Bombing Raid On Bangkok ...

[YimSiam]

Flash,

 

I see I had it confused - but jeez, with allies like that, who needs enemies?! So Thai...

 

YimSiam

[Flashermac]

The Regent, Pridi Bhanomyong, wanted to resist to the last. But Field Marshal Pibunsongkram, who really ran the country, had enough sense to realize that the much larger veteran Japanese Army would simply walk over the Thai Army. (This was reinforced by the ease with which Japan took Singapore.) Pridi then worked to organize an underground in Thailand, operating it out of his office in the "dome" building at Thammasat University. The Japanese commander must have known that something was going, but he ignored the Free Thais since he knew they weren't really strong enough to do very much. He had enough problems fighting the British Army next door in Burma.

[YimSiam]

The Thai way is an effective way, often - for the Thais, especially, and that's who a national strategy should benefit, of course! I suppose an interesting question is 'what would have happened in the longer term, had Japan been able to hold Southeast Asia?'

 

But history has made the point more than moot!

 

YimSiam

[Flashermac]

The Japanese military in just a few short years managed to make themselves more hated than the European colonisers hated in several centuries. That says it all right there.

 

This gives you an idea of how the Thai military would have fared against the Japanese army.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Prachuab_Khirikhan

[limbo]

It may have been this one. I vaguely recall something about burn marks, unless I'm just imagining thing.

 

 

 

http://www.suanpakkad.com/main_eng.php

 

That's the one! A far cry from JTH :-)

[JaiRai]

OK, fair enough. During one of my first visits to Thailand, I visited some tourist destinations in BKK and one of the wooden buildings had burn marks from a bombardment, just remembered this as being JT house, but that obviously was a mistake.

 

In 2010 I got the Flashermac tour of Thammasat (what was left of the old campus?) and Khao San Road. Flash was kind enough to point out the bullet holes in several buildings around KSR where shootouts had taken place just a couple days prior (between redshirts and government).

 

The tour is a good one if you ever get the opportunity. You may walk till your feet are hurting [ he's in pretty damn good shape for a guy born during the US Civil War ] -- but all joking aside...