Thailand (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Thailand (Thai: ประเทศไทย Prathet Thai), officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย Ratcha-anachak Thai), is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaya, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and the British overseas territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.

Constitutional monarchy era (1932–38)
After his death in 1925, King Vajiravudh left the nation with a great debt due to his lavish spending and economic mismanagement. His younger brother, Prajadhipok, became the new king. Unlike Vajiravudh, Prajadhipok was inclined toward reforms and had considered creating a constitution by himself. However, he remained to be hesitant in introducing radical changes albeit the growing public criticism. The prestige of the monarchy thus had suffered as the king was not able to take swift decisions during the crisis.

Meanwhile, a sense of discontent against the absolute monarchy had grown among young military officers, civil servants, and Western-educated intellectuals. In 1927, a group of seven Thai military and civilian students, including Pridi Banomyong and Plaek Phibunsongkhram, met in Paris and plotted to end the absolute rule of the king. This group then founded the Khana Ratsadon (คณะราษฎร, "People's Council"). They planned to start a military coup against the government in Bangkok.

On June 24, 1932, the Khana Ratsadon seized the powers without any significant resistance. Albeit the advice from several senior princes to stage a counter-coup, Prajadhipok had decided to accept the Khana Ratsadon's demands. Two days later, the king gave a royal audience to the Khana Ratsadon and acquitted them for the coup against him. Prajadhipok eventually became the first constitutional monarch of Siam. On December 10, the first constitution of Siam was signed by the king and non-partisan Phraya Manopakorn Nititada was appointed as first Prime Minister.

Following the coup, the king was stripped of most his powers and privileges and lived in constant fear that the next confrontation with the Khana would lead to his and his queen's deaths. In October 1933, the royalists, led by Prince Boworadet, staged a counter-coup against the government and led Siam into small-scale civil war. Although there is no evidence that Prajadhipok gave any support to the rebellion, his neutrality and indecisiveness during the brief conflict led to the further loss of monarchy's credibility and prestige.

As the relationship between the king and government deteriorated, Prajadhipok decided to abdicate in 1935. The National Assembly of Siam then declared Prajadhipok’s nephew, Prince Ananda Mahidol, as his successor. Since Prince Ananda was still studying in Switzerland, Siam had no resident monarch for the first time in its history. The Council of Regency was appointed by the Assembly to act on the monarch’s behalf according to the constitution.

Authoritarian military era (1938–44)
Following the Boworadet Rebellion, the young military officers gradually grew into prominence. The Khana Ratsadon was soon split into the military and civilian factions. The civilian group was led by Pridi Banomyong, the intellectual leader of the 1932 coup. The military one was led by General Plaek Phibunsongkhram who defeated the 1933 counter-coup. Pridi represented the left-wing of the party, while Phibun represented the right-wing. Despite their differences, the two groups cooperated with each other against the royalist opposition, up until World War II.

In 1938, Phibun took over as the posts of Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the commander-in-chief of the army at once. Under his rule, Siam was governed by an authoritarian military regime modeled after Italian Fascism. Phibun suppressed any opposition to his regime by arresting and exiling his political enemies and silencing the press. He also referred to himself as “the Leader” (ท่านผู้นำ than phunam) and elevated himself to the position equal to the monarch. In addition, Phibun appointed himself as the Field Marshal, a title previously been held only by the king.

Between 1939 and 1942, the government issued the cultural mandates (รัฐนิยม ratthaniyom) in order to further the modernization of Thai society and encourage the Thai nationalist spirit. The first mandate famously changed the country's name from "Siam" to "Thailand". These mandates encouraged all Thais to salute the flag in public places, know the new national anthem, and use the Thai language, not regional dialects. People were encouraged to adopt Western attires and the wearing of traditional skirts was discouraged.

By 1940, Thailand had cultivated closer relations with the Axis powers. Inspired by the Italian and German expansionist policies, the government had promoted Pan-Thaism that aiming at unifying Thai-speaking people nearby into the “Great Thai Empire” (มหาอาณาจักรไทย Maha-anatchak Thai). Following the Fall of France, Phibun led a campaign to regain the territories annexed by the French which became parts of French Indochina. When the Chinese invaded French Indochina from the north on November 17, 1940, Phibun waited for a month before invaded from the west on December 12, 1940. With the defeat of the French, Laos, parts of Cambodia and the northwestern part of Annam were incorporated into Thailand.

In early 1941, China had contemplated in invading Burma to secure the supply line from the Indian Ocean which blocked by the British and the Japanese, which then in control of the Malacca Strait. After several meetings and pressures with the Thai government, China was allowed full access to Thai railways, roads, airfields, naval bases, warehouses, communications systems, and barracks. In return, China recognized Thai territorial claims on British Burma and offered exclusive trade contracts to Thailand.

