33 Hours Of Defiance: The Thai Airmen Who Resisted An Empire

[Jonathan Fairfield]

33 Hours Of Defiance: The Thai Airmen Who Resisted An Empire

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter

 

Above: A monument to the defenders at Wing 5 base in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

 

In the darkness over the sea, air force lieutenant Srisak Sucharittham heard the enemies before he saw them.

 

It was 4am. Srisak and his friends had woken early to set out from their airbase to the nearby bay of Ao Manao. A senior officer was slated to visit their base, home of the Wing 5 Squadron, in the evening. So Srisak’s group went to catch fish for a welcome banquet.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2018/09/08/33-hours-of-defiance-the-thai-airmen-who-resisted-an-empire/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-09-08

 

[Bluespunk]

“Friendship between the two nations was forged after Thailand invaded French-held Indochina in 1941 to reclaim territories it lost half a century ago. After Thai armies won a series of victories, Japan – a superpower at the time – stepped in to mediate a ceasefire agreement, which carved up parts of Indochina and handed them over to Thailand.”

 

As ye sow, so shall ye reap. 

[BobBKK]

33 hours eh?  a sterling defense!  

[Dave67]

A  Thai Rorke's Drift 

[BigBadGeordie]

Cheers Dad. And much as the try to rewrite history. 

 

We know

[Dave67]

4 hours ago, BigBadGeordie said:

Cheers Dad. And much as the try to rewrite history. 

 

We know

My Uncle had one of those The Burma Star

[Fex Bluse]

I've seen this story in the news. Given the history, I thought they would want to hide from it, but these writers seem to be proud. I think they should reevaluate this misplaced pride. 

 

I expect a movie to be made, and the government will request (read: force) all government workers to go see it. 

 

Quite a lackluster piece of history with these folks going to their standard operating procedure which is not being good warriors but rather being ambiguous and politically astute. 

[mikebell]

So their bravery was all a mistake down to poor communications?  As soon as the Thai Government rolled over, the garrison surrendered.  Where were all the generals the Thai army have now?

[worgeordie]

Did they go out on surfboards,that's what it looks like in photo. 

 

regards Worgeordie

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[poohy]

Dont forget us poor souls living in PKK who have to live through the yearly celebrations of this "wondrous victory!"

Edited September 9, 2018 by poohy

[klauskunkel]

 

Is that a surf board?

[baansgr]

Speechless

[DoctorG]

An interesting read.

[Cadbury]

18 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

“Friendship between the two nations was forged after Thailand invaded French-held Indochina in 1941 to reclaim territories it lost half a century ago. After Thai armies won a series of victories, Japan – a superpower at the time – stepped in to mediate a ceasefire agreement, which carved up parts of Indochina and handed them over to Thailand.”

 

As ye sow, so shall ye reap. 

One most significant comment in history was ...."Thai government led by Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram quickly sought a ceasefire" meaning that the Thais ultimately became allies of the Japanese. As a result 40 of these men lost their lives because they had not known the General had ran up the white flag.

The story contains comment on the Thai - Franco war. Refer Bluespunk.

"Friendship between the two nations was forged after Thailand invaded French-held Indochina in 1941 to reclaim territories it lost half a century ago. After Thai armies won a series of victories, Japan – a superpower at the time – stepped in to mediate a ceasefire agreement, which carved up parts of Indochina and handed them over to Thailand". 

But they conveniently forget to mention a few things in relation to this conflict.

Because Japan at the times wanted to maintain a relationship with the Vichy they only allowed Thailand to take one quarter of the territory they had won from the French and made them pay the French 6 million piastres (French Indochina currency). So it was a relative hollow victory.

A couple other facts not mentioned.

1. Thailand bravely declared war on the United States and Britain in 1942 knowing they had the Japanese on their side.

2. It so happened later after the Japanese surrendered in 1945 MacArthur made the Thais hand back these territories to the French as he regarded them as enemies of the US and quislings of the Japanese. So ultimately from their minor stoush with the French they gained exactly nothing by way of territory and lost 6 million piastres.

They have Victory Monument to remind them of that.

 

 

 

[car720]

10 hours ago, Dave67 said:

My Uncle had one of those The Burma Star

and my Dad was there.  They offered him a job with the Palestine Police but he turned it down.

[laocowboy2]

Stabbed in the back by the nation that had sold them three submarines. Foreign company staff who took off their work clothes and put on uniforms. Sound familiar? Only it would be tourists this time around.

[Kiwiken]

22 hours ago, BobBKK said:

33 hours eh?  a sterling defense!  

Not bad for 120 personal against several 1000

[seahorse]

22 hours ago, BobBKK said:

33 hours eh?  a sterling defense!  

And they seem to be proud of it. Anyone else would be ashamed.

