03Thailand’s Political and Strategic Interests in Indo-China (continued)

French Indo-China

Thirdly, interest in Indo-China was reinforced from latter part of the Nineteenth Century when the French became the dominant power in the Peninsular.

Moreover, the Thais were never reconciled to the cessations of territories in Laos and Cambodia which the French had ex-acted between 1867 and 1907.

From the Thai point of view, these territories were taken from Thailand by force or threat of force and they had a just case for their restoration. As a consequence, a strong anti-French feeling developed in Thailand and an irredentist movement arose to reclaim all territories that had at any time formed part of the Thai Kingdom

In conducting Thai foreign policy towards Indo-China in the period between 1938 and 1944, the Phibunsonggram Government shared the perception of Thailand’s political interest and the strategic calculation of its forebears.

Furthermore, in dealings with regional and extra-regional states, the Phibunsonggram Government inherited the traditional Thai Practice of the balance of power.

In foreign policy terms, this meant seeking to prevent undue dominance by maintaining a state of equilibrium between contending outside forces.

It also involved playing off one side against the other in order to achieve Thailand’s overall aim of maintaining its independence and protecting strategic interests in Indo-China.