Thailand’s Non-aggression Pacts with Britain, France and Japan(02)

Thailand’s Non-aggression Pacts with Britain, France and Japan(2)

In August 1939, a month before the outbreak of war in Europe, Paul Lepissier, the French Minister in Bangkok, approached Prime Minister Phibunsonggram, in his capacity as Foreign Minister, with a request that Thailand signed a non-aggression pact with France, in which two main themes—not-invasion and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means—would be stressed.

A non-aggression pact with France was irrelevant to the irredentism and Pan-Thai feeling shared among younger officers in the Navy and the Army. No sooner had the French Minister approached Phubunsonggram than those younger officers expressed their opposition to any policy of appeasement to the French.

“Yudhagos”, a Thai military magazine, published an article “ Wake Up, Thais”, referring to the 19 million T’ai living in British, French and Chinese territories and called upon them to join the other 14 million T’ai who inhabited Thailand.

The articles dealt in provocative fashion with the various cessions of territory during the previous 100 years. Phibunsonggram was fully aware of this internal factor; more than once before August 1939 he had rejected such a pact.

Phibunsonggram, however, also took into account the prevailing situation abroad. In 1939 he considered that French Indo-China was militarily stronger than two years previously when he had committed himself to an anti-French policy.

Reinforcement of arms and troops was still taking place in the colony in order to meet any threat from Japanese in the North and the Thais in the West.

The Anglo-French Military Conference in Singapore in July 1939 caused Phibunsongggram greater anxiety, for it meant not only that the French would co-operate with the British in dealings with the Japanese, but also that they could work militarily with British in dealings with the Thais.

Phibunsonggram’s fear of the French was expressed to the British to the effect that he was worried by French military preparations in Indo-China. Indeed he could see no better way of stopping rumors of a French invasion than by the conclusion of a non-aggression pact.

Phibunsonggram, therefore, accepted the French proposal for the pact, but on condition that France should adjust boundaries along the Mekong River on the basis on the thalweg principle, with the effect that Thailand would regain some islets in the river.

If France agreed, the Thais would adopt a procedure for negotiations with France in line with those employed when they negotiated the previous Franco-Thai Convention of 1925.

In other words, any islets near to the Thai shore should belong to Thailand for administrative convenience and the Thais should recognize all islands as belongings to French Indo-China.