muhammad, etc.
About who's bigger in SEA, I don't even know what do you mean by that. In terms of territorial size and population, of course. But in terms of anything else, doubt it sorry. Didn't Luhut and Jokowi failed to convince Elon Musk to open up Tesla here?
Putin and Zelenskyy would be safe, I don't doubt it. Heck, even Israeli team that plays U-23 World Cup. However, the point is that Indonesia will never reach 1/3 of Thailand's civilization in a near future.
this video looked surprising professional i didn't realize that you were a small channel until i came down to the comments, good job
Accepted, adapted and modified are the main ingredient of Thai culture. Thailand received many influences from China, India, Persia, Malayo-Indonesia, Europe and else as its position as the market.
I guess they have no pride.
@@Nogha2159 pride? It's not about pride. If you wanna evolve to be the superior self, better learn and adapt yourself to the new environment than doing things by the old stubborn ways.
@@buddhidev7877 It's not evolving if you are adapting just because you think you can't survive a war with someone. It is called cowering away. And no, i have nothing against them, life is precious too. But doesn't change the fact that they threw away their culture.
@@Nogha2159 threw away their culture??? you're obviously not educated about Thailand's culture.
@@bobthesponge3377 ok
Wow, as a Thai who learned about our history when I was young, i really want to thank you for your understanding of how we adapt and survived the colonialism and made this video to show the world the facts as they are. It was not by chance, it was not a luck but strategies, visions of our Kings and adaptation of all Siamese to survive and kept out independence 😊🙏🏻
This colonialism spanned through the reigns of 3-4 Kings of Siam and the modernization had started earlier since the reign of King Rama III, as Siam saw Burma, our main opposition for hundred years, fell to colonialism in using military to fight back the Britain. King Rama III made good fortune in tradings with China and accumulated wealth that was later used to pay France to get Trat province (the eastern most province, next to Cambodia border) back to our possession in the reign of King Rama V. Also, King Rama IV, who’s the father of King Rama V, had his children studied English as he saw it was important (one of the teachers was Anna who wrote the King and I although the story wasnt completely accurate). Throughout this period, Thailand gave up lands that were in our possession or under our ruling (they are now parts of Mynmar, Malaysia and Cambodia) to Britain and France. There’s a lot we have given up to keep our independence.
Watch Kirby Araullo vlog.foreign warriors at Ayutthaya
SEEMS LIKE THAILAND HAD MUCH MORE WISER AND ACTUAL, ACTIVELY WORKING KINGS, DOING THINGS TO ENSURE SECURITY AND REAL WELFARE OF THEIR CITIZENS IN SUCH WIERD AND CONVOLUTED DIFFICULT TIMES OF ALL THOSE TWISTED COLONIALS COMING OVER LIKE A PLAGUE OVER THEIR PEOPLE! COMPARED TO THE ROYALTY THAT EXISTS NOW WHICH UNLIKE BEFORE NOW IS JUST SELLING OUT ITS SOCIETY AND PEOPLE TO WHOMEVER DESTROYING ALL ITS TRADITIONS ONLY AS LONG AS THEY CAN SURVIVE THOUGH ! 😒
Heard there's a Islamic colonialism thing going on, now in Thailand.
@@srwla2501 : YUP.
@@srwla2501 and if Thailand declared itself as a Buddhist country they will protest and riot claiming they are Thai and Buddhism isn’t the main religion of Thailand! Scary and Sad Thailand is being taken over by another religion and can’t do anything!
This is an impressive video which is understandable (in 6 minutes) and might be an ideal to summarily explain things in short to foreigners for simplifying their curiosity without taking side. Thanks !
Thailand is not weak. The king sees the lives of his people as more important.
In the picture map, it's not complete. There are still four states in the Malayu Peninsula. in the north of present-day Malaysia and south of the Tanao Sri Mountain Range in Myanmar in which the British negotiated a request to seize territory from Siam.
