Thailand History: 1500 - 2007. European Colonial Expansion complicates things.
Thailand History: The Thai People Thailand History: Bronze Age - 1511
Beginning in the early 16th century the European competition for colonial Empire left the Thai in conflict with the European Colonialists.
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Below is a short 'synopsis interpretation' of the Thai historical events listed in this Thai Timeline Chart Scattered throughout Thailand are ancient walled cities and huge elaborate ancient temples. One of the ancient temples, Prasat Preah Vihear 1053 AD, is making headlines in 2008 as it is the subject of a border dispute between Thailand & Cambodia. |
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Relatively
unique globally Amazing Thailand
avoided being an European colony. There were also sporadic
continuations of on going disputes ( err, wars ) with Vietnam
& Burma during this period.
Vasco
de Gama rounded the (South African) Cape of Good Hope and sailed
across the Indian Ocean in 1498.
The fate of the
entire non European world became
one of conflict with the Europeans and their dreams of colonial
empire.
Colonial economic and
political policy was designed to milk ( = steal / rob / plunder ) the colony of
it's resources & enrich the
'mother country'. The first Europeans to reach
Thailand were the Portuguese in 1511.
Followed in rapid
succession by the Dutch, the English, the Spanish, and the French traders.
From that first Farang step
forward, things became complicated for the Thai Kings The Spanish made the
Philippines
their
regional capital, the French focused on Indochina, the Dutch
were occupied with Indonesia while the Brits ruled over Malaysia
& 'most' everything west of Thailand all the way to the Mediterranean
Sea.
Thailand was an island of soverngnty
in an area spanning 1/3 of the globe.
& Thailand remains an
island of sanity in that huge geographic region today! The historical record of the last 500 years shows a brilliant
'chess game like strategy' executed by Thai kings.
The Thai kings choose to loose selected 'small battles' but win
the larger societal war.
Thai proverb, "the tree that bends with
the wind is the tree that survives the storm"
The
ever so wise Thai kings of the Ayutthayan period offered small trade
concessions & grants to avoid all out colonial
hostilities.
From 1600 - 1941 the Thai
Kings were engaged in constantly increasing & shifting demands from
the European builders of world colonial empires.
1st
it was the Dutch whose demands became unreasonable (more & more generous trade
agreements) & King Narai finally resisted the increasing Dutch colonial demands for domination of the Thai trade options.
Even
though the Dutch had a generous trade agreement they wanted
to dominate & control Thai imports / exports.
Apparently deer & cow hides were hot items
The
Dutch had been allowed to set up a processing plant in
Thailand but that was not enough.
The Thai
King was resistant to paying homage to the Dutch King.
Thankfully, King Narai stood up to the colonialist.
The Dutch
then took 'war like action' capturing a Thai merchant vessel in
the Gulf of Thailand & blockading the mouth of the Chao Praya
River.
When
King Narai resisted the 'standard European colonial style
armed robbery' the Dutch upped the threat.In
1688 King Narai developed
a desperate relationship with the French (Thankfully short lived!), the French helped control the Dutch aggression.
The
'quick' 7
month dangerous sea voyage around Africa to communicate with
the French meant that events happened in slow motion
compared to today's millisecond communication.
Rounding
the cape of Good Hope, where the Atlantic Ocean & Indian Ocean
currents collide presents some of the most violent 'ocean
swell action' on this planet. Modern hull 1000'+ oil tankers
bounce like corks, cannot imagine what a 100' rounded wooden
hulled top heavy sailing
vessel was like.
OK, I'll stop complaining about the 14 hours in tourist (cattle
car?) class.
The purpose of Ambassador Kosapan's
mission to Versailles was to offer a trading post to Louis
XIV in Singor (now Songkhla) in southern Siam, where the
Compagnie des Indes Orientales and a handful of troops would
establish themselves and provide a counterweight to the
all-powerful Dutch.
King
Louie XIV dispatched 1400 troops to Ayutthaya.
The
ever so gracious Dutch politely agreed to return to the originally negotiated agreement.
Thank
goodness the French had their eye on the colonial-ization of
Thailand.
Score: Thailand 1
Colonialist 0
The
Thai then severed relations with the French to avoid becoming
the last piece for a 100% French Indochina.
Score: Thailand 2 Colonialist
0
King
Louie's attempt to Christianize King Narai was perceived as
subversive by the Thai people.
The
Thai people revolted against the 'French dependant' Thai
government's position.
