The Franco-Thai War (October 1940 – January 28, 1941, th, กรณีพิพาทอินโดจีน, Krṇī phiphāth xindocīn; french: Guerre franco-thaïlandaise) was fought between
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
and
Vichy France
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...
over certain areas of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
.
Negotiations with France shortly before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
had shown that the French government was willing to make appropriate changes in the boundaries between Thailand and French Indochina, but only slightly. Following the
Fall of France in 1940, Major-General
Plaek Pibulsonggram
Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram ( th, แปลก พิบูลสงคราม ; alternatively transcribed as ''Pibulsongkram'' or ''Pibulsonggram''; 14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964), locally known as Marshal P. ( th, จอมพล ...
(popularly known as "Phibun"), the prime minister of Thailand, decided that France's defeat gave the Thais an even better chance to regain the vassal state territories that were ceded to France during King
Chulalongkorn's reign.
The German military occupation of
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
rendered France's hold on its overseas possessions, including French Indochina, tenuous. The colonial administration was now cut off from outside help and outside supplies. After the Japanese
invasion of French Indochina
The was a short undeclared military confrontation between Japan and France in northern French Indochina. Fighting lasted from 22 to 26 September 1940; the same time as the Battle of South Guangxi in the Sino-Japanese War, which was the main ...
in September 1940, the French were forced to allow Japan to set up military bases. This seemingly subservient behavior lulled the Phibun regime into believing that France would not seriously resist a military confrontation with Thailand.
Opposing forces
French
The French military forces in Indochina consisted of an army of approximately 50,000 men, 12,000 of whom were French, organized into forty-one
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...
s, two
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
regiments
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
, and a battalion of
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...
. The
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...
had a shortage of
armor
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...
, and it could field only 20
Renault FT
The Renault FT (frequently referred to in post-World War I literature as the FT-17, FT17, or similar) was a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first production tank to ...
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
s against the nearly one hundred
Royal Thai Army
The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
History
Origin
The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's ...
armored vehicles. The bulk of the French forces stationed near the Thai border
consisted of the Indochinese infantry of the 3rd and 4th Regiments of
Tonkinese Rifles The Tonkinese Rifles (''tirailleurs tonkinois'') were a corps of Tonkinese light infantrymen raised in 1884 to support the operations of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps. Led by French officers seconded from the marine infantry, Tonkinese riflemen f ...
(''Tirailleurs Tonkinois''), together with a battalion of
Montagnards
Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to:
* Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s)
** Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of t ...
(indigenous
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
ese highlanders), French regulars of the Colonial Infantry (''
Troupes coloniales
The ''Troupes coloniales'' ("Colonial Troops") or ''Armée coloniale'' ("Colonial Army"), commonly called ''La Coloniale'', were the military forces of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900 these troops were de ...
''), and
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
units.
The
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
had one
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
and four
aviso
An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication.
The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...
s in French Indochina .
The Vichy
French Air Force (''Armée de l'Air'') had approximately 100 aircraft, of which roughly 60 could be considered front-line. These included thirty
Potez 25 TOE reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
/
fighter-bombers, four
Farman 221 heavy
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
s, six
Potez 542 bombers, nine
Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters
Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to:
Combat and warfare
* Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict
* Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...
, and eight
Loire 130
The Loire 130 was a French flying boat that saw service during World War II. It was designed and built by Loire Aviation of St Nazaire.
Development
The Loire 130 originated from a mid-1930s requirement from the French Navy for a reconnaissance s ...
reconnaissance/bomber
flying boats.
Thai
The slightly larger
Thai Army
The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
History
Origin
The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...
was a relatively well-equipped force.
Consisting of 60,000 men, it was made up of four
armies
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. The largest were the
Burapha Army with five
divisions and the
Isan Army with three divisions. Independent formations under direct control of the army high command included two motorized
cavalry battalions, one artillery battalion, one
signals
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
battalion, one engineer battalion, and one armored regiment. The artillery was a mixture of
Krupp gun
The Krupp gun is a family of artillery pieces that was used by several world armies from the nineteenth century onwards.
History
In 1811, Friedrich Krupp founded his cast-steel factory ''Gusstahlfabrik'', but it was his son, Alfred Krupp, who att ...
s and modern
Bofors gun
AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms concern BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years.