Simple, quick but accurate, well explained. Great video...
thailand was colonized by seven-eleven
🤣🙏🏻
The food is ok tho
Facts
but the 711 here is bomb tho imo
Smart Arsss 😂😂😂 many comedians now a days 😂😂😂
I'm going to say it - This is the most underestimated chanel, and i bet in one day someone would read this comment and see under the video the way more then 2000 views, and 1.6k subscribes.
Also all what you said in the video remind me about one movie Anna and the King !
Well done bro.
Similar story with the Japanese in terms of how enthusiastic they were about learning from the West. And it worked wonders.
Very impressive diplomacy by the king of Siam.
Lovely history lesson! Better than some other youtube channels that call themselves "history channels".
Siam Thailand 🇹🇭 I visited twice in 2005 and in 2015
I am a Aryan Sinhalese Buddhist from Sri Lanka
Thailand is a Buddhist country and I visited many parts of Siam and 💯 of Thailand 🇹🇭 Buddhist Temples and ancient history museum and Capital cities
A great country Siam ❤❤❤
Sarath Dassanaike from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Sinhalese Buddhist Kings who ruled Sri Lanka for over 2000 yrs till British occupation in 1815
Had ties with Siam on Buddhist way of life ,exchange of Buddhist Monks , pilgrimages , construction of Temples based on Architectural design
I was so happy to visit Ayutthaya Buddhist Temples and ancient Siam Kingdom in 2005 and in 2015
I love Thailand 🇹🇭 and its people
Similar to geographical and Historical and Religious traditions of Buddhism of my country Sri Lanka and Thailand 🇹🇭
Sarath Dassanaike from Sri Lanka
One thing I really like is that Sri Lankans and Thais have the same first and last names, especially in Pali and Sanskrit
@@mercurygirl444that's absolutely true.
Wow. I did not know this one. Thank you so much for this information. Now I know why the Philippines was colonized. It was not a country until the Spaniards came. Although they had their own culture but as a whole, it was not seen as a country.
The SIAM king was so smart! He is propably one of the smartest kings ever.
If you compare colonial buildings in other countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore, the architectural styles are totally different. The real colonies used British or French architects. However, in Thailand, most of the western buildings were designed by Italian architects precisely hired by the King in order to westernize by the root and also not from the colonizer country at the time. Many of them look like 100% copy-paste from Italy. I just noticed this when I traveled to Italy especially Florence; their buildings look so much like the colonial buildings in Thailand without any adaptation, unlike the colonial buildings in Thailand's neighboring countries.
P.S. The father of Thai modern art is Silpa Bhirasri aka Corrado Feroci, and he was Italian from Tuscany. Many modern skyscapers build with roman arch style the architect were student of his students, you wouldnt see this kind of skyscspers style in Italy but there are many in Thailand; State Tower Bangkok for example it not really coincodent.
Florence is pretty much Muslim influenced.
Honestly, the only nations that escaped colonialism were either then-emerging (Nepal) or fairly well-established empires themselves (Ethiopia, Thailand), or went right onto securing one once they smelt the coffee, and before the Europeans could get a solid military foothold, as is the case with Japan.
The Qing empire is a massive exception, being a well established empire that frankly, through its arrogance, fell catastrophically. All the British initially demanded was de-monopolization of trade, but the Qing didn't want to engage with Britain as Equals... So Britain obliged and dealt with the Qing as Unequals. Just not in the way the Qing had expected.
India also didn't count, as by that point, the Mughals were throughly curbstomped by their former local fiefs, and the Marathas didn't usurp the power vacuum fast enough to outcompete either of the 3 competing presidencies set up by the EIC. Still, about half of India was independent in all but foreign policy. As long as these princely states facilitated free trade (which required organic ability to enforce rule of law), the Brits were in no hurry to get themselves into more administration and spending. Because surprise, running an economically viable state entity requires upkeep. Outsource if you can get away with it.