The 21st century Thai name for
western foreigners is Farang, an abbreviation of the original Farangse -
the Thai word for the French (François in French). The term Farang had a
negative connotation until after World War II.
King
Narai was a displaced ruler when he died 2 months after the
'revolt'.
1688, Sep 30 - All French troops leave Siam after
negotiations with the new Siamese king, Phra Petraja. Phra Petraja takes European missionaries as hostages,
pending the safe return of a Siamese embassy still in
Europe.
1689, Dec - The Siamese embassy to Europe returns & the
honorable King Phra Petraja releases all his European
hostages and restores religious freedom but implements a
policy of eliminating foreign political influence in the
kingdom.
1698, Oct - A French envoy is sent to Ayutthaya with the
offer of a new treaty, but the offer is declined by King
Phra Petraja. France gives up her political interest in
Ayutthaya.
King Phra Petraja
closed Thailand's doors to the west for over 100 years.
Score:
Thailand 3 Colonialist 0
Between
1824 & 1884 there were 3 Anglo-Burmese wars.
Significant
that none of these wars occurred in 'Anglo land'.
This
is one reason I am offended by the current usage of
'Anglo' in 21st century America. The
silly Burmese resisted brutal British colonial domination. The ever
so wise Thai King immediately granted the British Empire land
concessions on the Malay Peninsula & the land hungry colonialists
were gratified. A few
million rai
sacrificed for good of the realm.
Thailand could easily have been devastated by brutal British
colonialism
.. but the wisdom & foresight of the King kept the realm intact!
Again the
wisdom of the Thai King kept the realm mostly intact!
By
granting land to the colonialist the Thai King avoided war.
In
American baseball it's called a 'sacrifice bunt'... run
scores.
Score:
Thailand 4 Colonialist 0
Thailand
had actually declared war on the British Tea Company, British
National Opium Distribution, 100 years
earlier.
The British
Government's
"Tea Company" was the first international drug cartel.
Spreading opium from one milked colony to their other 'valued
colonial possessions'. The
first international drug lord was the British King. Seems I've read that opium poppies are 'milked' of the opium
..
& The British Empire was certainly for any colonial milking it
could achieve. Keeping the British
Empire at bay was like controlling 21st century hooligans at the World Cup! Much like
modern day fast food, the immediate gratification of the ' The "super
sized colonial edict land order" was transmitted through an extremely
functional British cannon barrel.
Unfortunately,
more traditional Burma only offered 'sit down land' &
please no "After Thai Land ..colonialist will be land
hungry again in hour.." jokes! But...
actually
the Brits did slowly, seemingly insatiable kingdom that it was, consume more & more Burmese
territory.
Bit by bit from 1823 til 1886, when the Brits
occupied the entire country and there was no more Burma. The
Brits gave up on the Burmese colony in 1935.
112
years ..3 wars fought... then Milk & Run diplomacy ..
&
historically significant Burma / Myanmar remains a society
destroyed by colonialism, a country controlled by a cut throat
junta
until today. 2005: US
Secretary of State Condi Rice includes Myanmar in the US Axis
(now the Quadal of evil?) of
Evil. As a
direct result of British colonial policy Burma / Myanmar remains a
ruined country until today.
Colonial
demands continued into the 20th century!
In the 1893 Paknam Incident, French and
Siamese ( Thai ) gunboats engaged in a gun battle that set the stage for the
Franco-Siamese Treaty Convention of October 1893.
Under a 'colonial kangaroo
court' French Colonial Cambodia forced the Thai to abandon part
of it's soverngnty: Battambong, Siam Reap ( Angkor Wat ),
Champasak and Lanchang
Score:
Thailand 4 Colonialist 1
Above: Siem Rep just above
& to the right of "Tonle Sap Lake"
.. on the edge of the green color &
well inside Thailand!
LIFE Magazine, July 1939.
Only the canny rule of King Chulalongkorn
in the late 19th Century saved Siam from being swallowed by
Britain and France like the rest of the peninsula.
In May
1941 an international court returned to Thailand
the same territories taken in the 1893 French land grab.
A
series of incidents between French colonial forces in
Indochina and Thailand escalated into open war in late
November, 1940 During the Franco-Thai war, 1940-1941, Japan supported
Thailand .. supplying bomber aircraft. The
war ended on January 28, 1941, after Japanese diplomatic
intervention. France was forced to cede a considerable amount of
previously taken territory back to Thailand.
The Thai only wanted back what
the French Colonialist had taken in 1891.
