More languages
More actions
See main article: Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782 –1932)
| Kingdom of Thailand ราชอาณาจักรไทย | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Bangkok |
| Dominant mode of production | Capitalism |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• Monarch | Vajiralongkorn |
• Prime Minister | Paetongtarn Shinawatra |
| Area | |
• Total | 513,120 km² |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate | 66,041,239 |
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a US-backed monarchy in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Laos and Cambodia to the east, Myanmar to the west and Malaysia to the south.
History[edit | edit source]
Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351–1767)[edit | edit source]
See main article: Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351–1767)
Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782 –1932)[edit | edit source]
See main article: Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782 –1932)
Second World War[edit | edit source]
During the Second World War, Thailand under Plaek Phibunsongkhram aligned with Imperial Japan after the Japanese invasion of Thailand in December 1941. The Thai government allowed Japanese forces to use Thai territory during the war and later declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom. Thailand had already fought Vichy France in the Franco-Thai War of 1940–1941 over disputed territories in French Indochina, including areas connected to Laos and Cambodia. With Japanese mediation, Thailand gained several territories from French Indochina, though these gains were reversed after the defeat of Japan.
Contemporary Thailand[edit | edit source]
After Vietnam overthrew Democratic Kampuchea in 1979, Thailand became a major rear area for anti-Vietnamese Cambodian forces along the Thai-Cambodian border. Although Thailand had previously clashed with the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese intervention transformed the Khmer Rouge from a border enemy into a useful anti-Vietnamese force from Bangkok's perspective. Thailand also hosted large numbers of Cambodian refugees, but the border camp system became entangled with the armed struggle against the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea. Human Rights Watch reported that the Khmer Rouge continued to control camps along the Thai-Cambodian border and to violate the rights of refugees there after its ouster. Thailand also hosted large numbers of Cambodian refugees, including at Khao I Dang, which opened in 1979 and at its peak sheltered nearly 140,000 people.[1]The United States used Thailand as a base for its bombings of Vietnam and Laos during the Resistance War. The number of U.S. soldiers occupying Thailand reached 40,000, including 365 Green Berets fighting against guerrillas within Thailand.[2]
The baht failed in 1997, leading to a regional economic crisis that made Singapore and other countries rely on IMF loans.[3]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑
- ↑ William Blum (2002). Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower: 'A Concise History of United States Global Interventions, 1945 to the Present' (pp. 116–117). [PDF] Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 9781842772201 [LG]
- ↑ Vijay Prashad (2008). The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World: 'Singapore' (p. 255). [PDF] The New Press. ISBN 9781595583420 [LG]