Ethiopia was colonized for 5yrs and also up in the north east
@@animeochio33 Occupied*
@@animeochio33 WW2
On the other hand, Afghanistan is easy to conquer but impossible to rule. Become ungovernable.
@@animeochio33 They were occupied and the Italians were unable to solidify control in most of the country as all rural areas were filled with fierce guerrilla fighters who in the end won out.
King Rama V had said that "we will act like them(Westerners) but we will never be them. He said before starting reformation in the country
So great 👍
I love everything about Thailand, where Lalisa Manoban is from.
Wow, that's absolutely smart strategy i've ever seen from a king to avoid colonialization lmao. I envy you Thai people. This is what Indonesian kingdom should've done long time ago
Awesome video , keep up the good work!
The word "Buffer state" is only a dodgy excuse for failure to to take a real control over a target and declare it as "colonized".
Have you ever seen two competitors racing for the same prize both agreed to leave that prize alone for a next-to-nothing "buffer" ?
In any competition, when you surrendered a competitive goal, your outcome can be only called "failure", loss; no excuse.
A truth only counties who shared the same fate will straightly accept and are eligible to judge. The former colonizers can't accept the truth that they had actually failed and the colonized are prone to be envious and then twist their supports to the colonizers' side. Other countries who aren't involved in colonization matters are prone to support one of those mentioned above depending on their alliances with the former colonizers or with the colonized.
That king was a genius, he got the best out of each European country.
Thais have a magic culture called "Mai Pen Rai". Mai Pen Rai (no matter what and how) is a positive paradigm of thought of almost all Siames(Thais) until nowadays. This paradigm explanation could be derived like "Do not be fixed by the past or fear for the future. Today is the exact day we survive".
Shit culture 😂
I am Thai and I still pround of my country that we survived the colonization. Yet, I still feel bad we have to thrown Laos and Cambodia under the bus like that.
Don't forget Thailand also threw Malaya and Burma under the bus during WW2 😂 But I guess sacrificing others secured one's safety in this case
ชอบครับ 👍🏻 นำเสนอได้ดีมาก
Would love If you made a similar video on Nepal and how it survived colonization but also faced a dark history and a not so good present.
Very much enjoying the vids on this channel. Have shared this with family who will find it interesting.
Thanks to that we can still experience the unique culture, food and customs - most of which would be lost forever otherwise. Great leaders look far ahead their time 🙏
Unfortunately, I just saw this video of yours. As a Thai person, I would like to thank you very much for the honor of talking about us.
Hawaii was very civilized as well and sadly it did not stop America from colonial rule of the island kingdom .I admire 🇹🇭 Thailand
ALOHA
I really respect Thailand because of this 👍
The reason why Thailand didn't get colonized was because their king had his hat made on a lathe. Europeans were mesmerized by his lathe hat.
I have always wondered about this. Great video!
another two reasons:
1) Nicholas II king of Russia, after travelling to Siam told to europeans, that Siam under his protection
2) Siam gave two territories to europeans, namely Laos to French and southern part of Siam to British Malaysia. (Nowadays this terrytory is part of Malaysia)
and give Battambang, Siem reap and Sisophon
Cool video about a topic I knew little about. You learn something new everyday. You gained a new follower.
You can find European architecture in almost all of Asia but not in India. They are just located in small clusters in Delhi,Chennai,Mumbai,Kolkata but not elsewhere. Even the British architectures copied several elements of our culture in the buildings.
Bruh, india is only known for architecture built by foreigners from taj mahal to india gate, one can hardly find indian architecture. Maybe bcoz indian architecture is only found in temples, haha
That's not true, European architecture is not that common in asian countries as you are telling
@@Aman-qr6wi lmao you clearly know nothing & have got a colonised mind/slave mentality. Go visit old cities like Pune in the West, Varanasi, Thanjavur, Angkor Wat, Bodh Gaya, etc. And stop lickin feet of others. Doesn't make you look good.
@@Aman-qr6wi "known for" is different. It's not entirely India's fault that the west only knows Taj Mahal and India Gate but doesn't know of the Sanchi Stupa, Ajanta Caves or the Sri Ranganathasvamy Temple; the Turkic Muslims and Brits only chose to highlight what was built by them to the rest of the world for centuries on end. Yes, NOW it's India's turn to highlight what it wants to highlight, and it's gradually working, with many people from the west coming to the Akshardham Temple in Delhi a lot. Akshardham cannot be compared to Taj Mahal today of course, because Taj Mahal has millennia of popularity BUT, if it even manages to make a small dent, it means India is on its path to make something known to the world which its indigenous religious and cultural population built, temple or not. Things will change, let time do its things.
@@rishabhrox1 akshardham is not historical. It's built in recent times. It won't have the same popularity as older temples, don't even think of taj mahal.
Thailand adopted the Japanese model of modernization. One reason for their succcess, But, there was pervasive French and British influence. The Kings political skills were remarkable. Also, both France and England really saw no profit in a fight either could have won--or lost.
No, different strategy. Jap tried to westernize with internal conflict. Siam didn't. Thai westernized without internal conflict as the western grand palace with Thai hat on top. 😂 It well represents the Thai mentality.
Good history summary. But, using national flags to color colonized areas is a confusing choice. Artistic, but confusing because France and Great Britain are both red-white-blue, and your graphic artist colored Siam/Thailand also red.
So proud of Thailand 🇹🇭 Land of wise and kindness ❤🙏 Land of smile
What was not mentioned that had a huge effect on preventing colonization was the Bowery Treaty, this provided foreigners protection from prosecution under the Thai judiciary via extraterritorial rights and allowed for land ownership which was exploited by European businesses and individuals. Basically westerners could exploit Thailand in the same manner as they would have been able to should they have actually colonized it.
It was not until 1939 that all the extraterritorial rights were completely relinquished, resulting in a far more protectionist policy we see in Thailand today.
"Westerners could exploit thailand";
With your excellent mastery of history - in the future, would you care to study changes in population growth rates and urbanization of various countries in the centuries previous and during(thus literally bringing mass poverty into existence with little pre-existing development);
And would you even more importantly take into account that European states were in fierce, existential competition with each other regularly going into devastating wars and thus required at all times maximum economic and military parity which was augmented via global trade - and global trade and the increasing wealth of a country (and the commodities which propped up their financial systems) was seen as literally in their existential interest no different than an arms race at any point in history?
Are you your typical highly intelligent but lacking student of history that views it all from the prism of western capitalist oppression and the desire to spread the truth about this historical evil so that we may overthrow it in the present?
@@joeschmoe5583............ nah, sorry. The British Indian company, and other capitalist organizations that spearheaded conquest didn't colonize india because of any existential crisis. Stop rewriting history.
The British didn't sell opium to China because of an arms race. It was for pure profit and greed. The world wars were far away and they enjoyed supremacy.
The Belgian king did not cut off hands because Belgium was threatened. It was to instill terror.
India was much better off before British colonization, the leading GDP region in the world, ended up exporting raw materials, importing finished products and completely deindustrialized due to dismantling of artisans.
@@CountingStars333 I am 25% Bengali - everyone knows in the world India's poverty problems are due from overpopulation not British rule.
For all of human history until the 1700s+ - it took humanity every 1,000 years to double. Now it takes 20 years for Africa, 30 years for Latin America, etc. - exponential growth within the blink of an eye. There is no possible way that enough houses, roads, landfills, sewers, everything can be built at that rate. You have bred yourself into poverty due from multiple western technologies bestowed to you - vaccination and decreasing infant mortality - agriculture technology - etc. you are right the west created your poverty by giving apes technology and then using it to breed more poverty instead of uplifting themselves as individuals.
You have no idea how markets or geopolitics work and it is a most gratifying version of history to view it from the lens of vain conquest alone.
Even the participants of history themselves often overwhelmingly, especially on a cultural-mass level, are unaware of the true economic and geopolitical forces which are the true drivers of history.
You actually believe that it was mere "greed" which drove global trade - you are an absolute fool. Even today nations seek to maximize their economic prosperity - for the governments existential well-being, for overflowing poverty - both from the world which continuously breeds its own poverty ad infinitum today and the moron corrupt leftist western governments who allow mass immigration to maintain GDP size and thus military (once again, an existential question).
But please allow yourself to be one of the fools who think they understand history and with it lose the greatest treasure a person could have. You don't just insult Europeans - you insult everyone's ancestors.
@@joeschmoe5583 You are a complete nut, UA-cam producers way too many crazy people, go and share your crackpot theories somewhere else. You writings are very similar to the Unabomber, get help.
While your in hospital read Hans Roslings book Factfulness, if you want to learn something about global population and poverty.
@@joeschmoe5583 You sound like you typed that essay with one hand while pleasuring yourself to the thought of colonial famines
The last time i wacthed this channel it was 900 subs now its 19000 subs,good job
Even though Thailand was not colonized by the Europeans. However, we lost some lands to them. That was painfully as well.
As a Thai, I can confirm that this video is indeed legitimate.
Respect to Thailand for intelligently avoiding colonialism 👍 👌.
theres also a fair bit of luck on thailands side when the europeans arrived, myanmar and thailand were constantly in power stuggles for supremacy in the region and at varying points in history burma or thailand was the dominant force, thailand happened to be the dominant force at the time of european expansion in the region which greatly benefited them and neutralized their historal rival, the burmese.
Awesome videos. Keep doing them 🙂
thanks for your vedio. love my king long live the king
my king and family are love Thai people same son and daughter, So they try to do everything for save land and Thai people.
for now many new generation try to destroy king in Thailand because then not learn about history
Guys hold your horses, the Portuguese arrived in Thailand in 1511! Long before both Britain and France could even understand what a colony really was, basically the Portuguese chose not to colonize Thailand and instead established a friendly diplomacy which lasts until our time. The Portuguese greatly influenced Thai culture, including Thai cuisine with many of their distinctive dishes being adapted from the Portuguese cuisine and many products firstly introduced in Thailand by Portuguese merchants such as Potatoes, cashews, peanuts, bananas, pineapples and even some spices. The video is clearly lacking more investigative work! For more information, search about the Portuguese military presence in Siam
I could listen to you about this! I’m a history nerd… well, I nerd out on history. lol I want to see more videos about the accomplishments of the Portuguese.
@@BankC6969you can watch ygai series Love destiny.
Tell you a lot about western people in Thai. Constantine Phaulkon from greek and Maria Guyomar de Pinha from protugese.
นำเสนอได้ดีครับ 👍👍👍 ทำต่อไป 😁
You literally had 305 sub 2 days ago and now its about 1.6k! So happy for you keep growing🤩🤩🤩👏👏
This must be because of his South Korea video. It went viral.
Wow well, Fast understand history of Thailand. 😍😍🍻🍻👍👍
I guess we will pretend Laos and Cambodia were always independent nations. And somehow were never part or owned by Thailand.
Excellent documentary; concise and informative; Siam/Thailand's escape from 19th Century version of colonialism.
Thailand’s Independence is the effort of at least THREE Kings.
Rama III : Begin to see the threats of European Colonizers-> amassed loads and loads of private wealth (Spanish gold/silver coins etc.) and gave them to the next reign in case of hard time, which really did happen later (during Rama V’s Reign).
Rama IV: Hire European Tutors to educate his young children and later sent them to study abroad as adults to bring knowledge back to modernize Siam.
Rama V: Modernized and Reformed Siam to be more European in most aspects , sent his children, relatives and any talented personnels to study abroad to bring back knowledge . Hire western advisors. Play Acrobatic Diplomacy in Europe to Legitimize his Country. He may lost some territories but never the Country’s Independence.
1. Thailand used itself as a buffer zone. If either side started to invade Thailand, Thailand would join the other side. France tried to invade but failed for this reason. Then there was the agreement between UK and France afterward.
2. Thailand agreed to give their pieces of land to UK and France in order to keep its sovereignty. Thailand was so much bigger than today. For example, Thailand used to own today Cambodia. Thailand was rather lose some limbs and keep their life ie keep the independence and sovereignty. It would be stupid to lose your life just to keep your lifeless limbs ie got colonized.
3. Thailand convinced to the Europeans that they were not barbaric people and they were capable of learning the Western cultures and civilizations. This would server the purpose for that most colonizers only wanted to spread their influences and their cultures. Thus, they did not have to colonize Thailand to force their cultures into Thai people. As a result, Thailand learnt some Western cultures as if they got colonized but t he difference was, they got to keep their natural resources intact, without being extracted.
4. Unlike other native people, which their balls bigger than their brains. Thailand tried to resolve the problems through diplomacy instead of military because its impossible to win by forces.
I wish my country would have the SAME...my culture is destroyed 1000years of humiliation here...love to THAILAND..I studied and have many friends from Thailand...
And why didn’t you guys unite when islamic invaders and brits came? You only cared about your religion and Rajputs welcomed british in and wanted to “reform” India.
Indian brotha, your cultures were never completely destroyed. Parts of your cultures still *LIVE* within Thai cultures.
@@mytube9182 Thanks Bro I know that very well.Insaw it in my friends....
love your graphic story
Highly informative. Keep good work bro congrats
This is super interesting. New subscriber!
wow great content 👍🏿
King Chulalongkorn had great vision, change Thailand to civilization so he went to Europe to relation and he had been our beloved king🙏❤️, On October 23 every years is the day of recognize to King Chulalongkorn.
We adapted this strategy till this day. I mean go and look at food courts in Thailand. You can find food from every countries lol
It's sad that to this day, the traditional clothing used by government and royals in non western nations is only used ceremonially, when it was always so amazing. I mean, suits are cool, but where's the fun with everyone using them
2:52 "expanding civilized world" maybe "expanding british or french civilization" is better
This is a really interesting subject. I've seen some colonial architecture like that Starbucks just off Khao San Road, but never knew the Thai to have copied European culture, customs, and dress before for that isn't really how it is today. That's cool they did that when it was old Siam years ago. I did wonder a number of times how Thailand escape being colonized and just taken. Some neighboring countries, actually all of them, did have a British and French colonial era when lots of Europeans lived and worked there as if those where just an extension of Europe. The whole world was new America, if you will, or actually, New Europa. America was basically an extension of the European continent, but became it's own country, culturally speaking, once the bombs got dropped in 1945 and the automotive lobbies in Washington had the old public transit and cobbled walking streets mostly destroyed so people would be dependent on cars and gas which they didn't mind for it was a given that America was to be energy independent and economical so everyone could have a home, drive, and just participate in the economy instead of crazy high prices and rising homelessness. However energy independence and full everything for everyone is not the case today so I'm needing a new country.
The neighbouring countries searched help from the Europeans in order to deter the thais from continously molesting them. Look at the history of Malaysia and Cambodia. Actually the thais don't even belong to the region they came from southern China.
Thailand has a principle called 'two-headed bird,' which is the country's diplomatic strategy, including during World War II. Thailand managed to remain neutral without taking sides and acted as a mediator between the conflicting parties. When either side seemed likely to win, Thailand revealed its alignment with that side.
It’s not that simple, Burma has tried that and failed.
Excellent content
Good historical details about when Siamese borders was permanently etched on maps to delineate it's territory. Just as it is to solidify any private or commercial land from being encroached by seemingly 'frienemies'(crooked friends).
If France hadn't colonized my country Cambodia, my country would disappear from the world map.
Colonization is always a horrible and terrible past for my country. But what's past is past. We have to move on.