Or, Thailand kicked France's
butt & took the stolen property back.
Before Vietnam in the 50s booted
the Colonial French, the Thai had done it 20 years before! This last colonial land / territory
/ border dispute with
French Colonial Cambodia was settled in Thailand's favor by
the 1941 Tokyo Accord.
An international
court ruled the 1893 land grab by French Colonial
Cambodia to be illegal & invalid. Score: Thailand 5 Colonialist
0 .. previous Colonialist point ruled
invalid & disallowed.
International boundaries were
arbitrarily reassigned by the French colonialist as
they abandoned their dream of world empire &
abruptly abandoned their dependant colonies after World
War II..
The French
Colonialist needed to make an arrogant declaration
of score: A quick border
relocation as they "turned out the lights". The location of
the Thai
Cambodian border remains an area of 'negotiation'
between Cambodia & Thailand until today.
A recent, 2003,
incident in Phnom Penh: Cambodians demonstrated in front
of / stoned the Thai
Embassy after a Thai movie star stated Siem Reap ( Angkor Wat ) should be in Thailand. Thailand's
fans of soverngnty are insisting on a review of this questionable
and typically arrogant colonialist edict. Score:
Thailand 5 Colonialist 1
The era of European colonialism ended with WW II.
Interesting, :-o, that the Japanese (
Tokyo Accord ) were assisting the Thais resist European Colonialism 6
months before Pearl Harbor.
Bangkok newspaper Thai Mai, 1939: " What can small nations
situated in the battle zone do? If Siam takes the side of Japan and the
predicted troubles in the British and French colonial empires do not
come off, then Siam would be in an unpleasant position."
Thailand is so placed on the map as to be a natural steppingstone for Japan in a
drive against the great British base of Singapore at the end of the Malay
peninsula.
Thailand desired to be completely neutral. Thailand was caught in-between
global military powers.
On the 8th of December 1941 the Japanese Imperial
Army
invaded Thailand.
The Thai forces resisted as best they could, but were
overwhelmed by the numerically superior Japanese forces. Thailand
was controlled by the Japanese during WW II but is
historically considered to be part of the Allied
efforts.
The first Japanese forces entered Thailand on December
8.
Due to the international date line Thailand was on the
8th & Pearl Harbor was on the 7th .. Actually Thailand
was invaded a few hours before Pearl Harbor was
attacked.
The Japanese invasion force landed at four different
places along the Thai coastal provinces, including Samut
Prakarn south of Bangkok.
Japanese
controlled Thailand was bombed by the Allies during WW
II.
Bangkok
was a regular target of allied bombs.
WW II era 'dumb bombs' were very accurate, they
hit the ground 100% of the time.
Most
major cities ( civilian population centers, there
were few military targets ) in Thailand were bombed during the war.
The
Japanese brutality in Asia is infamous.
Japanese
atrocities in Thailand building the Siam Burma Railroad
were among the worst of WW II.
Post
WW II military courts, 1946-47, in Japan returned several
'SE Asian' war crime convictions.
12,000
Allied troops died on the Siam Burma
railroad.
50%
of
Thai citizens that were Japanese prisoners of
war died. Less than 10% of German military
POWs
died in captivity!
The
infamous "Bridge on the River Kwai" ( Japanese
war atrocity movie fame
) is a popular tourist day
trip from Bangkok.
2005: A sunken Japanese World War
II-era train train complete with steam engine
& caboose has recently been located next to a current
Thai bridge, Chulalongkorn Bridge over the Mae Klong
River
in Ratchaburi.
Local Thai were used as slave
labor by the Japanese to build a bridge, part of the
Japanese Siam Burma Railroad network.
Local lore has it that the Thai
workers made the bridge weak intentionally.
The intentionally weak bridge collapsed with the
fully loaded train.
Japanese soldiers 'tested' the
load-bearing capacity of the Mae Klong Railway Bridge by having a
fully crewed & loaded train run over it.
Excavation depends on the current
bridge structural integrity.
The Mae Klong is 10m / 30' deep at
this point.
If you are into WW II Siam
Burma Railway history, Ratchaburi is a short drive
down highway 3274 from the River Kwai site, on the
way back to Bangkok.
The Karen tribe of the Thai
Golden Triangle & Burma fought the Japanese with
extreme vigilance.
The Karen fought a war that
greatly benefited colonial British interests in SE
Asia.
The
Karen guerilla action was the most successful Allied
guerrilla action against the Japanese in WW II.