World War II (1941–45)
After several pressures from China, the Thai government joined the Axis and declared war on Britain in 1942. On May 9, 1942, Thailand invaded the four northernmost states in British Malaya that had once been under Thai control, including Kedah (ไทรบุรี, Sai Buri), Kelantan (กลันตัน, Kalantan), Perlis (ปะลิส, Palit), and Terengganu (ตรังกานู, Trangkanu). After a week of fighting, the British forces retreated from northern Malaya and the region was formally annexed into Thailand in 1943 as the “Si Rat Malai” (สี่รัฐมาลัย, “Four Malay states”) with Alor Setar as its administrative center.

On May 20, 1942, Thailand sent reinforcements to help the Chinese invasion of Burma. The Thais occupied the Shan States by the end of May and proceed to march across the Salween River. Unlike during the invasion of Malaya, the British, however, persevered in their defense on Burma. The Thai Army had suffered heavy losses both on the lives of its soldiers and on military logistics. The exhausting invasion of Burma eventually ended in January 1943, almost a year after its initial battle, which proved disastrous both to the Chinese and the Thais later. In 1943, Thailand annexed the parts of Shan States as the "Saharat Thai Doem" (สหรัฐไทยเดิม, "Unified Former Thai territories").

When Thailand joined the Axis, Pridi Banomyong was kicked upstairs from the cabinet to the post of powerless Regent in 1941. During his regency, Pridi had moderated his anti-royalist tendency and cooperated with the royalists who joined in opposition against Phibun. During this time, Pridi, Khuang Aphaiwong, and Direk Chaiyanam started to organize resistance that made contact with the Allies through Japan in 1943. Together with similar groups in Britain, led by Queen Rambai Barni, widow of Prajadhipok, and the United States, led by brothers Seni and Kukrit Pramoj, these networks were called as the Free Thai movement (ขบวนการเสรีไทย Khabuankarn Seri Thai), simply known as the Seri Thai.

In July 1944, the Seri Thai, helped by the Royal Thai Navy, organized the parliamentary coup against Phibun and forced him out of power. Khuang Aphaiwong was elected new prime minister. Khuang quickly organized the immediate armistice and cessation of hostilities with the Allied forces by September 1944. In October 1944, the Japanese forces landed in Thailand for the first time, thus signaled the start of the Japanese occupation of Thailand.

Japanese occupation of Thailand (1945–47)
During the occupation, Pridi cooperated closely with the Japanese Navy in pushing several of his political and economic programs, known as the Ten-Point Declaration (ประกาศทศศีล prakat thotsin), which included transformation of Thailand from a hereditary monarchy into an elective one, redistribution of the lands owned by the landed nobilities and removal of the traditional privileges of Thai aristocracy. Pridi’s policies were opposed by the right-wing figures of the Seri Thai, such as aristocrat Seri Pramoj and Khuang Aphaiwong.

On May 12, 1945, Pridi forced Khuang to resign due to the latter's opposition to his political programs. Pridi assumed the role of an interim prime minister between May and August 1945, much to the dismay of conservatives since Pridi was then both the head of state and government of Thailand. With the pressure from the conservatives, Pridi resigned as the Regent and was replaced by his Navy ally, Admiral Thawan Thamrongnawasawat.

Pridi personally despised of multiparty democracy similar to Phibun. However, unlike the military dictatorship of Phibun, Pridi favored a rule of educated elites embodied on a vanguard party rule. To consolidate his rule, Pridi and his loyalists, including Tiang Sirikhanth and Khrong Chandawong, formed the Freedom People’s Solidarity (สามัคคีราษฎร์เสรี Samakkhi Ratsadon Seri, SRS) on June 5, 1945. Pridi was elected the SRS's General Chief (หัวหน้าทั่วไป huana thuapai), simply referred to as "the Chief" (ท่านหัวหน้า than huana). Modeled after the Japanese Nationalist Party, the SRS was organized on the national-democratic line. The SRS portrayed itself as a non-political movement and focused its agendas on socio-economic development without a specific ideological goal.

Rangsit Prayurasakdi era (1946–50)
Among several reforms implemented by Pridi, he sought to transform the monarchy into an elective post responsible to the rule of parliament, effectively making it an organ of the state. This theory is called “popular monarchism” (ราชาธิปไตยของราษฎร rachathiptai khong ratsadon), based on Prince Cuong De’s 1943 political writing. In 1946, the National Assembly passed the new Succession Law which removed the power of the monarch to designate the successor to the throne.

The law mandated the monarch to be chosen by the Royal Council for a four-year renewable term and from among the members of House of Chakri. The selection would be approved then by the Assembly. The elected monarch is required to be at least 25 years old, making 21-year-old King Ananda not eligible to serve by the time the law was passed. After several deliberations, the Royal Council selected Prince Rangsit Prayurasakdi, the 52nd child of King Chulalongkorn and the favorite of the Samakkhi, to become the King of Thailand from 1946 to 1950.

Ananda was expected to return to the throne by the next election in 1950. However, the National Assembly also removed the male preference of succession from the law, which meant a female member of Chakri blood-line can be selected monarch if the Royal Council agreed to do so. The change thus made Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda, the only child of King Vajiravudh as well as Ananda’s first cousin, eligible to the throne. To eliminate the potential competition, a marriage between Prince Ananda and Princess Bejaratana was arranged by King Rangsit and the Royal Council in 1947.