History
Located i ...
s and
howitzers, while 60
Carden Loyd tankettes and 30
Vickers 6-ton
The Vickers 6-ton tank or Vickers Mark E, also known as the "Six-tonner" was a British light tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not adopted by the British Army, but was picked up by many foreign armed forces. It was licen ...
tanks made up the bulk of the army's tank force.
The
Royal Thai Navy
The Royal Thai Navy ( Abrv: RTN, ทร.; th, กองทัพเรือไทย, ) is the naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known a ...
included two
''Thonburi''-class coastal defense ship
Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...
s, 12
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s, and four Japanese-made
submarines.
[Young, Edward M. (1995) ''Aerial Nationalism: A History of Aviation in Thailand''. Smithsonian Institution Press.] The Royal Thai Navy was inferior to the French naval forces in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
, but the
Royal Thai Air Force
"Royal Thai Air Force March"
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 9 April 1937 (Royal Thai Air Force Day)
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles ...
held both a quantitative and qualitative edge over the local ''Armée de l'Air'' units.
Among the 140 aircraft that composed the Royal Thai Air Force's first-line strength were 24
Mitsubishi Ki-30
The was a Japanese light bomber of World War II. It was a single-engine, mid-wing, cantilever monoplane of stressed-skin construction with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and a long transparent cockpit canopy. The type had significance in bein ...
light bombers, nine
Mitsubishi Ki-21
The ( Allied reporting name: "Sally" /"Gwen") was a Japanese heavy bomber during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War, including ...
heavy bombers, 25
Curtiss Hawk 75N fighter planes, six
Martin B-10
The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, entering service in June 1934.Jackson 2003, p. 246. It was also the first mass-produced bomber whose performance was superior to ...
medium bombers, and 70
Vought O2U Corsair
The Vought O2U Corsair was a 1920s biplane scout and observation aircraft. Developed by Vought Corporation, the O2U was ordered by the United States Navy (USN) in 1927. Powered by a 400 hp (298 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine, it inco ...
observation/
attack aircraft.
[Royal Thai Air Force. (1976) ''The History of the Air Force in the Conflict with French Indochina''. Bangkok.]
Campaign
While nationalist demonstrations and anti-French rallies were being held in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
, several border skirmishes erupted along the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...
frontier. The superior
Royal Thai Air Force
"Royal Thai Air Force March"
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 9 April 1937 (Royal Thai Air Force Day)
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles ...
then conducted daytime bombing runs over military targets in
Vientiane
Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...
,
Phnom Penh,
Sisophon
Serei Saophoan ( km, សិរីសោភ័ណ, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ; lit. 'Beautiful Freedom') is the capital and largest city of the Banteay Meanchey Province and the fourth most populous city in Cambodia. The city sep ...
, and
Battambang
Battambang ( km, បាត់ដំបង, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang Province and the third largest city in Cambodia.
Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is the leading rice-producing province of the coun ...
with impunity. The French retaliated with their own air attacks, but the damage they caused was less than equal. The activities of the Thai air force, particularly in the field of dive-bombing,
was such that Admiral
Jean Decoux
Jean Decoux (5 May 1884 – 21 October 1963) was a French Navy admiral who was the Governor-General of French Indochina from July 1940 to 9 March 1945, representing the Vichy French government.
Early life and naval career
Decoux was born in Bordea ...
, the governor of French Indochina, grudgingly remarked that the Thai planes seemed to have been flown by men with plenty of war experience.
![Vickers Light Amphibious Tank](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Vickers_Light_Amphibious_Tank.jpg)
On 5 January 1941, following the report of a French attack on the Thai border town of
Aranyaprathet
Aranyaprathet (Thai: อรัญประเทศ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Sa Kaeo province in eastern Thailand . It covers the entire ''tambon'' of Aranyaprathet, in Aranyaprathet district. As of 2005, the town has 16,937 inhabitant ...
, the Thai
Burapha and
Isan Armies launched an offensive on
Laos and
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
. French response was instantaneous, but many units were simply swept aside by the better-equipped Thai forces. The Thai army swiftly overran Laos, but the French forces in Cambodia managed to rally and offer more resistance.
