Thailand is indeed a relatively special country in modern times, the colonial era began, the Western powers followed, Thailand is also full of dangers, it can be said that it is embattled.
Looking at the fate of its neighbors, Burma was strong for a while, but it did not escape the British invasion and became part of British India. Vietnam expanded for thousands of years or was annexed by France, which also formed Laos and Cambodia as French Indochina. The Malay Archipelago to the south was not colonized by the British.
But this Thai strength is not very strong, how can it escape the disaster?
Formerly known as Siam, Thailand was first formed by the Late Sukhothai Dynasty established in the 1330s, followed by the Ayutthaya Dynasty, the Thonburi Dynasty, and the Bangkok Dynasty.
Thailand is actually of average strength, incomparable with its neighbor Myanmar, and has been invaded by Myanmar for a long time in history. Of course, Burma is also rampant, and even challenged the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, so it is not surprising to invade small Thailand.
After the advent of the Age of Discovery, Portugal took the lead in trading with Thailand, and since then, the Dutch, the British, and the French have also come.
But we understand that even if Thailand is weak, it is not comparable to Africa and the Americas, and it is impossible to be colonized as easily as they are. It was not until after the Industrial Revolution that the Western powers began to expand their colonies on a large scale.
At this time, Thailand has reached the Bangkok Dynasty period, and it has to be said that although Thailand is not the strongest, the previous kings are wise.
King Rama III reigned from 1824 to 1851, a time when the Qing Dynasty suffered the worst crisis in history and the Opium War broke out. In Thailand, however, he pursued a policy of opening up to the outside world and had a lot of contacts with the West. Including his younger brother Moncu, he also established diplomatic relations with many Western countries during his reign, and signed treaties with Britain, the United States, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium and other countries.
In particular, the most famous Chulalongkorn the Great in Thai history, under the approaching imperialism step by step, flaunting its might, did not succumb to force, turned the tide of the whole army through force and diplomacy, and also began a series of Westernization reforms, which finally enabled Thailand to maintain its territorial integrity and sovereign independence.
Therefore, it is worth affirming that he did not yield in the face of the foreign guns and cannons of the great powers. But beyond that, he was able to maintain the country's independence in diplomacy.
In fact, neighbors are all eyeing Thailand, and Thailand is certainly not an opponent, but Britain and France are not willing to sit back and watch each other's sphere of influence too large, so they are hungry and fierce competition in Thailand.
Thailand also took advantage of this, left and right, and maintained its independence under the premise of paying some territory.