The British
promised the Karen an independent country for their
cooperation with the allied war plan.
The
more assets Japan dedicated to SE Asia the fewer
resources it had for the rest of the Pacific
region.
Many Karen
villages were destroyed by the Japanese.
The
Karen tribe is famous for the 'long neck women'.
Then
the British Post WW II Labor Party reneged on
the promises made by the wartime allegiance.
It is said that Winston Churchill was
upset when the Post WW II British Labor
Party choose to forgot their good friends &
warrior allies .. The Karen were sold out
after WWII. In
1949 the brave warrior Karen began a civil war against the
post WW II Burmese government with large quantities of stashed
WW II weaponry.
The Brits
supplied weapons to the Burmese government to
fight their former warrior allies.
The
communist military government of the Socialist
Republic of Myanmar, Burma, is one of the most
ruthless governments in the world today.
The Mon and Karen have
fought a 60 year guerrilla war against the
brutal Burmese / Myanmar government.
2006: The Mon & Karen struggle with
the brutal Burmese Junta continues until today. Current escalation of Karen guerrilla activity is due to
a 36" oil pipeline that transverses their
traditional ethnic homeland.
The Myanmar Junta is building natural gas pipeline from
Myanmar to Thailand. Problem is it
passes through Karen ethnic territory.
The Junta has been hired by the 'oil project
participants' to 'protect' the pipeline.
"As the Unocal official's denial of
company responsibility for the forced
road-clearing attests, it is impossible to
operate in a completely abuse-free
environment when you have the Burmese
government as a partner.." the embassy report concluded.
The
Karen's primary problems are with the
ruthless Myanmar government not the Thai, but the Karen's traditional homeland spans the
Myanmar / Thai border.
The
pipeline will provide the Junta $400m
per year.
The Thai government
is also a participant. The
36" pipeline project is owned by a
French company Total, a California company
Unocal, along with the Thai & Myanmar governments.
2002: There
are allegations of slave labor as well as
forced relocations of entire Karen villages. International
relief organizations have set up
large refugee camps to feed &
house the Mon & Karen displaced by the
project.
March 22, 2005. US oil giant Unocal has
agreed to compensate Burmese ( Karen & Mon )
villagers over abuses committed during the
construction of a gas pipeline.
www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4371995.stm
Court documents
demonstrate Unocal Management did not stop
Burmese troops guarding the project from
abusing the indigenous people.
To avoid the entire &
detailed truth coming out regarding Unocal's
US management's complicity in allowing the
mass murder / rape during sworn testimony Unocal agreed to a huge out of
court settlement.
2004: Rumor had
it, Unocal would be controlled by Chinese
investment / management .. & to design /
build a pipeline from Russia to China to
circumvent US control of the sea lanes used
by oil tankers. Chevron Texaco the world's fifth-largest oil
company, beat out rival bidders such as Italian oil
group Eni and snatched the prize at the last minute
from state-run China offshore producer CNOOC Ltd.
2005: The sale of UnoCal has
turned into a major international news
story.
US President George Bush in July, 2003 signed into
law the "Burmese Freedom and
Democracy Act", saying "The
United States will not waver
from its commitment to the cause
of democracy and human rights in
Burma".
Bush's "Burmese Freedom
& Democracy Act"
actually consists of a series of
economic sanctions against one
of the poorest societies on this
planet.
To foster better relations and
to demonstrate a spirit of
cooperation, in
2003, the US imposed economic
sanctions on the people of
Burma!
US
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Daley said the sanctions - imposed in late July,
2003 - had immediately disrupted all of Burma's industry.
According to Mr.
Daley, "more than 40,000 people
in the garment industry alone have been thrown out of work, many of them ending up in the sex
industry". see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3161498.stm
80,000
Burmese lost their jobs in less than
2 months due to the US sanctions.
The
US government has acknowledged that the US
economic / trade sanctions have deprived thousands of Burmese workers of a regular source of income.
Problem
for the individual citizens is
that they still get hungry when their source of income
is taken away by political
decisions far removed from them.
The
decision made by the US
government is to literally
starve a people because of civil
rights abuses rendered upon
those same people. ??
J
Thanks, Condi!
April,
2005: SYDNEY
(Reuters) - A London-based
Christian human rights group
says it has collected strong
evidence of a chemical attack on
Karen rebels by Myanmar's
military government.
September,
2006: Of every 1,000
children born in eastern Karen,
Kayah or Mon states ( on the
Thai border) 221 will be dead
before their fifth birthday.
