2016/01/09 by Maurizio Peleggi · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies #Cambodian History and Society #Colonialism #Decolonization #Independence (probability theory) #Kingdom #Ancient history #Emancipation #State (computer science) #Communism #History #Economic history #Geography #Political science #Political economy #Ethnology #Politics #Sociology #Law #Archaeology
paper · doi:10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe195
openalex publication_date 2016/01/09 · openalex created_date 2022/05/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
Abstract From the foundation of the Sukhothai kingdom in c.1250 that marked emancipation from Khmer domination to the avoidance of colonial conquest in the 19th century and communist contagion in the 20th, Thailand's master historical narrative asserts eight centuries of unbroken independence. In fact, though never formally colonized, Thailand (Siam until 1939) was exposed to external influences and interferences as much as the rest of Southeast Asia. Since the 14th century the Central Thai kingdoms participated in a network of trade and diplomatic relations with world empires. Thai rulers, in turn, subjected to their authority local tributary polities, and later on competed with Britain and France in incorporating such polities within the newly demarcated national territory. Thai state formation thus bore considerable analogies to colonial states', even as Siam was forced into a relation of economic and diplomatic dependence. But having escaped direct colonization, Thailand did not share the region's experience of anti‐colonialism and decolonization, and during the Cold War entertained a neo‐colonial relationship with the United States.