Thailand
declared war on the United States and Britain on January 25, 1942. As Khun
Songdej Praditsmanont correctly points out, the Thai ambassador in Washington
did not deliver the declaration and the United States considered Thailand
neutral.
But it was a different matter with Britain, where the declaration was delivered and Britain responded in kind.
In fact, British bombers based in Rangoon attacked military targets in Bangkok on January 7, nearly three weeks before the Thai declaration of war. The raids were ordered because Japan was using Thailand as a staging area for its invasions of Malaya and Burma. After Rangoon fell to the Japanese in March 1942 the raids continued, using heavy bombers based in India, because by this stage Bangkok had become a major Japanese command centre.
The whole history of Thailand's involvement in World War II is complex and involved many deals with the Japanese in exchange for Thailand's own territorial ambitions and the building of a "Greater Thailand", including Thai troops fighting French troops in Indochina.
While history recognises the Thai resistance movement, it also recognises the compliant deals the country's puppet prime minister made with the Japanese, including tacit agreement to the amphibious invasion of Thailand on December 8, 1941.
It is rewriting history to suggest that Thailand was neutral during World War II.
David Brown, Rayong
But it was a different matter with Britain, where the declaration was delivered and Britain responded in kind.
In fact, British bombers based in Rangoon attacked military targets in Bangkok on January 7, nearly three weeks before the Thai declaration of war. The raids were ordered because Japan was using Thailand as a staging area for its invasions of Malaya and Burma. After Rangoon fell to the Japanese in March 1942 the raids continued, using heavy bombers based in India, because by this stage Bangkok had become a major Japanese command centre.
The whole history of Thailand's involvement in World War II is complex and involved many deals with the Japanese in exchange for Thailand's own territorial ambitions and the building of a "Greater Thailand", including Thai troops fighting French troops in Indochina.
While history recognises the Thai resistance movement, it also recognises the compliant deals the country's puppet prime minister made with the Japanese, including tacit agreement to the amphibious invasion of Thailand on December 8, 1941.
It is rewriting history to suggest that Thailand was neutral during World War II.
David Brown, Rayong
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