The report
compiled by mobile medical teams
of the Thailand-based Back Pack
Health Worker Team, document the
terrible state of affairs in
Myanmar, considered the "rice
basket of Asia" when it won
independence from Britain in
1948.
Thankfully
the relief organizations have
filled the basic needs of
survival for an entire ethnic
group.
Spring, 2005. HUGE refugee
camps for displaced Mon & Karen.
.
anuary,
2005. Condi Rice , US
Secretary of State, includes
Myanmar on the US's 'bad boy
list'.
Buy a relief worker lunch! Tough duty they pull.
Many of the Karen & other hill tribe peoples in the Golden triangle have limited citizenship rights in Thailand.
King Rama VI granted Thai citizenship to all tribes who lived in the kingdom before April 10, 1913.
Many tribal persons missed out on state registration & are thus ultimately undocumented tribal persons today.
Mai Hong Song is a long '2 day touring' roundtrip drive from Chiang Mai.
Beautiful drive ..
Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive.
~ Robert M. Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance& the guided hiking treks offer a unique insight into traditional SE Asia tribal life.
You can actually stay in a Yao or Karen village & sleep in hooch for several days
Air service from Bangkok & Chiang Mai.
WWII, 1941, was the beginning of the end for
the era of European colonial domination of SE Asia.
Unique
in an area spanning 1/3 of the globe, since the 13th century Thailand has
always remained free.
Thank
goodness Thailand's Kings have
kept the realm intact.
The
Thai society that has resulted is quite unique.
Thailand's
avoidance of Colonial Hegemony ( political, economic, societal &
religious revision to meet the standards of the colonialist )
has resulted in a stable society that has maintained much of
it's cultural richness.
Democratic Thailand is the
only country in the global region from Indonesia to Palestine to avoid
the political, economic & cultural revision of Colonialism.
Shortly after
WW II the colonialist started abandoning their colonial empires
in Asia & Africa. All of the
world's regions of 21st century terrorism were 20th century
colonies. Borders
were arbitrarily assigned all over Asia & Africa by
exiting colonial
bureaucrats
drawing lines on global maps.
Without
regard for natural geographic or ethnic borders.
"Duh?" North Africa, Palestine ( from Egypt to
Turkey ), Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Burma,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia ... all colonies in
the 20th century ... some as late as 1975...
The Brit goal was to control all of the
coast line of the Indian Ocean, from eastern Africa to
southern Asia. The French imperial
assignment of the Thai - Cambodia border is just another
example of Colonialist mistakes resulting in years of
disputes. The British
Empire (
Burma ) & France ( Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia ) left an incredible
geopolitical mess in SE Asia as their
colonialist dreams of world wide empire crumbled.
Post WW
II synthetic rubber from petroleum reduced the need for
natural rubber & thus the rubber plantations of SE Asia.
Technology
rendered the SE Asian colonies asset no longer worth milking.
Thailand was a major ally
to the Americans during the Vietnam conflict.
In the post WW II era, Viet
Cong leader Ho Chi Minh found refuge in the village of Ban Na Chok. Nakhon Phanom,
the closest point to Vietnam located in Thailand .. Laos is very
narrow at that point. Far Eastern Issan. Ho prepared
his strategy for the successful Vietnamese's French / American War
against
colonial rule. America used air fields in the safety of eastern Thailand to launch B-52
attacks over Laos & Vietnam 1970 declassified memo from US
President Richard Nixon reveal an official presidential policy of
lying to the American public and congressional leaders. Literally MILLIONS of persons
died in Southeast Asia due to Nixon's lies! The acknowledged attacks on the
jungle trails of Laos & the secret attacks on Cambodia were both
against international law, neither sovereign country was a
participant in the war. 1/3 the
civilian population of Laos was killed by the indiscriminate carpet
bombing. These illegal attacks on the
citizens of sovereign nations who were not part of any war was the
beginning of the end for US political support for the Vietnam War. More bombs were dropped on
Laos than on Germany in WWII. "Unofficially Cambodia", the "Kent State Massacre" demonstration
was about 'secret bombing' & the clandestine invasion
of Cambodia
from Thai bases.
Kent State Massacre Report directly from the Kent State University web site: "In
May 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, US Army National
Guardsmen confronted student antiwar protestors with a tear gas
barrage. Soon afterward, with no provocation, soldiers opened
fire into a group of fleeing students. Four young people were
killed, shot in the back, including two women who had been
walking to class."
