The Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred on December 8, 1941. It was fought between Thailand and the Empire of Japan. Despite fierce fighting in Southern Thailand, Thai resistance lasted only a few hours before ending in a ceasefire.
To invade Malaya and Burma the Japanese needed to make use of Thai ports, railways, and airfields. The Thai people, however, were fiercely proud of never having been colonised and were determined to maintain their ...
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The Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred on December 8, 1941. It was fought between Thailand and the Empire of Japan. Despite fierce fighting in Southern Thailand, Thai resistance lasted only a few hours before ending in a ceasefire.
To invade Malaya and Burma the Japanese needed to make use of Thai ports, railways, and airfields. The Thai people, however, were fiercely proud of never having been colonised and were determined to maintain their independence, having just beaten Vichy France in the French-Thai War. The Thai army was far from negligible and their soldiers were at combat readiness. If heavy Japanese casualties were to be avoided it was vital that early landings across the beaches in southern Thailand should be unopposed.
To facilitate this the Japanese opened secret negotiations with the Thai government. At the time it looked as though the Axis powers were winning the war in Europe, and in October 1940, Thai dictator Plaek Pibulsonggram, gave a secret verbal promise to...
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