How to explain World War 2 to a Thai person

[JusMe]

A 35-year-old Thai might well be the direct descendant of the thousands of Siamese men and women who were forced into slavery by the Japanese. The Allied losses during the construction of this monumentally brutal project were a fraction of those suffered by the Thai nation. …. This was Thailand's holocaust and should always be remembered for the lessons it teaches us all.

What total and absolute rubbish. There were NO Thai people forced into slavery by the japanese. Thailand suffered NO losses during the construction of the railway. Thailand finished the war in the most comfortable circumstances of any southeast Asian nation.

[JusMe]

More Thais, through forced labour, died on the Burma railway than all the Western POWs put together. The same applied to the ones who were forced to construct roads, such as from Mae Teng to Pai etc.

Very simple - prove it. There's no evidence whatsoever anywhere that any Thais were employed either willingly or as forced labour on the Death Railway. None were forced to construct roads anywhere in the country.

[JusMe]

Japan did indeed invade Thailand in 1941 in preparation for assaults on both Burma aND Malaya. The landings were opposed in all cases for less then one day until Phibun made his deal.

Not quite true. Phibun had his deal made well before the Japanese landed in Thailand. As there had been a deal made, it was a landing, not an invasion. There were a few places where the landings were opposed, the strongest at Prachuap Kiri Khan, where it lasted a full day, but for the most part, the landings went very smoothly.

[heybuz]

some thai's must know something about it ,about 2 years ago on thai tv there was a documentary honoring 2 thai pilots who managed to shoot down a couple of allied aircraft,both of which had U S markings.

[gk10002000]

Regardless about what is officially taught, or ignored, the one thing I have observed in all my trips to Thailand is that most Thais either can't or won't go to a library or spend time reading a variety of books. Now of course I can't speak for all the levels of social classes. I suspect the millions of poorer street vendors are caught up or more interested in their daily lives to care much about reading some USA history or European history. I myself born and raised in the USA always enjoyed going to a library. Over the decades I browsed or read all sorts of topics. And since I studied martial arts was exposed to Asian culture early on and would pull out an atlas or a map or read some Asian history and found it interesting. In general and by the largest numbers I would say the Thais are not exposed to world and other country events that much and just don't seem that interested.

[lvr181]

just don't try.

thais had their own bit of trouble with the vietnam incident.

ww2 happened 80 years ago, time to let go and focus on stuff happening today.

for you and me - involved or directly related to people involved, this might be different.

but why would a 35 year old thai be interested in adolf, winston and josef?

"but why would a 35 year old thai be interested in adolf, winston and josef?" They cannot or do not want to deal with their own political problems. Still very much a "medieval" society. Their education system apparently does not teach them to question or to enquire. It seems that many citizens have blinkers (as used on horses) on. Corruption and cronyism is their way of life, followed closely by mai pen rai. Sad really

[cumgranosalum]

The truth of the matter is that many of the expats and nearly ALL of the tourists I speak to have absolutely no idea of what happened in this region during the second world war.....it even includes those who fought here..........most Europeans see the WW2 as a European affair and conveniently forget it was even at the time at least by the end called a WORLD war.

When it comes to the details of deaths and casualties most westerners have a lamentably lop-sided perspective - and that even includes US troops stationed out here....as for the "bridge over the River Kwai" - that was a movie based on a novel by a Frenchman with the name of the river changed by the local thai authorities and the bridge in the wrong location.......

Yes, there were huge numbers who lost their lives there - mostly Asian forced labourers - whilst not denying the sacrifice of the allied troops lets also try to get the facts straight ourselves before criticising those who were, for one reason or another, on the "other" side for not having the same perspective as a westerner of the conflicts of the 1930s and 40s....and after..........

Oh jeez, have to get the flail out again. I've only just put it away after the last self-scourging session.

And the award for the most facetious reply goes to.....