![Battle of Koh Chang 17 january 1941 (English version)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Battle_of_Koh_Chang_17_january_1941_%28English_version%29.svg)
At dawn on January 16, 1941, the French launched a large counterattack on the Thai-held villages of Yang Dang Khum and Phum Preav, initiating the fiercest battle of the war. Due to poor coordination and nonexistent intelligence against the entrenched and well-prepared Thai forces, the French operation was stopped and fighting ended with a French retreat from the area. However, the Thais were unable to pursue the retreating French, as their forward tanks were kept in check by the gunnery of
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
artillery.
With the situation on land rapidly deteriorating for the French, Admiral Decoux ordered all available French naval forces into action in the
Gulf of Thailand. In the early morning of 17 January, a French naval squadron caught a Thai naval detachment by surprise at anchor off
Ko Chang island. The subsequent
Battle of Ko Chang
The Battle of Ko Chang took place on 17 January 1941 during the Franco-Thai War in which a flotilla of French warships attacked a smaller force of Thai vessels, including a coastal defence ship. The battle resulted in a tactical victory by the ...
was a tactical victory for the French and resulted in the sinking of two Thai torpedo boats and the disabling of a coastal defense ship, with the French suffering no casualties.
["The Battle of Koh Chang (January 1941)" netmarine.net] Fearing the war would turn in France's favor, the Japanese intervened, proposing an armistice be signed.
On 24 January, the final air battle took place when Thai bombers raided the French airfield at
Angkor
Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...
, near
Siem Reap. The last Thai mission bombing Phnom Penh commenced at 07:10 on 28 January, when the Martins of the 50th Bomber Squadron set out on a raid on
Sisophon
Serei Saophoan ( km, សិរីសោភ័ណ, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ; lit. 'Beautiful Freedom') is the capital and largest city of the Banteay Meanchey Province and the fourth most populous city in Cambodia. The city sep ...
, escorted by thirteen Hawk 75Ns of the 60th Fighter Squadron.
Armistice
![Provinces of Cambodia loss to Thailand during Franco-Thai War](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Provinces_of_Cambodia_loss_to_Thailand_during_Franco-Thai_War.png)
Japan subsequently stepped in to mediate the conflict. A general ceasefire had been arranged to go into effect at 10:00 on 28 January, and a Japanese-sponsored "Conference for the Cessation of Hostilities" was held at Saigon, with preliminary documents for an armistice between the governments of Marshal
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...
's French State and the Kingdom of Thailand signed aboard the cruiser
''Natori'' on 31 January 1941. On 9 May, a peace treaty was signed in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
,
with the French being coerced by the Japanese to relinquish their hold on the disputed border territories. France ceded the following provinces to Thailand from
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
and
Laos:
*
Battambang
Battambang ( km, បាត់ដំបង, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang Province and the third largest city in Cambodia.
Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is the leading rice-producing province of the coun ...
and
Pailin
Pailin ( km, ប៉ៃលិន, ) is a province in western Cambodia at the northern edge of the Cardamom Mountains near the border of Thailand. This province is surrounded by Battambang province, and was officially carved out of Battambang ...
, which were reorganized as
Phra Tabong Province
Phra Tabong Province ( th, พระตะบอง) was a province of Thailand, from the late-18th century until it was ceded to French Indochina in 1907, and again between 1941-1946 after Thailand recaptured it during the Japanese occupation of ...
*
Siem Reap,
Banteay Meanchey and
Oddar Meanchey, which were reorganized as
Phibunsongkhram Province
*
Preah Vihear, which was merged with a part of
Champassak Province of
Laos opposite
Pakse
Pakse (or ''Pakxe''; French: ''Paksé''; Laotian: ປາກເຊ 'mouth of the river'; th, ปากเซ) is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak, and the second most populous city in Laos. Loc ...
to form
Nakhon Champassak Province
*
Xaignabouli, including part of
Luang Prabang Province, which was renamed
Lan Chang Province
Treaty
The resolution of the conflict was widely acclaimed by the people of Thailand, and was seen as a personal triumph for Phibun. For the first time in its history, Thailand had been able to extract concessions from a European power, albeit a weakened one. For the French in French Indochina, the conflict was a bitter reminder of their isolation after the
Fall of France. They felt that an ambitious neighbor had taken advantage of a distant colony being cut off from a weakened parent. Without hope of reinforcements, the French had little chance of offering a sustained resistance.
To commemorate the victory, Phibun erected the
Victory Monument in Bangkok. Thailand invited Japan and Germany to join in the celebration of its construction.
The Japanese wanted to maintain both their working relationship with Vichy and the status quo; therefore, the Thais were forced to accept only a quarter of the territory that they gained from the French, in addition to having to pay six million
piastres
The piastre or piaster () is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Levant ...
as a concession to the French.
However, the real beneficiaries of the conflict were the Japanese, who were able to expand their influence in both Thailand and Indochina. The Japanese wanted to use Thailand and Indochina as their military bases to invade
British Burma and British Malaya later. The Japanese won from Phibun a secret verbal promise to support them in an attack on Malaya and Burma.
Phibun did not keep his word.
Relations between Japan and Thailand were subsequently stressed, as a disappointed Phibun switched to courting the British and Americans to ward off what he saw as an imminent Japanese invasion.
[Judith A. Stowe. (1991) ''Siam becomes Thailand: A Story of Intrigue''. University of Hawaii Press. ] However, on 8 December 1941, the Japanese Japanese invasion of Thailand, invaded Thailand at the same time as the Japanese invasion of Malaya. Pearl Harbor was attacked one-and-a-half hours after Malaya and Thailand were. Fighting between Japanese and Thai forces lasted only five hours before a ceasefire was agreed. Thailand would be Thailand in World War II, allied with Japan until 1945.
After the war, in October 1946, northwestern Cambodia and the two Lao enclaves on the Thai side of the Mekong River were returned to French sovereignty when the Provisional Government of the French Republic, French provisional government threatened to veto Thailand's membership in the United Nations.
[Terwiel, B.J. (2005) ''Thailand's Political History: From the Fall of Ayutthaya to Recent Times''. River Books.] This led to the conclusion of the Franco-Siamese Settlement Treaty of 1946 that settled the issue and paved the way to restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Casualties
The French army suffered a total of 321 casualties, of whom 15 were officers. The total number of missing after 28 January was 178 (six officers, 14 non-commissioned officers and 158 enlisted men).
The Thais had captured 222 men (17 North Africans, 80 Frenchmen, and 125 Indochinese).
The Thai army suffered 54 men killed in action and 307 wounded.
41 sailors and marines of the Thai navy were killed, and 67 wounded. At the
Battle of Ko Chang
The Battle of Ko Chang took place on 17 January 1941 during the Franco-Thai War in which a flotilla of French warships attacked a smaller force of Thai vessels, including a coastal defence ship. The battle resulted in a tactical victory by the ...
, 36 men were killed, of whom 20 belonged to HTMS Thonburi, HTMS ''Thonburi'', 14 to HTMS ''Songkhla'', and two to HTMS ''Chonburi''. The Thai air force lost 13 men. The number of Thai military personnel captured by the French was just 21.
About 30 percent of the French aircraft were rendered unserviceable by the end of the war, some as a result of minor damage sustained in air raids that remained unrepaired.
The Armée de l'Air admitted the loss of one Farman F221 and two Morane M.S.406s destroyed on the ground, but its losses were really greater.
In its first experience of combat, the Royal Thai Air Force claimed to have shot down five French aircraft and destroyed 17 on the ground, against the loss of three of its own in the air and another five to 10 destroyed in French air raids on Thai airfields.
See also
* Thailand in World War II
* Japanese occupation of Cambodia
* Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, Japanese ''coup d'état'' in French Indochina
* HTMS Sri Ayudhya, HTMS ''Sri Ayudhya''
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
* Paloczi-Horvath, George. "Thailand's War with Vichy France." ''History Today'' (1995) 45#3 pp 32–39.
* Wong, Ka F. ''Visions of a Nation: Public Monuments in Twentieth-Century Thailand'', White Lotus, Bangkok 2006
External links
"France 1940...something"*
*
''La bataille de Koh Chang'' netmarine.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indochina
Conflicts in 1940
Conflicts in 1941
Wars involving France
Wars involving Thailand
Military history of Thailand during World War II
Military battles of Vichy France
1940 in France
1941 in France
1940 in Thailand
1941 in Thailand
Wars involving Vietnam
France–Thailand military relations
20th-century military history of Thailand, Franco-Thai War