Historical books

[brownknees]

Are there any (English language)books on the Japanese occupation of Thailand?

[Langsuan Man]

Since the Thais deny that the Japanese ever occupied Thailand I seriously doubt it

 

Maybe in Singapore someone is brave enough to publish Thai history books 

[tifino]

 

The Denial in itself is typical Thai white lie/truth...

 

Why cannot they be strong, and stand by their convictions?

 

 

the Japs didn't arrive as true Occupiers, but the PM at the time invited them in - to save the skins of himself and the populace from possible retribution.

 

The deal was that they feign being attacked, with the promise to not kill any Japs in the process

 

Trouble was that a single patrol boat captain did open fire -  whether through disobeyance or miscommunication is not known fully

 

He was punished for it though

 

Other parts of the deal was the Japs taking over, and then given the regions of (now)Laos and Burma to form a larger (now)Thailand...  it didn't last though, as they were taken back by the British after it was all over,

and (most) of it returned to the original incumbents

 

 

That the lie has to continue, is the question?

The PM at the time did what was locally corrected for the protection of the people

 

So, why not be proud of someone who looked after the flock?

Proud from a purely internal Thai POV of course... as his actions put his country on the side of the Axis

[brownknees]

Thanks for info,I did google it and got a pretty good idea of what went on,including brothels charging the japs more!!Nothing changes !!

[dddave]

If you read about the life of Pridi Phanomyong, one of the more interesting WW2/50's era politicians, you will get an interesting overview of the various Thai factions during WW2. Especially interesting is the "Free Thai Movement"  There is a decent entry in Wikipedia.

There is actually a museum in Ekkamai called the "Pridi Phanomyong Institute" founded by his wife after he died in exile in China.  It's worth a visit if you have an interest in that era of Thai history.

It can be frustratingly sad at times as well as there were politicians such as Pridi who were sympathetic to the Allied cause but were completely ignored by US military higher ups who insisted on bombing Bangkok, especially in the Bangkok Noi and Thonbury rail yard areas.  The bombings were woefully inaccurate, most falling into residential areas and many civilians were killed.