[cumgranosalum]

The truth of the matter is that many of the expats and nearly ALL of the tourists I speak to have absolutely no idea of what happened in this region during the second world war.....it even includes those who fought here..........most Europeans see the WW2 as a European affair and conveniently forget it was even at the time at least by the end called a WORLD war.

When it comes to the details of deaths and casualties most westerners have a lamentably lop-sided perspective - and that even includes US troops stationed out here....as for the "bridge over the River Kwai" - that was a movie based on a novel by a Frenchman with the name of the river changed by the local thai authorities and the bridge in the wrong location.......

Yes, there were huge numbers who lost their lives there - mostly Asian forced labourers - whilst not denying the sacrifice of the allied troops lets also try to get the facts straight ourselves before criticising those who were, for one reason or another, on the "other" side for not having the same perspective as a westerner of the conflicts of the 1930s and 40s....and after..........

Oh jeez, have to get the flail out again. I've only just put it away after the last self-scourging session.

And the award for the most facetious reply goes to.....

[RikDao]

The limit of my ex's and her family and village knowledge stopped at what was to eat,who was shagging who,she admitted she only voted for Thaksin because she got 200 b ,had no clue about his policies,new nothing of any history,except Thailand was the greatest country in the world,and could beat any other,she watched the news,but when something about syria,or something outside Thailand came up,no interest.Compare this to my friend in the Philippines,who not only can i have a proper conversation with,but knows about Syria,the refugee crisis in Europe,ww2,and heaps of stuff,her biggest dream is to travel,where as my ex mrs refused to ever leave Thailand[mainly due to the panic of no som tam],my freind in the phillippines comes from a poor family,but her EDUCATION has been so much better,and this is the crux of the matter the crazy face saving,and lack of a decent education,Thailand has and never will do anything but sit in it's own insular bubble as the rest of southeast asia draws further and further ahead and away,and the main reason for this they have better educated and informed populations,who actually want to learn about the outside world, i mean my local immigration office has no one who can speak good English,the immigration office.!!!!

"Nobody speaks English at the immigration office? Gee, too bad!" is what many Thais are thinking, and likely saying out loud amongst themselves.Could it possibly be that, unbelievable as it may sound, they're getting tired of us being here? Perish the thought!

Honestly, many of them are sick to death of farangs who come here and constantly denigrate them and their society. Don't think they're not aware of it.

"Don't like it here? Move to Guatemala! Likely you'll be begging to come back here within six months. Can't afford to live in your home country? Don't blame us!"

Boring, boring, boring.. Yet another of the "if you dont like it go home" brigade. When will you find a new song to sing.

People who live here are bound to make comments on the good and bad of living here, get used to it, it isn't going to change. Probably the same way that Thai people do when they live abroad and every other nation for that matter.

Wasn't singing, nor was I trying to express something that meets with your approval. Also, I have plenty of songs to sing when I'm in the mood, and I try not to rely on old, stale cliches when I reply to someone who disagrees with me.

Merely stating a theory as to why the immigration offices (some of them) seem to be getting bogged down, as in, it might be happening by design. Your attempt to censor me is amusing. Speaking of boring, why not try to come up with something a bit more interesting than the old "people who live here are bound to make comments" routine? Everybody knows that already.

[RikDao]

Oh, I wasn't aware that the Japanese had occupied Belgium, Holland, Denmark etc in WW II. Thanks for schooling me on that one.

The Thai Ambassador to the UK delivered a declaration of war to London, but a declaration was not forwarded to Washington by the equivalent Thai Ambassador. And yeah, maybe the Thai government (not necessarily the same as the Thai people, perhaps even you would agree) did help the Japanese; what would you have done? Fought against them?

You obviously need schooling on reading a simple statement in English. Notice those quotation marks on "offer they couldn't refuse"?

And your comment regarding the ambassador in English not forwarding a declaration of war from London to Washington? What absurdity! Perhaps they should have declared war in Saniago or Cuba? Declarations of war do not need forwarding from anywhere to anywhere else.

