Bangkok –
Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized by another country or nation in the world. How did it happen?
Colonization or colonialism occurs when one country subjugates another country, conquers its population, and exploits that country. Colonialism often imposed its own cultural values and language on the colonized.
By 1914, most countries in the world had experienced European colonization. Except Thailand.
Thailand’s avoidance of colonialism by European countries was linked to King Chulalongkorn’s centralization reforms.
Thailand, once known as the Kingdom of Siam, lay between British-controlled Burma and French-controlled Indochina, now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Key to the never colonized Thailand
The Siamese kings, especially Chulalongkorn, realized that the only way to avoid colonialism was to move closer to Europe.
In the mid-19th century, Siam had a unique and well-established political system known as Mandala, reported by New Historian.
The Mandala system instead focuses on areas of influence where weaker rulers pay homage to more powerful rulers.
The Siamese Kingdom also tried to combine several existing factors to avoid the European powers.
First, Siam’s geographic location between the Malay Peninsula under the British colony and Indochina under the French colony allowed the region to become a neutral zone.
Second, King Chulalongkorn changed his political system to a more European one and marked the beginning of a massive project to modernize Thailand.
An important aspect of this project was the creation of maps, because the Siamese realized that Europeans placed a lot of importance on science, especially topography.
Maps were used by England and France to determine the areas they controlled and when borders were unclear. They took advantage of this condition to claim the territory.
Third, King Chulalongkorn changed the dispersed power into centralized power. The king has de facto power over the entire region, but there are still many regions that do not have de jure political certainty.
King Chulalongkorn for the first time in Siam’s history formed a special army to control local rulers and uncontrolled areas.
King Chulalongkorn disarmed and overthrew local rulers, centralizing power in Bangkok. King Chulalongkorn’s frontal actions were linked to continued Western pressure and the legacy of the policies of his father, King Mongkut, who granted territorial concessions to the West.
The reforms carried out by King Chulalongkorn also included the reorganization of the government into ministries with functional responsibilities and a centralized bureaucracy.
The government also implemented a uniform and centralized administrative system in the outlying provinces, systematized government revenue collection, abolished slavery and labor service requirements, established courts and judicial reforms, introduced a modern school system, and established a railway and telegraph system.
A major reorganization was also imposed on Buddhist monasticism by incorporating all monks from across the country into the sangha as a national religious hierarchy linked at its apex to the king.
King Chulalongkorn’s reforms had a huge impact on Thailand’s history, making it a more modern country that was never colonized by other nations.
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This article was broadcast by CNN Indonesia.
Watch the video “Broken! Appearance of a series of Thai stars at GMMTV Musicon in Jakarta”
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2024-01-02 16:05:15
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