04The First Phibunsonggram’s Success in the Sphere of Foreign Affairs

French Indo-China

The first Phibunsonggram Government(1935-1944) had been highly successful in the sphere of foreign affairs. In addition to securing the retrocession of French Indo-Chinese territory in 1941, in 1943 it obtained the transfer by the Japanese of the Burmese Shan states of Kengtung and Mongpan and the Malay states of Kedah, Perlis,Trengganu and Kelantan.

The successful conduct of Thai foreign policy towards Indo-China was due in the main to efforts made by the Phibunsonggram Government to draw Japan into support of its irredentist policy. The foreign policy of Thailand, which had been centered on Great Britain and France, its powerful colonial neighbors, took into account a third important factor in the shape of the Japanese Empire.

In the circumstances, Thailand not only deferred to Japan, but also was ready to play it off against Great Britain and France, and vice versa. The Phibunsonggram Government sought to profit from the change in the regional balance of power particularly at the expense of France.