In the early part of the war, the government was supported by the Thai people, particularly during the Thai-French battles before WWII. The Thai newspapers glorified Thailand's participation. Yes, I have read those newspapers.

Try learning something from original papers.

The Thai government was instructed by the Japanese to declare war on the UK and the good ol' USA. The Thai ambassador to London delivered the declaration to the British like a good boy, and thus war was officially declared. However, the (equivalent) Thai ambassador to Washington refused, like a naughty boy, to deliver the official declaration to the Americans, stating that the Americans had always been friends with Thailand (unlike the British, perhaps?) Therefore, war against the USA was never officially declared. Perhaps my use of the word "forwarded" was incorrect; I should have said "delivered."

I made a snide remark about the Japanese occupying Belgium, etc, I couldn't resist. However, please notice I was able to refrain from attacking you personally.

[Toknarok]

More Thais, through forced labour, died on the Burma railway than all the Western POWs put together. The same applied to the ones who were forced to construct roads, such as from Mae Teng to Pai etc.

Very simple - prove it. There's no evidence whatsoever anywhere that any Thais were employed either willingly or as forced labour on the Death Railway. None were forced to construct roads anywhere in the country.

Quote from Wiki...In the initial stages of the construction of the railway, Burmese and Thai were employed in their respective countries, but Thai workers, in particular, were likely to abscond from the project and the number of Burmese workers recruited was insufficient.

I realise that a piece from Wiki isn't 'evidence' per se, but I wonder why they would state it as fact.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Toknarok

[RikDao]

Only old Americans know anything about WW2, because they fought in one of the theaters, watched movie newsreels, read newspapers and listened to the radio during that era. Much of what they were told was myths, lies and exaggerations. There's a reason why WW2 documents have been sealed for 100 years. To give the allied war criminals time to die off. Today's generation of Americans don't care about WW2 anymore then they care about what is really going on at home and abroad. What they hear during 15 seconds of news watching as they are running out the door to work is enough for them. Many American kids believe, the U.S and Germany fought against Russia. Good luck with enlightening the Thai.

You might be right about a lot of the above. The last statement is humorous, and unfortunately, maybe true. I'd actually take it a little further by saying many American kids don't even know that Russia fought in WW II.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

I was in a bar in Pattaya years ago.The girl behind the counter was a pleasing enough person.She could speak a little English.I Noticed a tattoo on her forearm.It was the picture of a well know south east London team.Underneath that was a guy's name.Underneath that was a Nazi swastika. When i told her what the latter symbolised,she simply didn't believe me. She told me that"Terry' had the same football tattoo.He told her that the Swastika was a very fashionable,must have tattoo that all the English and American women were wearing.

So,she is now marked for life,unless her next ferang will pay for laser treatment, by some,ignorant,stupid, English football thug.

What a prince.

[cumgranosalum]

Only old Americans know anything about WW2, because they fought in one of the theaters, watched movie newsreels, read newspapers and listened to the radio during that era. Much of what they were told was myths, lies and exaggerations. There's a reason why WW2 documents have been sealed for 100 years. To give the allied war criminals time to die off. Today's generation of Americans don't care about WW2 anymore then they care about what is really going on at home and abroad. What they hear during 15 seconds of news watching as they are running out the door to work is enough for them. Many American kids believe, the U.S and Germany fought against Russia. Good luck with enlightening the Thai.

You might be right about a lot of the above. The last statement is humorous, and unfortunately, maybe true. I'd actually take it a little further by saying many American kids don't even know that Russia fought in WW II.

Oral history?

To some who don't understand thr study of history it may seem counter intuitive but........the reality is that although oral history has a place, the last person to "know" about any event in history is someone who was there - in reality our understanding of history gets better the further we distance ourselves - it give a better perspective, more objectivity and of course access often to documents that certainly weren't available to the man in the street at the time.