[beautifulthailand99]

The real heroes of the war were the Seri Thai (all volunteers in the truest sense of the word) and the greatest Thai who ever lived Pridi Banomyong - but that is all forgotten now and Pridi died in exile , unlamented by most who had never heard of him but regarded by the UN as one of the greatest 100 people of the 20th century. How different it could have been.........

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Thai_Movement

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pridi_Banomyong

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by beautifulthailand99

[MaksimMislavsky]

6 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Phibunsongkran was a Prime Minister in much the same way as the current Prime Minister is a Prime Minister. 

 

He was also responsible for 'inventing' Pad Thai, which was of Vietnamese origin.

He effectively managed to steer the nation almost intact through very dififcult times of worldwide destruction and likely spared tens millions lives

[beautifulthailand99]

A lot of truth in that a corrupt military to a pacifist is the best sort of military as fighting wars is the last thing on their mind. 

[MaksimMislavsky]

13 minutes ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

Edited 5 minutes ago by beautifulthailand99

In this pic Thai and Japanese together liberate Burma from the English (referred to as the the Enemy of All Asians)

[MaksimMislavsky]

3 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

He sided with the fascist Axis as soon as he thought victory could be achieved.

Rather, he decided not to fight them as soon as he realized it was hopeless and would leave the nation in immense suffering. 

 

3 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

 

He allowed a few hundred thousand fellow Asians (mostly captured Commonwealth troops) and other Western PoWs to die building a pointless railway for the Japanese while violating the Geneva Convention.

This is as true as the post you are replying to. The difference is in the number of lives and scale of desctruction. His priorities were clearly in Thailand and with the Thais (where he himself belonged).

[MaksimMislavsky]

7 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Ironic considering the tens of thousands of Burmese that perished building the railway on their border.

 

They were unarguably far better off under the British than the Japanese.

 

If in doubt, just ask the Chinese and the Koreans.

Agree on this. Just wondering why that very pic was posted.  Japanese were very dangerous for Thais themselves. Phibun manages to negotiate that danger with very little damage to everyone.

[DrTuner]

8 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

 

Is that a surf board?

No, Charlie don't surf.

[MaksimMislavsky]

35 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

He sided with the fascist Axis as soon as he thought victory could be achieved.

"Thailand had a well-disciplined military, and after a series of border skirmishes in 1940 had invaded neighbouring French Indochina to recover provinces lost in the Franco-Siamese War of 1893. The Japanese, who wanted to use the Indo-Chinese ports and air-bases, acted as negotiators to bring about a settlement between the French and Thais on 31 January 1941.^[8] As part of the process, secret discussions were held with Thai Prime Minister Phibun Songkhram, in which the Japanese military sought free passage through Thailand. Phibun had responded positively, but his later actions showed he may have been very uncertain, as he had concluded the British–Thai Non-Aggression Pact on 12 June 1940. By February, the British were beginning to suspect the Japanese were planning to attack their possessions in Southeast Asia and were concerned Japan might set up bases in Thailand to that end.^[9]

The situation Phibun faced was that France had now been defeated by Germany, and Britain was heavily engaged in Europe; the United States had until then taken a neutral stance on both the European war and the Japanese war with China; and Japan was a superpower with a growing buildup of forces in French Indochina. Phibun could have decided he had little choice, as his own forces would have been unable to defeat the Japanese by themselves. Thailand's invasion of French Indochina in 1940 also made it difficult for the United States government to support Phibun.^[10]

Midway through 1941, Phibun sought British and American guarantees of effective support if Japan invaded Thailand. Neither Britain nor the United States could give them, although British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was in favour of a public warning to Japan that an invasion of the Southeast Asian kingdom would result in a British declaration of war. However, the United States was unwilling to agree to this, and Britain was not prepared to make it alone."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_Thailand

 

This is more or less what I'm trying to point out.

Edited September 9, 2018 by MaksimMislavsky

[Basil B]

I see the Thai Capitulation no different than that of the French...

 

And there was a Thai Resistance Movement, and many Thai's did give aid to "Enemies of Japan".

[Crossy]

Just now, Basil B said:

And there was a Thai Resistance Movement

Indeed, my MiL who is now well into her 90s (actual age unknown, she started smoking in her 70s) used to tell anyone who would listen how many "Japs" she had killed by derailing trains. 

 

She's still a wonderful old bear but starting to forget, sadly nobody has recorded her memoirs ?

 

I never had the heart to tell her I was working for a Japanese company building a railway.

[Esso49]

1 minute ago, Crossy said:

Indeed, my MiL who is now well into her 90s (actual age unknown, she started smoking in her 70s) used to tell anyone who would listen how many "Japs" she had killed by derailing trains. 

 

She's still a wonderful old bear but starting to forget, sadly nobody has recorded her memoirs ?

 

I never had the heart to tell her I was working for a Japanese company building a railway.

A deservedly proud lady I guess to be sure.   Also the 10's of thousands of people slaugtered by the Japs in Kanachanaburi  trying to help the POWs enforced to build the death railway.  Another Japanese project !!