National Unity - Thailand Flashcards
What were the challenges to national unity in Thailand?
Political fragmentation
Ethnic minorities
What were the policies which the Thai government used?
Democratic processes
Economic development
Use of the monarchy (National symbol)
Education & language policies
Use of religion
Military suppression
Treatment of ethnic minorities
What were the ethnic Chinese termed as in Thailand and by who?
Chinese were termed as the ‘Jews of the Orient’ by King Vajiravudh
How did Phibun contribute to National Unity?
Economic and ethnic nationalism
Changed name from Siam to Thailand
Military Dictatorship
Economic reconstruction and aid
How did Phibun use economic and ethnic nationalism to contribute to National Unity?
Directed Thai nationalism against the Chinese minority, wrote anti-Chinese articles in newspapers and even echoed Vajiravudh’s criticism of them as the ‘Jews of the Orient’
How did Phibun change the name from Siam to Thailand to contribute to National Unity?
This was an attempt to whip up nationalistic fervour, where the name ‘Thailand’ allowed Phibun to reclaim lost territories of Batambang and Siem Reap, and to symbollically promote national unity amongst the Thai majority and the various Muslim tribes in Thailand’s southern borders
How did Phibun use Military Dictatorship to contribute to National Unity?
Phibun brooked no opposition to his rule, which saw all of Thailand united under his government. Significant opposition only arose with the Seri Thai movement during the Second World War. When he retook power after the war, the military continued to stand as a tool of coercion to cow any possible opposition to his rule.
How did Phibun use economic reconstruction and aid to contribute to National Unity?
Phibun showed pragmatism in allying with the USA after WWII which allowed Thailand to receive American aid for economic reconstruction, thus cementing his grip on power
How did Sarit contribute to National Unity?
Infrastructural projects as symbols of national progress and pride
Emphasis on promoting higher education
How did Sarit use infrastructural projects as symbols of national progress and pride to contribute to National Unity?
With foreign aid, a Master Plan for highway development was completed by 1976. On the whole, Sarit rapidly expanded economic infrastructure and established his regime with physical monuments of modernity. These projects symbolised the country’s rapid economic development. which became a common point of pride for the Thai populace.
How did Sarit use emphasis on promoting higher education to contribute to National Unity?
Sarit envisioned that universities would be built all over Thailand, even in peripheral provinces as part of pathanna. A large proportion of the government budget was allocated to the improvement in education during Sarit’s rule. The wider availability of higher education and the increasing affluence of the Thai population led to greater pressure for a more meritocratic and democratic system.
The whole programme of economic development became a kernel around which the aim of national solidarity was built. Not all Thais would share in this development but everyone had at least equality of opportunity. Thus pathanna was effective in promoting national unity, but also sowed the seeds for the future political instability and the downfall of the strongman model of maximum government in Thailand.
What are examples of the education policies?
1921 Compulsory Primary Education Act
Cultural Assimilation Policy of 1939
1961 programme of ‘educational improvement’
What was the 1921 Compulsory Primary Education Act?
1921 Compulsory Primary Education Act is a law which required all children to study the Thai language for 4-5 yeas -> Caused riots by Southern Muslims to break out in Patani in 1923 when government attempted to implement the law
What was the 1961 programme of ‘educational improvement’?
1961 programme of ‘educational improvement’ was the transformation of pondoks into private schools for Islamic education to align with national educational standards which required teaching Thai.
Government financial aid was the incentive for pondoks to accept, but possible closure was the disincentive
How many pondoks were there and how many were closed and in what year?
Out of 537 pondoks that existed around 1961, 109 were closed by 1971 as they refused to register and comply with the government’s decrees.
