Pan-Thaiism (otherwise known as Pan-Taiism, the pan-Thai movement, etc.) is an ideology that flourished in

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 bo ...

during the 1930s and 1940s. It was a form of

irredentism Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

, with the aim of political unification of all

Thai people Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย; ''endonym''), Central Thai people ( th, คนภาคกลาง, sou, คนใต้, ตามโพร; ''exonym and also domestically'') or Siamese ( th, ชาวสยาม; ''historical exonym and ...

within Thailand,

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, Malaya,

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 Thailand t ...

, and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

into a greater Thai state. Prior to the revolution of 1932, which replaced the absolute monarchy with a constitutional one, the Thai government had pursued good relations with the imperial powers,

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, that ruled its neighbours: Burma, Malaya, Cambodia and Laos. Anti-colonial sentiment had been actively discouraged. The military government that came to power in 1938 under

Plaek Phibunsongkhram 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 � ...

, however, actively sought to restore "lost" territories. It also aggressively promoted pan-Thaiism. The intellectual architect of the new

Thai nationalism Thai nationalism is a political ideology involving the application of nationalism to the political discourse of Thailand. It was first popularized by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI, reigned 1910–1925), and was subsequently adopted and adapted by various ...

was Wichit Wathakan. The country officially changed its name from Siam to Thailand. The word "Thai" was interpreted in an idiosyncratic way. It did not refer only to speakers of Central Thai (Siamese) or even

Tai languages The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( th, ภาษาไท or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or Si ...

generally, but to all those who had once been under the

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...

and Rattanakosin kingdoms.Paul Kratoska and Ben Batson, "Nationalism and Modernist Reform", in

Nicholas Tarling Peter Nicholas Tarling (1 February 1931 – 13 May 2017) was a historian, academic, and author. He specialised in Southeast Asian history, and wrote on 18th- and 19th-century Malaysia, North Borneo, Philippines, and Laos, especially regarding ...

(ed.), ''The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume 2, Part 1: From c. 1800 to the 1930s'' (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 305. During

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 opposin ...

, Thailand was able to take advantage of the defeat of France in Europe to seize territory in Cambodia and Laos in a brief war. Following a Japanese invasion of Thailand (December 1941), Thailand made common cause with the Japanese and occupied parts of Burma and Malaya. Thai rule was not generally welcomed by the subject populations. In Laos, especially, French authorities promoted rhetoric and reforms of "renovating" Lao culture under

Governor-General of Indochina European (as well as Japanese and Chinese) colonial administrators had historically been responsible for the territory of French Indochina, an area equivalent to modern-day Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and the Chinese city of Zhanjiang. List o ...

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 ...

, but this was mainly used to dampen the appeal of Pan-Thaiism and strengthen Lao cooperation within the French colonial system rather than develop any sense of Lao separatist nationalism. Nonetheless, a counter-irredentism indeed emerged among Lao nationalists who aimed to bring much of northern Thailand under Lao rule. Few of Thailand's new subjects identified as "Thai" in any sense. The war ended in Thailand's defeat and the overthrow of the military government. Thailand returned to its pre-war borders as last adjusted in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909.

References

{{Irredentism Political movements in Asia Irredentism Thai nationalism Thailand in World War II