I sometimes wish Thailand had been colonised by an imperial power, in which case the general population would be much better educated, there would be a better legal system in place, much less corrupting the procedures for the benefit of others, and the ability to look at and use other peoples ideas. We would also see better architecture, better town planning (how about making some parks and local services as well as building profitable condos), etc.

Yes, if only we had the strong economy and political choices of Burma, Laos and Cambodia ;-)

Given the sorry state of Africa, much of Asia and the mess in Pakistan, Central America etc, one might really question whether being a colony of the english is necessarily a good thing. After all....you could say Singapore is the most developed country in the region and they got there without any assistance of being a colony - as I recall they declared independence from an independent Malaysia in the 60s.

Agree with all the points, just not sure that being a colony necessarily gets you there any faster.

Lets be honest here, Africa would be in the stone age still if not for colonization. India seems to be doing pretty well with their English skill and education. How can you blame Burma and Cambodja on colonization? Last I checked they brought it on themselves. And lets not forget that the big myth of free Thailand is false. If it were not for the French and English wanting a buffer state, Thais would be speaking French by now (also colonized by the Japanese during WW2).

Thai's only want to keep it under their control so they can keep a monopoly on exploiting it themselves.

There isn't a single Thai agricultural company or organisation that could survive in a global market without their foreign partners or survive in the Thai market against free foreign competition.