+ 9 University students wounded.
Remember the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young anthem from the
early 70s, "4 dead in O Hi O"?
Cambodia had severed relations with the US
in 1963 and by 1965 Cambodia's infamous King Sihanouk was
accepting military assistance from China & France
The immediate reason for the severing of relations with the US
was a 1963 Newsweek article contending that the Queen of
Cambodia owned brothels.( turned out to be not true ).
King Sihanouk secretly
granted the North Vietnamese access to the deep-water port of
Sihanoukville (later Kampong Saom) in 1966.
Sihanoukville became a main port of entry for North Vietnamese
military supplies from China and the U.S.S.R.
Sihanoukville / Kampong Saom has become a western adventure
tourist hot spot .. for those extreme adventure traveler types..
travel involves "avoid the local roads" cross the ocean
on a "local style
ferry" between a coastal Thai disembarkation point &
an intermediate Cambodian island .. involves changing ferries on
the remote Cambodian Island.The ferry schedule is by day of the
week & not by the hour of any day .. you said you wanted
adventure .. right?
Sihanouk left for France in January
1970 for medical treatment. The Cambodian National Assembly lost
no time voting no-confidence in Sihanouk and FARK Military commander Lon
Nol then staged a bloodless coup.
This CIA supported coup government was the immediate predecessor to the Khmer
Rouge. (Cambodian Red)
Cambodia & Laos were non combatants & the US bombing / invasion was illegal by international law.
Some of these were the Cambodian missions that US Presidential Candidate John Kerry spent so much time detailing.
Remember the anti-Kerry 'Swift Boaters' pointing out that Kerry's reported river boat missions into Cambodia were in violation of International Law.
... Kerry was commanding one of the Navy River Boats taking CIA types into Cambodia, very similar to the story line in the Vietnam War movie Apocalypse Now.
Huge Vietnam War USAF B-52 bases near Udon ( 1970 common usage British spelling was often Udorn ) & Korat
Millions of pounds of US bombs and currently illegal by international law WMDs Napalm & Agent Orange were randomly dispersed around remote Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam.
10,000,000 gallons of the highly toxic & currently illegal WMD Agent Orange were sprayed on SE Asian jungle / crops/ villages / water supplies .. the people.
U.S. aircraft sprayed the chemical Agent Orange in SE Asia between 1962 - 1971 in attempts to destroy crops (food for both combatants & the civilian population) and to remove foliage used as cover by freedom fighting anti-colonialist forces.
Over 10,000 U.S. war veterans receive medical disability benefits related to the WMD Agent Orange.
2006: A South Korean court ordered Dow Chemical and Monsanto, two makers of Agent Orange, to pay more than $60m in compensation to thousands of South Korean Vietnam war veterans and their families.
2004: Lawyers sued on behalf of some 4 million Vietnamese.
The defoliant has caused birth defects, miscarriages and cancer.
New York (AP) 2005. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit claiming that American chemical companies committed war crimes against Vietnamese citizens by making Agent Orange, which is laden with the highly toxic chemical dioxin & thus is a chemical agent, in 21st century vernacular = WMD, barred by international rules of war.
The dioxin entered the food chain and caused a proliferation of birth defects.
Lawyers for Monsanto, Dow Chemical and more than a dozen other companies argued that international law generally exempted corporations, as opposed to individuals, from criminal and civil liability for alleged war crimes.
There are eight times as many hernias in such children, and three times as many born with mental disabilities.
In 2001, scientists found that people living in an Agent Orange "hotspot" at Binh-Hoa near Ho Chi Minh City have 200 times the background amount of dioxin in their bloodstreams.
A Japanese study, comparing areas sprayed with those that were not, found children were three times more likely to be born with cleft palates, or extra fingers and toes.
Thai newspaper reports, 1997 - 2004, of huge unreported spills of the Vietnam war's favored toxic herbicide ( in the 21st century a WMD) Agent Orange around the US air bases in East Thailand during the 60s & 70s.
Some of the truly innocent victims of the war & Agent Orange are denied help.
Millions of babies have been born without eyes or arms, or were missing internal organs.
Who is responsible for massively high instances of genetic defects in areas that were sprayed?
The infamous Vietnam era "US Army R&R Hotel" (for you nostalgic Vietnam vets) is now the 'mid level' Ambassador Hotel on Sukhumvit.
Vietnam R&R = military 'Rest & Relaxation' = 6 months in the Vietnam war w/ 1 week in Bangkok to 'party'.
