During World War II, the Empire of Japan demanded the right to move troops across Thailand to the Malayan frontier. Japan invaded the country on December 8, 1941 (Dec 7 US time), in coordination with attacks throughout Asia, and engaged the Thai Army for six to eight hours before Plaek Pibulsonggram ordered an armistice. Shortly thereafter Japan was granted free passage, and on 21 December 1941, Thailand and Japan signed a military alliance with a secret protocol wherein Tokyo agreed to help Thailand regain territories lost to the British and French. Subsequently, Thailand declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom on 25 January 1942 and undertook to assist Japan in its war against the Allies, while at the same time maintaining an active anti-Japanese resistance movement known as the Seri Thai. Approximately 200,000 Asian labourers (mainly romusha) and 60,000 Allied POWs worked on the Thailand–Burma Death Railway. After the war, Thailand emerged as an ally of the United States. As with many of the developing nations during the Cold War, Thailand then went through decades of political instability characterised by a number of coups détat, as one military regime replaced another, but eventually progressed towards a stable, prosperous democracy in the 1980s. Image 1: Phimai, Prasat Phimai is the largest temple in the country from the Khmer Empire. Image 2: The immense 19 metre high gilded statue of a seated Buddha in Wat Phanan Choeng, the latter from 1324, pre-dates the founding of the city. Image 3: Painting of Ayutthaya, ordered by the Dutch East India Company, 1665. Image 4: Kosa Pan presents King Narais letter to Louis XIV at Versailles, 1 September 1686.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 13:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015