{"id":188,"date":"2024-10-29T21:26:58","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T01:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/?p=188"},"modified":"2024-10-29T21:41:57","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T01:41:57","slug":"land-of-the-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/2024\/10\/29\/land-of-the-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Land of the Free"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thailand is known for being the only Southeast Asian country to not be colonized<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being the only country in Southeast Asia to have never been colonized by the\u00a0Europeans, Thailand is in a special place in that area. During the colonial era, Thailand kept its independence while neighboring countries such as Myanmar (colonized by the British), Vietnam (colonized by the French), and Indonesia (colonized by the Dutch) were subjected to foreign authority. This independence was not a coincidence\u00a0rather,\u00a0it was a result of\u00a0leadership, modernization, and strategic diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geography of Thailand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the 19th century, Thailand\u00a0was in an unstable spot, placed between French-controlled Indochina and British-controlled Burma. England and France both wanted to avoid a war between two European powers\u00a0which would have been the start of colonizing Thailand.\u00a0Eventually\u00a0both nations chose to let Thailand\u00a0operate as a neutral zone\u00a0instead of fighting for control of it. This decision was a one of the major contributors to Thailand’s\u00a0independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Map of Thailand (Siam) in the 1900s https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Thailand\/comments\/tw5tvb\/map_of_siam_1900_ver_2_credit_caphtaain_as_the\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Leaders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The protection of Thailand’s independence was\u00a0aided by King Mongkut and his son, King Chulalongkorn. King Mongkut, who ruled from 1851 to 1868\u00a0noticed the need of diplomacy with Western powers after seeing the growing tide of colonialism spreading across Asia. Mongkut, who became famous for his progressive views\u00a0modernized Thailand in several of ways, such as adopting technological advances and introducing Western-style education. He maintained the government in control while opening the country to European trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rama V, also known as King Chulalongkorn, carried on his father’s policies and developed Thailand’s efforts to modernize. Along with transforming the government and setting up modern infrastructure like schools\u00a0and railroads\u00a0he also banned slavery. These changes led to the rise of a more advancing image of Thailand that drew to the West and showed the country’s ability to rule itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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King Mongkut and Chulalongkorn https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:King_Mongkut_and_Prince_Chulalongkorn.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Lessons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thailand’s independence is a reminder of the value of modernization, strategic adaptation, and diplomatic relations. Thailand showed that their\u00a0independence could be kept even in the face of strong outsiders by taking in\u00a0what was needed of nearby powers without losing control.\u00a0Thailand’s position as an uncolonized country continues to be a source of pride today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thailand is known for being the only Southeast Asian country to not be colonized Being the only country in Southeast Asia to have never been colonized by the\u00a0Europeans, Thailand is in a special place in that area. During the colonial era, Thailand kept its independence while neighboring countries such as Myanmar (colonized by the British), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":570,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/570"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions\/196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/benjamin-wutisen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}