Nostalgic baby Boomer? The 'old' BOQ / BEQs ( Bachelor Officer Quarters / Bachelor Enlisted Quarters ) are now the Windsor Hotel on 'Suk' Soi 20 and the Rajah Hotel on 'Suk' Soi 4.
10s of 1000s of (crazed warriors?) young men isolated from all that is human for 6 months, turned loose on Thailand.
It happened pretty much overnight ...from 0 R&R soldiers to 1000s per week in a only a couple years ..can you imagine watching this influx into your neighborhood?
Thankfully the 'R&R damage' is fairly localized.
Legendary USAF B-52 pilot 'Cowboy' Edwards, a leading R&R innovator & pioneer, has a busy Bangkok Soi known by his name until today.
'Cowboy' was a 6' 3" ( 2 m ) lean man with the skin the hue of Hershey's Milk Chocolate
.. The Cowboy was known to dress in all white on Sundays.
White Stetson, white western custom cut suit & white cowboy boots.
Lore of The Cowboy is often repeated .. some of his cohorts continue to be spotted around Bangkok 'til this day.
Bernard Trink of the Bangkok Post claims to have coined the Soi's moniker...
"..enough said" ...
"The Night Owl" was been THE Bangkok entertainment authority for 30 years.
& the Night Owl still "don't give a hoot"...
When Bernard Trink first started writing for the Bangkok Post, the best way up Sathorn was by row-boat.
..his weekly ramblings & bad jokes were a delight .. if you care for an often outrageous perspective 110% biased, punctuated with stupid Burma Shave slogans & ... THE world class collection of bad jokes, seemingly in an endless supply on any and all topics..
The funniest, IMHO, of Trink's self promotions were his caricatures on decals strategically placed in urinals all around Bangkok.
Trink denies he was the perp ... a lot of guys stared at that "Alfred Hitchcock like profile" caricature drawing + his byline.
From the 2000 Bangkok Post, "...uniqueness of his prose style. Linguists have described it as a distinct dialect, and named it Trinklish, with individual bon mots classified as Trinkisms (although I prefer to call them Trinkets)."
Mr. Trink was dismissed by the Bangkok Post in the spring of 2004
Trink's unexpected dismissal was noted by Time Asia, NY Times, CNN Asia ..
2007: Trink's PAY site is no longer on line :-(
P
re the Vietnam War huge influx of Soldier R&R the Bangkok Red Light Districts were limited to a small area of shacks near today's China Town, in several high end Japanese Hotels plus many ladies paddling boats near Chaloemlok Bridge.The US Navy uses Thailand for regular R&R until this day.
Cobra Gold is the name by which the annual 'Battle Group Party' is known to the US Navy.
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Pattaya's Beach Road is solid taxi lights 'til dawn when the fleets in! The HUGE economic boom the town gets is actually worth a little inconvenience. Every restaurant, disco, hotel, boat ride .. tuk tuk .. it was happening! Lots of smiling vendors. |
Young 'men in arms' having a celebration of what they are. each sailor individually celebrating what their fleet represents as a powerful warrior group & what they individually are in that well defined military group structure.
 The above is a World War II cartoon .. some things do not change |
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music video on myspace.. : Jeff & Soi Dog do traditional Blues .. Blues sung in Thai (way Cool!)
Many US Vietnam era warriors returned to Thailand after the war & made The Land of Smiles their home.
Jack Shirley was in charge of CIA covert operations in Laos during the 'Vietnam War Years".
Mr. Shirley recently, 2003, passed away in his beloved adopted home town of Pattaya, Chon Buri.
From the The Washington Times " Top CIA Agent in the CIA's "Secret SE Asian War Dies".
Lucy's Tiger Den Party 1984, Lucy's Tiger Den, Patpong, is
where the CIA covert-op types hung out & this 1984 reunion resulted in
'war stories' being told.
Some terrible atrocities are described in the 1st hand stories told by aging CIA covert ops.
These are some of the same guys the Vietnam war movie "Apocalypse Now" was based on.
& Kerry's controversial river boat events involved this group of guys.
How many movies have been made based on what these guys actually did?
Several dead links on the "Lucy's Tiger Den" site & several pages unrelated to this topic, but the relevant pages that open are worth the wasted clicks.
Jack participated in CIA operations within Laos from 1961 to 1969.
The CIA began secret ops in Laos from Thailand in 1954, 10 years before the announced war.
