Several decades ago, colonization swept across different countries in various continents around the globe. This phenomenon involved one country forcefully acquiring the people, lands, and other resources of another country. As indicated by World Population Review, one of the few countries that escaped colonization is Thailand, but there are reasons for the non-colonization of Thailand by any of the past major powers in the world.
Many reasons have been postulated for the non-colonization of Thailand but two reasons are most reasonable and provable. The first reason is that Thailand served as the intersection (buffer) between the leading powers in the world during the period. The second reason has to do with how the King of Siam skillfully played politics to ensure that the world powers didn’t bother to take over the kingdom throughout the time of colonization.
Of course, the reasons are more complicated than what has been briefly explained above. Besides, other reasons suggested by people for the non-colonization of Thailand are also worth considering. Below, we will take a closer look at why Thailand was never colonized.
Siam was a buffer zone between the French Indochina and the British
Before explaining the history, it should be noted that Thailand used to be called the Siam Kingdom. For several centuries, there were heavy wars between Great Britain and France, but these battles usually took place in foreign lands. In other words, they never fought in their homelands. These two powerful nations battled in different places around the world including Canada, India, etc. During the colonial era, they were heavily involved in wars concerning territories that they would colonize.
During this period, they were colonizing different Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, etc. However, when they got to Thailand, there was an issue. England liked the idea of having a buffer region. This buffer region/state means a country between two rivals and has been protected from conflict. Even if the two opposing powers should continue their fights, they will try to keep this buffer state away from their battles.
However, the French armies had already conquered Laos, Cambodia, and the Malay Peninsula, which used to be under Siam. Afterward, they wanted to take over Siam itself. However, Siam was a vital place to the British as they had a great influence on the shipping trade going on in Bangkok. Although there were many arguments over the Siam territory, an agreement was finally reached between these two superpowers on using Siam as the buffer zone between them.
As a result of this diplomatic agreement between the two superpowers, there was no need for them to colonize Siam. However, the Siam Kingdom had to give up some of the territories under its control.
You can read more about the use of Siam as the buffer zone between the French and British forces on Nations Online.
The Siamese kings strategized by altering their system
Due to the location of Siam, the Siamese political leaders had been able to study why and how the colonial masters were taking over other countries. Generally, the colonial superpowers usually used civilization and democracy as their reasons for colonizing a nation. They would purportedly bring democracy and civilization to “backward and oppressed” individuals by taking over their nations.
Having known the excuses for colonization, the leaders of Siam devised means to protect their territory from being colonized. They changed their political system to look like the European political system. Of course, this change led to a huge nation-building project that brought lots of transformation into the country.
Foremost, the Siamese royals noted how the Europeans focused on topographical knowledge. These Europeans would utilize maps to demarcate different territories and borders. If a nation did not have well-defined borders, they would take advantage of her and claim lots of her lands.
Therefore, the Siamese leaders made a map of their land. As a result of this, they already defined the borders of their territory. Hence, it was difficult for the Europeans to use topographical knowledge as an excuse to take over their land.
Similarly, the concentration of power was implemented to prevent colonization. Chulalongkorn, a Siamese king, noted that the Europeans also used the concentration of power as an excuse for colonizing. The Siamese political system (Mandala) allowed the king to rule over the whole nation with lots of local rulers under him. However, the king didn’t have any real power over some of the areas as they were majorly self-governed. Chulalongkorn noted how this could enable European militaries to take over the Siam kingdom. So, he formed the first-ever professional army of Siam. Although the army never fought against the European militaries, it played a key role in the non-colonization of Thailand.
With the help of the Siamese army, Chulalongkorn took power away from the local rulers. Resultantly, powers were centralized in the capital city of Bangkok. This action also led to the adoption of the Thai language and gave more powers to the Siamese kings. As a result of this, the European powers felt that the Thai nation is already a politically savvy and centralized state.
Thais are strong and resilient people
According to some groups, Thailand was never colonized because of the strength and resilience of Thais. Although Thais have these two attributes, this reason is highly debatable. This is because many other strong and resilient nations succumbed to the powers of the European militaries and, as such, were colonized. The European superpowers had modern and more powerful firearms; hence, the Siamese army could never have won any battle against them.
Therefore, the resilience and strength of the Thais were not as important to the non-colonization of Thailand as the intelligence of Chulalongkorn and other Siamese kings.
As you can see from the points above, the use of Siam as a buffer zone by the French and British militaries is the #1 reason why Thailand was not colonized. The change of the political system by the Siamese kings also played a vital role.