[cumgranosalum]

I was in a bar in Pattaya years ago.The girl behind the counter was a pleasing enough person.She could speak a little English.I Noticed a tattoo on her forearm.It was the picture of a well know south east London team.Underneath that was a guy's name.Underneath that was a Nazi swastika. When i told her what the latter symbolised,she simply didn't believe me. She told me that"Terry' had the same football tattoo.He told her that the Swastika was a very fashionable,must have tattoo that all the English and American women were wearing.

So,she is now marked for life,unless her next ferang will pay for laser treatment, by some,ignorant,stupid, English football thug.

What a prince.

as everyone should know by now, the swastika is a very old symbol. It was adapted by many religions and leaders over the centuries especially in the East.......it only has the Nazi connotations to those with a western perspective.

As said before "Sawasdee Khap" and "Swastika" have the same origins - are you going to stop Thais from saying this introduced greeting? They could return to the old one still in use in Laos "sabai Dee"

Edited March 10, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[cumgranosalum]

More Thais, through forced labour, died on the Burma railway than all the Western POWs put together. The same applied to the ones who were forced to construct roads, such as from Mae Teng to Pai etc.

Very simple - prove it. There's no evidence whatsoever anywhere that any Thais were employed either willingly or as forced labour on the Death Railway. None were forced to construct roads anywhere in the country.

Three times the amount of Asians (180.000) compared to POWs (60,000) - including Thais - lost their lives on this railway. The Japanese used both civilian Asians labourers and military as forced/slave labour and the Thai government under Phibun acquiesced to this. The word "romusha", literally labourer, became basically a euphemism for forced labour or slave.

if you don't accept this - and it is held as true by all historians who have studies this - then it is up to you to put forward the evidence you have to refute this. As it goes against all the accepted figures for the last 8 decades I suspect you don't have such evidence - but rather than just gainsaying, it is without doubt your job to supply backup to your proposition.

[henrickkur]

Anybody ever ask about Pol Pot?

You know the guy who didn't like educated people, moved everybody to the jungle.

Who? lol

I guess it is not taught.

I say if you know your history you will know the future!

No need for crystal balls, or the guy who dresses in white, and looks at your palms.

[CaptHaddock]

It's especially parochial to suggest that the Thais are negligent in not knowing about the European theater of WWII. It didn't concern them. Americans would be shocked to learn that the decisive battles of WWII in Europe were fought between the Russians and the Germans. D-Day in Normandy was an important development in the war, but not a decisive battle since the Russians would have beaten the Germans without it. In fact the history of the war in Europe may be summed up as follows: the only two countries to have positive GDP growth rates in the 30's, the USSR and Germany, had a war. The US waited on the sidelines until the eleventh hour and then rushed in to snatch the prize, the Mid-East oil, from the British.

So, there is no particular reason for the Thais to focus on the European war anymore than for Americans to know about the Tai-Ping Rebellion in China whose loss of life exceeded the entire population of the US in the Civil War in the same period. American education is quite parochial, too.

That said, Thai culture is not one that emphasizes history. As one sociologist observed, societies with social mobility are history-centric, while those without social mobility center instead on myth. So, Thailand and India have always lacked a developed tradition of history, unlike China, for example, which had both a bureaucracy based on merit exams for social advancement along with meticulous record-keeping and historiography.

The Thai preference for myth is exemplified by the series of dioramas depicting Thai history at the National Museum. No name of any Thai individual ever appears along any of the dioramas other than Thai kings.

[englansi]

I was in a bar in Pattaya years ago.The girl behind the counter was a pleasing enough person.She could speak a little English.I Noticed a tattoo on her forearm.It was the picture of a well know south east London team.Underneath that was a guy's name.Underneath that was a Nazi swastika. When i told her what the latter symbolised,she simply didn't believe me. She told me that"Terry' had the same football tattoo.He told her that the Swastika was a very fashionable,must have tattoo that all the English and American women were wearing.

So,she is now marked for life,unless her next ferang will pay for laser treatment, by some,ignorant,stupid, English football thug.

What a prince.

as everyone should know by now, the swastika is a very old symbol. It was adapted by many religions and leaders over the centuries especially in the East.......it only has the Nazi connotations to those with a western perspective.

As said before "Sawasdee Khap" and "Swastika" have the same origins - are you going to stop Thais from saying this introduced greeting? They could return to the old one still in use in Laos "sabai Dee"

And also the later European adaptation and the original and emotive meaning behind the Hakenkreuz, which main stream historians and commentators don't seem to know about. It took me about a year of research to find it. The Finns still wear it with pride, and I can understand why.

Of course, what it means today to the masses is another story, and I'm not going to argue against that. All I'm saying is, the original meaning is almost utterly lost, which is a pity.

[Suitcase]

Now all these post are way off the OP question so why

does Thai Visa not close this topic?

[macksview]

No WW2 is not taught in Thai history lessons. The Thai collaboration with the Japanese and the Thai invasions of Cambodia, Malaya and Burma with Japanese encouragement to regain territory taken by the Brits and the French seem too complicated to explain and it is easier to omit them. They seem to just teach about King Ramkhamhaeng, the wars against the Burmese and the founding of Chakri dynasty dynasty. Some of it doesn't seem to be verifiable and may be mythological. A Chula history professor was ousted as president of the Siam Society for writing a paper suggesting that King Ramkhamhaeng never existed and the stone is a 19th century forgery (Western scholars agree with the latter point). Nothing much is taught about the history of Thai politics in the 20th century and the minimal amount that is seems largely spurious or distorted.

Just take her to Kanchanaburi and show her the museum and watch the look of horror on her face. Then the questions will start to roll out. Worked for my wife.

the wife had been to anzac day with me few times, she saw me take granfathers and great uncles medals out of the box the night before, my peacetime good behaviour gongs also came out.

i have explained some of ww1 and ww2 to her, but things really sank in after visiting kanchanaburi.

i asked her, did she ever ask her father about his service during the communist insurgency, she never had.

one lazy norh eastern sunday, out came the maps and his bits and pieces, he had 6 people as a highly interested audience.

[BookMan]

Now all these post are way off the OP question so why

does Thai Visa not close this topic?

all threads diverge

many helpful posts and some good opinion and insights. still some on topic advice coming through

as the OP I feel its working well

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's especially parochial to suggest that the Thais are negligent in not knowing about the European theater of WWII.

I'm not sure who here is complaining about Thais not being aware of the EUROPEAN theater of WWII. I certainly wasn't.

I was questioning, for the average Thai, the seeming lack of knowledge about ANYTHING related to WWII, including their own role it in and/or the broader WWII presence in Asia.

Likewise:

Americans would be shocked to learn that the decisive battles of WWII in Europe were fought between the Russians and the Germans.

I'm an American and I'm NOT shocked to be aware that there were decisive battles in the war between Russia and Germany. Whether those were more or less decisive than D-Day, I would say, is a matter of opinion.

Likewise:

The US waited on the sidelines until the eleventh hour and then rushed in to snatch the prize, the Mid-East oil, from the British.

This last item seems particularly bereft of reality. The war effectively ran from fall 1939 until fall 1945. The U.S., after admittedly being reluctant to get involved in the early European events, declared war on Germany and Japan in Dec. 1941 in the wake of Pearl Harbor. What ensued was almost four full years of full U.S. involvement in WWII to its conclusion and thereafter with occupations in Germany and Japan. That's hardly waiting "until the eleventh hour" in the overall course of WWII.

Edited March 10, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[metisdead]

Some inflammatory nonsense posts and replies have been removed.

[CaptHaddock]

It's especially parochial to suggest that the Thais are negligent in not knowing about the European theater of WWII.

I'm not sure who here is complaining about Thais not being aware of the EUROPEAN theater of WWII. I certainly wasn't.

I was questioning, for the average Thai, the seeming lack of knowledge about ANYTHING related to WWII, including their own role it in and/or the broader WWII presence in Asia.

Those mentioning Hitler, Nazis, swastikas, etc. were complaining about the lack of Thai awareness about the European theater.

[macksview]

history channel, the great visual aid, for ww1 and ww2 explainers to those who were never taught at school.

nazis have a meaning when the horrors of their agenda is shown on tv

a series of interviews done by bbc on ww1 veterans, chilling viewing.

'what the somme'? here is some google photos wifey

'they fix his face' so good

on viewing a show on nangking, japanese do that?

not her fault she was never taught it at school.

Edited March 10, 2016 by macksview

[CaptHaddock]

It's especially parochial to suggest that the Thais are negligent in not knowing about the European theater of WWII.

I'm not sure who here is complaining about Thais not being aware of the EUROPEAN theater of WWII. I certainly wasn't.

I was questioning, for the average Thai, the seeming lack of knowledge about ANYTHING related to WWII, including their own role it in and/or the broader WWII presence in Asia.

Likewise:

Americans would be shocked to learn that the decisive battles of WWII in Europe were fought between the Russians and the Germans.

I'm an American and I'm NOT shocked to be aware that there were decisive battles in the war between Russia and Germany. Whether those were more or less decisive than D-Day, I would say, is a matter of opinion.

Likewise:

The US waited on the sidelines until the eleventh hour and then rushed in to snatch the prize, the Mid-East oil, from the British.

This last item seems particularly bereft of reality. The war effectively ran from fall 1939 until fall 1945. The U.S., after admittedly being reluctant to get involved in the early European events, declared war on Germany and Japan in Dec. 1941 in the wake of Pearl Harbor. What ensued was almost four full years of full U.S. involvement in WWII to its conclusion and thereafter with occupations in Germany and Japan. That's hardly waiting "until the eleventh hour" in the overall course of WWII.

The US had economic interests in the Pacific which included its semi-colony, the Philippines, and China. It was these interests that motivated the US to go quickly on the offensive in the Pacific by February of 1942. Despite FDR's announcing a "Europe First" policy, the US did exactly the opposite and launched an aggressive campaign in the Pacific that led to the decisive battle of Midway being fought in June, 1942.

By contrast, although Stalin pleaded with Roosevelt and Churchill to open a second front in Europe, the very development that Hitler's war plans strove especially to avoid, the Allies instead delayed with minor actions first in North Africa and then in Italy. The Italian Campaign helped the Soviets by tying down German forces that would otherwise have been used in the East, but otherwise contributed little since the Italians were mainly a liability for Hitler. It's hard to see Roosevelt's policy as other than deliberately letting the Russians bear the brunt of the fighting as long as possible.

The US did not declare war on Germany on Dec. 8, 1941, only on Japan. A couple of days later, much to the Americans' surprise, Hitler declared war on the US instead, presumably to live up to his treaty obligations with Japan. The US did not fight Germany for four years, only from June 6, 1944 until the end of war, not counting the rearguard action of the Germans in Italy after Mussolini fell. By the time of D-Day in Normandy the outcome of the war was already clear. A large part of the reason for the very late Allied invasion was to grab as much territory as possible to keep the Red Army from marching to the Atlantic.

The statistics tell the story: 20 million Soviet dead versus 400,000 US dead.

[englansi]

@ Capthaddock

The US did not declare war on Germany on Dec. 8, 1941, only on Japan. A couple of days later, much to the Americans' surprise, Hitler declared war on the US instead, presumably to live up to his treaty obligations with Japan....

It was no surprise to anyone. Hitler gave a particularly erudite account of his decision and how he arrived at it. There is no need to speculate, it's a matter of public record.

The US waged an illegal war on both Germany and Japan well before 1941. Also a matter of public record.

​I say this to show that what a lot of people here have already said, the victors write the history. This particular piece of obfuscation seems to be harder to dislodge than most, for reasons easy to guess.

I used to follow the 'party' line avidly until I started researching some basic questions: how did Germany rise from cripple to world power in just 6 years? The search for an answer lead to some fascinating and surprising sources and lead me to jettison some long established "facts" as mere propaganda.

IMO the largely unasked questions really eclipse the technicalities of what happened during the war, by which I do not mean to diminish their importance or pathos.

[cumgranosalum]

It's especially parochial to suggest that the Thais are negligent in not knowing about the European theater of WWII.

I'm not sure who here is complaining about Thais not being aware of the EUROPEAN theater of WWII. I certainly wasn't.

I was questioning, for the average Thai, the seeming lack of knowledge about ANYTHING related to WWII, including their own role it in and/or the broader WWII presence in Asia.

Likewise:

Americans would be shocked to learn that the decisive battles of WWII in Europe were fought between the Russians and the Germans.

I'm an American and I'm NOT shocked to be aware that there were decisive battles in the war between Russia and Germany. Whether those were more or less decisive than D-Day, I would say, is a matter of opinion.

Likewise:

The US waited on the sidelines until the eleventh hour and then rushed in to snatch the prize, the Mid-East oil, from the British.

This last item seems particularly bereft of reality. The war effectively ran from fall 1939 until fall 1945. The U.S., after admittedly being reluctant to get involved in the early European events, declared war on Germany and Japan in Dec. 1941 in the wake of Pearl Harbor. What ensued was almost four full years of full U.S. involvement in WWII to its conclusion and thereafter with occupations in Germany and Japan. That's hardly waiting "until the eleventh hour" in the overall course of WWII.

"The war effectively ran from fall 1939 until fall 1945" - there go those dates again....both German and Japanese aggression as well as other countries in Asia started before than and the aftermath of the "wars" was a long drawn out affair. The Euro-cenric view tends to adopt dates based on their own countries' declaration of war....this ignores prior events and subsequent issues.

All this makes it much more difficult for Westerners to see the events surrounding OUR name "the Second World War" through the eyes of Thai people or other Asian countries.

[cumgranosalum]

It's especially parochial to suggest that the Thais are negligent in not knowing about the European theater of WWII.

I'm not sure who here is complaining about Thais not being aware of the EUROPEAN theater of WWII. I certainly wasn't.

I was questioning, for the average Thai, the seeming lack of knowledge about ANYTHING related to WWII, including their own role it in and/or the broader WWII presence in Asia.

Likewise:

Americans would be shocked to learn that the decisive battles of WWII in Europe were fought between the Russians and the Germans.

I'm an American and I'm NOT shocked to be aware that there were decisive battles in the war between Russia and Germany. Whether those were more or less decisive than D-Day, I would say, is a matter of opinion.

Likewise:

The US waited on the sidelines until the eleventh hour and then rushed in to snatch the prize, the Mid-East oil, from the British.

This last item seems particularly bereft of reality. The war effectively ran from fall 1939 until fall 1945. The U.S., after admittedly being reluctant to get involved in the early European events, declared war on Germany and Japan in Dec. 1941 in the wake of Pearl Harbor. What ensued was almost four full years of full U.S. involvement in WWII to its conclusion and thereafter with occupations in Germany and Japan. That's hardly waiting "until the eleventh hour" in the overall course of WWII.

"The war effectively ran from fall 1939 until fall 1945" - there go those dates again....both German and Japanese aggression as well as other countries in Asia started before that and the aftermath of the "wars" was a long drawn out affair. The Euro-centric view tends to adopt dates based on their own countries' declaration of war....this ignores prior events and subsequent issues.

All this makes it much more difficult for Westerners to see the events surrounding OUR name "the Second World War" through the eyes of Thai people or other Asian countries, whose involvement was different and at different times.....

Edited March 10, 2016 by cumgranosalum