Feb. 15, 2005. 51 years after the fall of Dien Bien Phu, French Colonial Vietnam, the seven surviving American pilots who braved those perilous skies - but later were essentially disowned by the CIA - will be awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, or Legion of Honor, France's highest award for service.
The CIA argues that the men technically were not government employees since they worked for a CIA front company. The CIA has not specifically honored the 37 pilots who flew the 1953 - 1954 Dien Bien Phu missions, although in June 2001 the spy agency issued a Unit Citation Award in recognition of all who served with Civil Air Transport and its secret successor, Air America, which ended operations in 1976.
In the early 70s there was a movement amongst the Thai intellectuals to press the government for increased democracy.
In December 1972, military dictator Thanom announced a new interim constitution that provided for a totally appointed legislative assembly, two- thirds of the members of which would be drawn from the military and police.
By October, 1973 11 University intellectual leaders had been jailed for distributing antigovernment literature.
On October 13, 1973 more than 250,000 people rallied in Bangkok before the Democracy Memorial, in the largest demonstration of its kind in Thai history, to press their grievances against the government.
These demonstrations changed Thailand forever.
1973: Thammasat University was the center of the movement for a more open democracy.
Thai University students in 1973 were careful to tone down their actions against the military dictatorship by an appeal to religion and the monarchy,
The demonstrators were displaying the symbols of the Thai people .. Buddha, pictures of the king, and the national flag.
I am constantly amazed at the reverence the Thai people show to the King .. & Buddha.
The 2000 Thai movie "
Scenes depicting student leaders arguing over demonstrations conflicting with exam schedules.
One of the student leaders currently teaches at Thammasat & was a film consultant.
If you know anything about Thailand's competitive Universities, the banter amongst the movie's University students is hilarious.
Chula vs. Thammasat exchange, with the classic stereo-typical Chula vs. Thammasat characteristic / differences accented.
LOL!
On October 14, 1973 the Army of military dictator Thanom opened fire on & killed 75 college students.
The evening of October 14 King Bhumibol ( Rama IX ) intervened & on October 15 Thanon was exiled from the country.
& in October, 1974 Thailand had democratic elections!
The new constitution of October 1974 called for a popularly elected House of Representatives.
In 1976, Thammasat University once again became the battlefield. Students demonstrated to protest the return of Thanom as a monk and Thanin Kraivichien, a new right-wing government official was declared as a premier.
This incident made Thai students and numerous idealists joined the insurgents in the forest.
Finally Thanin was forced to resign by another coup in 1977.
2 of the leaders of the student movement are now Thai national heroes, after spending several years in hiding with communists rebels in Laos.
A current Thammasat University professor of poetry & 1973 student leader, Prof. Teerayuth Boonmee, actually lived with communist rebels in the mountain jungles of northern Thailand & western Laos.
2006: Thammasat University remains Thailand's center of intellectual discussion.
Thailand is part of the Geo-Economic Zone commonly referred to as 'The Pacific Rim'.
Thailand is at the far western border of The Pacific Rim Geo-Economic Zone. West of Thailand is the Indian Ocean.
In 1975 under the Bangkok Agreement 7 nations: Thailand, Bangladesh, China, India, S. Korea, Laos and Sri Lanka agreed to an economic pact that provided reduced tariffs on selected goods & services between member nations..
Signed signed in 1975 as an initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific.
The Bangkok Agreement has now evolved into APEC, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Asian version of NAFTA & CAFTA. Reduced tariffs on selected goods between member nations.
In 2005 APEC's 21 member economies account for 57 percent of world gross domestic product, 45.8 percent of world trade volume and 44.8 percent of the world's population.
APEC is larger than NAFTA, CAFTA & the EU combined!
Thailand has had a positive trade balance with the US for over 20 consecutive years.
Thailand has had a positive balance of trade with China for over 10 years.
2005: Trade between Thailand and China is expected to triple from the current US$15 billion (euro12.2 billion) annually in the next four years, 2009, to as much as 50 billion US$.
Thailand is the 4th biggest trading partner to China among Eastern Allianc
Thailand is amongst the top 20 US trading partners each year.
The EU is Thailand’s fourth largest trading partner following Asean, Japan and the United States.
In 2005 Thailand will be the 7th largest exporter of Automobiles in the world.
March 14, 2005: The Afghan army received the first 83 of 5,160 Ford Ranger 4x4 light trucks manufactured at the Mazda factory in Thailand.
2006: Thailand is one of five countries in the Pacific region with which the U.S. has a security alliance. The other four countries are Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia a