Thailand’s Reconciliation with the French

Thailand’s Reconciliation with the French

H. M. Bao-Dai, the last Vietnamese Emperor

 of the Nguyen Dynasty

In the period after the coup d’etat in Thailand, on November 8, 1947 up to Thailand’s recognition of the French-sponsored Indo-Chinese Governments in February 1950, it marked Thailand’s reconciliation with France and brought an end Thailand’s open opposition to its position in Indo-China.

Internal politics were closely connected with foreign policy issues. Phibunsongram returned to power with a strong opposition from Allied Powers—Great Britain, United States of America, France and China. He again employed the tactics of playing off one side against the other to secure recognition for his regime from Western democratic states.

This led to Thailand’s acceptance of the recommendation of the Franco-Thai conciliation commission of June 1947 and its withdrawal from active assistance to Indo-Chinese nationalist movements. Finally, Thailand recognized the French-supported Governments in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in February 1950.

In recognizing the three French-sponsored Governments in Indo-China, Thailand had followed the lead of the United States and Great Britain, which were perceived by Phibunsonggram and his general as decisive source of countervailing power against Communist China.

In the light of his perception of Communist China’s threat, Phibunsonggram concluded that the fall of Indo-China would mean the fall of Thailand, as it had to the Japanese after December 1941. Accordingly, he wanted Great Britain and the United States to join with France in the defense of Indo-China against the Communist threat led by the Viet Minh and supported by China.

Thailand’s proposals for Regional Organization

Thailand’s proposals for Regional Organization

Tiang Sirikhan(in the middle)

former leading member of the Free Thai underground movement in the Northeast

and former Deputy Minister of the Interior,

was named the President of the South-East Asia League

Dislike and even hatred of the French revived considerably after Thailand’s permanent loss of the disputed territories in Indo-China. Accordingly Thailand took as strong a stance against the French as ever. This was illustrated by efforts to assist the nationalist forces in an attempt to throw off the French yoke. Thailand’s official policy was declared during the country’s participating in debate in the United Nations General Assembly in September 1947. On that occasion, Arthakitti Banomyong, then Foreign Minister, indicated the general nature of Thai foreign policy. He declared:

…The Siamese people call themselves “Thai” or “free people”, but, as true lovers of freedom, they not only like to enjoy freedom themselves, but they like to see other people enjoy freedom as well…They therefore whole-heartedly support the principle of self-determination of peoples embodied in the Charter of the United Nations…

Thailand put its declared policy into practice as well. Thanat Komand, then Thai Charge d’Affairs in Delhi, made it clear to both Viet Minh and Indonesian representatives that Thailand’s policy was to support its neighboring countries to gain independence. This was because, Thanat further stated, The Thai people were true lovers of independence above anything else. But, as Thailand appreciated its position as a small country, it therefore could not give more than pure and fair sympathy to the independence movements.

In the meantime, Tiang Sirikhan, who was most dissatisfied with the recommendations of the Franco-Thai conciliation commission, gave a series of public lectures in the northeastern province of Sakon Nakhon indicating that so long as France refused to give back the disputed provinces, other ways would be found to dispossess it and he advocated separate states for the Laotians, in the north, and the Cambodians in the south of Indo-China.

At this juncture, Thais in conjunction with the Indo-Chinese nationalists put forward a proposal for a “South-East Asia League.” This League was formed in Bangkok on September 8, 1947. The inaugural meeting was attended by Thais, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Indonesians, and Malayans. Seat were reserved for Pilipino and Burmese representatives and the hope was expressed that these two countries would be represented at the next meeting. A manifesto was proclaimed suggesting that South-East Asia, rich in natural resources, was capable of making a substantial contribution to world needs, and, because of its total population of 145 million inhabitants and its total land area of 4’300,000 square kilometers, should be regarded as a vital factor in the maintenance of global peace and prosperity. The manifesto, moreover, stressed the growing awareness among the peoples of Southeast Asia of the passing of the period of colonialism, adding that “only upon a spirit of freedom and unity among neighboring countries will world peace find a firm foundation.” Saying that there was an increasing sentiment among countries in South-East Asia to join in an effort towards a regional development of common interests, the manifesto further stated that such a combination of efforts would be in keeping with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations which says, “the earth who yearn for peace must be organized to maintained that peace.”

A draft constitution of the League was adopted at the meeting. According to the Constitution of the League, the projected South-East Asia Federation, would be dedicated to ideals including equal responsibility of the federated nations in ensuring world peace, social and economic progress and the general betterment of living conditions, and the creation of new society in which every human being had the inalienable right to enjoy all individual liberties consistent with the good of society and each human being would do his or her part in respect the rights and privileges of others. In the projected Federation, however, “their own national development shall not be made at the expense of any other nation or group of nations.” This meant that the nations which would be formed into the Federation would still maintain their sovereignty and independence.

The coup d’etat in Thailand on November 8, 1947 ,however,  made it impossible for the League to carry on in Bangkok. The Burmese Government then invited it to Rangoon.

The military clique was very interested in projects, such as the South-East Asia Leauge, having a wide scope and a bearing on the future of Thailand.

Initially, the eclipse of Tiang Sirikhan, the Thai Present of the League, from the coup d’etat of November 1947, gave the military clique sufficient grounds for believing that the movement had been halted for the time being Pridi and all his followers in the wartime Free Thai underground movement were charged with having conspired to subordinate Thai national identity within a Communist-dominated South-East Asia League.

In June 1948 Tiang Sirikhan and other Free Thais in the North-east and the North were arrested on a charge of being involved in a separatist movement. Houses of other Freee Thais such as Thong-in Phuriphat and Thong Kanthatham were searched and the stocked of weapons to be supplied to Indo-China were seized.

Thailand and the Indo-Chinese Nationalist Movements

Thailand and the Indo-Chinese Nationalist Movements

In conducting a policy designed to keep intact the ceded territories in Indo-China, Thai decision-makers were well aware of their military and economic weakness in comparison with the French and also of the rise of militant nationalism in Indo-China. The Thais therefore sought to draw the Indo-Chinese independence movements into Thailand’s scheme of things as a source of countervailing power. These movements were the Lao Issara (Free Lao), Khmer Issarak (Free Cambodia) and Viet Minh(League for the Independence of Vietnam).

The Free Lao Movement

Prince Phetsarath(1890-1959)

Before the outbreak of the Franco-Thai War,  a Laotian man named Thao Oun Sananikone swam across the Mekong River and worked with the Thais in their propaganda campaigns against the French. After the Pacific War Prince Phetsarath, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang, is generally considered to be the father of the Lao nationalist movement. In October 1945, the Prince declared Laos independence of France and organized a “Lao Issara (Free Lao) Provisional Government” in Vientiane with Phya Khammao as Prime Minister. The Prince’s declaration of independence was welcomed by the Thai rulers in Bangkok for they wanted to use the Free Laotians as a counter to the King of Luang Prabang who had refused to recognize the new state of Laos. He declared his kingdom free and expressed a desire for a Lao State which would include the territory ceded in 1941, as well as the northern provinces of Chiengmai and Chiengrai, and the northeastern provinces of Thailand. The Thai rulers believed that the King’s aspiration would be supported by France.

The Free Cambodian Movement

Khmer Issarak's Red Flag

Cordial Thai-Free Cambodian relations had existed before the outbreak of the Pacific War. Thailand under Prime Minister Phibunsonggram had already exploited the Cambodian Independence in the interests of a “ Greater Thai Movement.” In 1940, just before the outbreak of the short-lived Franco-Thai war, Pock Khun(Phra Phiset), a retired Cambodian official, came to Bangkok and founded a “Kher Issarak(Free Cambodian League)” for the purpose of regaining Cambodian independence. Members of the League were recruited among the Cambodian minority in Thailand including those who had newly escaped from Cambodia before the outbreak of the Franco-Thai War. The military wing of the Khmer Issarak were trained and organized, along with Vietnamese and Laotians, into an alien battalion affiliated to one of the Thai armies which was sent to occupy Cambodian territories during the Franco-Thai War.

After the Pacific War, despite their memories of bitter pre-colonial relations with Thailand, the Cambodian nationalists turned to the Thai leaders for assistance.Thailand’s reluctant return of the Cambodian provinces to the French in November 1946 did not discourage Thai leaders from granting assistance to the Khmer Issaraks. Realizing that the presence in Thailand of the Issaraks was valuable in view of Thailand’s non-recognition of the recommendations of the Franco-Thai mixed conciliation commission on June 27, 1947, the Thai leaders accordingly invited the Free Cambodian Provisional Government to Bangkok and allowed it to set up a committee to co-ordinate its activities there.  The Issarak Movement was replaced by new leaders headed by Houl Vongse-arnuphab as Prime Minister and Ta Ta Rajatipvongse as Deputy Prime Minister. In September 1947, Houl’s group was recognized by Thailand as the “Free Cambodian Government.” The Issaraks were able then to buy arms, raised money, and even publish a newspaper in Bangkok.

The Viet Minh League

Viet Minh

Anti-French feeling and the resolved problem of the disputed territories with the French were the main reasons for Thailand’s alliance with the Vietnamese, its bitter enemy in the pre-colonial era. Thai decision-makes actively encouraged dissident Vietnamese elements in Thailand, and hoped for a Viet Minh victory in Indo-China, since they considered that this would make the disputed fall into their lap. Both Thais and Vietnamese tried to forget the past and started a new era of friendship with the common objective of destroying French domination in Indo-China. The Thais allowed the Vietnamese to use Thai territory as abase for their political and military activities against the French.

Among the Indo-Chinese nationalists, the Vietnamese movement was best organized. In Bangkok, the Viet Minh agents had a variety of political organizations. Their Bangkok headquarters was at Soy Lang-Xuan, one of the centers of the old Vietnamese community, with Dr Nguyen Duc Qui and Le Van Nham as President and Vice President respectively

Generally speaking, Thai civilians leaders of the period were willing to afford sanctuary and offer assistance to the various Indo-Chinese resistance groups even though it was felt that some of them adhered to the doctrine of Communism. Such willingness to offer support was due, on the one hand, to traditional Thai antagonism towards France, which was regarded as a dangerous and threatening power, especially since it controlled Indo-China, and on the other hand, to the Thai strategic need for countervailing power against France. As a consequence of their support for the resistance groups Thai strategic interests were furthered in challenging the “ right to rule” of the French in Indo-China.

Indo-China-Thailand Territorial Dispute After the Pacific War

Indo-China-Thailand Territorial Dispute After the Pacific War

 After World War II the French Reurned to Indo-China and  There Was

The First Indo-China War Between France and Viet Minh

After the Pacific War, Thailand relations with France were subject to stress and strain as they had been in the prewar period. The object of contention was the territories acquired by Thailand in Indo-China before the outbreak of the Pacific War. The Gaullist French National Committee set up in Algiers refused to recognize the cession of these territories by the Vichy Government and the French demanded the restoration of the status quo ante; this the Thai governments resisted, and sporadic fighting broke out along the Mekong River in May 1946. Thailand appealed to the United Nations in response to the French military action, and in retaliation the French opposed the admission of Thailand to that organization. In view of the determination of the French coupled with the British and American pressure the Thai Government accepted their demands: the former frontier was restored but a mixed conciliation commission was appointed by the two Governments to consider whether it required any rectification.

Postwar Governments in Bangkok were not successful in retaining those territories because of the absence of external support. The relevant great Powers were limited in number to only Great Britain and the United States. Thailand did not attract support from either of them. Indeed they both insisted on Thailand returning the disputed territories to France. Moreover, although diplomatic relation between China and Thailand were established for the first time in Thai history, Sino-Thai relations were still cool which therefore ruled out the possibility of Thailand soliciting Chinese assistance. The Thais tried to attract Russian attention without success because the Communist power was much more interest in developing friendly relations with the new socialist government in France.

As the relevant great Powers were limited in number, the makers of Thai policy were provided with little chance of playing off one side against the other. In the prewar period, the Thais had sought to play off Great Britain against France whenever they were in dispute with the French. After the Second World War, however, Britain’s position in Thailand had suffered with its being cast in the role of an “oppressor” in demanding free rice in Thailand, and because of its decision to help the French get back the disputed territories unconditionally. Given the tension in Anglo-Thai relations, the Thais turned to the United States for assistance to counter French demands and pressure, but without success.

Thailand, Pacific War and Indo-China

Thailand, Pacific War and Indo-China

Thai Polices on Bicycles

 In the period between the cessation of the Franco-Thai conflict and the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, Indo-China had changed in Thai perception from being a zone of opportunity to one of menace because of Japan’s forward movement from July 1941. Thai foreign policy towards French Indo-China was then influenced much more by the role of Japan than by that of France. In other words, Japan had come to replace France as Thailand’s potential adversary in the Peninsular. France, who had expressed willingness to co-operate with Japan in the Peninsula, no loner constituted a significant factor in Thai calculation.

As the Thais shared a strategic perspective with Britain, they maintained that they would certainly fight  to preserve their neutrality if they had the means of doing so, but that without such means they would be obliged to yield to force majeure. It was apparent that whether or not Thailand oppose the Japanese depended in the main on whether Britain and United would come to the rescue of Thailand and supply it with war materials.

But when the Thai Government approached the United States and Great Britain for assistance, nothing concrete was promised. Although Great Britain offered limited military co-operation in the Kra Isthmus in the event of a Japanese incursion into Thailand it could not alone give any guarantee to protect Thailand as a whole, since it did not possess the necessary forces.

In the early days of December 1941, Great Britain was engaged in consultations with the United States as to the possibility of a joint public warning by both governments that if Japan went to war with Thailand it would find itself at war with both the United States and Great Britain as well. On December 6 and December 7 respectively personal message to this general effect were sent by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill to the Thai Premier. These message did not arrive in time.

The Thai Premier had no way of knowing in advance of these message which would have constituted what he might have deemed appropriate support for the successful continuation of a policy of neutrality. He thought that Thailand had been isolated by the two great Powers. He also realized that in the absence of any real prospect  of adequate military assistance, Thai resistance could not be counted upon.

He was therefore disposed to give up his determination to defend Thailand’s neutral position and reverted to being dependent upon a single dominant Power—Japan.   

Victory Monument in Memory of Franco-Thai War

Victory Monument in Bangkok was built in memory of the soldiers, polices and civilians who died in the short-lived Franco-Thai War in 1940.

Prime Minister Phibunsonggram of Thailand

Phibunsonggram assumed office as Prime Minister of Thailand 

in succession to Phra Phahol in December 1938.

Besides the Premiership, Phibunsonggram also held the portfolios of Defense and Interior. These two posts as well as that of Army Commander-in-Chief assured him of close control over the armed forces and all provincial governors and national police.
Subsequently in June 1939 he took over the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs from Sri Dharmadhibes.
He changed the name of the country from Siam to Thailand and of the people from Siamese to Thai.

In the early days of December 1941, Great Britain was engaged in consultations with the United States as to the possibility of a joint public warning by both governments that if Japan went to war with Thailand it would find itself at war with both the United States and Great Britain as well. On December 6 and December 7 respectively personal message to this general effect were sent by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill to the Thai Premier. These message did not arrive in time.

The Thai Premier had no way of knowing in advance of these message which would have constituted what he might have deemed appropriate support for the successful continuation of a policy of neutrality. He thought that Thailand had been isolated by the two great Powers. He also realized that in the absence of any real prospect  of adequate military assistance, Thai resistance could not be counted upon.

He was therefore disposed to give up his determination to defend Thailand’s neutral position and reverted to being dependent upon a single dominant Power—Japan