Background information
Negotiations with France shortly before World War II had shown that the French government was willing to make minor changes in the boundaries between Thailand and French Indochina. Following the Fall of France in 1940, Major-General Phibunsongkhram, the Prime Minister of Thailand, decided that France's defeat gave the Thais an even better chance to regain the territories they had lost during King Chulalongkorn's reign.
Metropolitan France's collapse obviously made the French hold on Indochina tenuous. The isolated colonial administration, cut off from outside help and supplies, was forced to allow the Japanese to set up military bases in Indochina. This seemingly subversivient behavior convinced the Phibun regime that the French would not seriously resist a confrontation with Thailand.
The Opposing Forces
French forces in Indochina consisted of an army of approximately fifty thousand men, of whom twelve thousand were French, organised into forty-one infantry battalions, two artillery regiments, and a battalion of engineers. The most obvious deficiency of the French army lay in its shortage of armour: it could only field twenty antiquated Renault FT-17s against the Thai army's 134.
The Armée de l'Air had in its inventory approximately a hundred aircraft, of which around sixty could be considered first line. These consisted of thirty Potez 25 TOEs, four Farman 221s, six Potez 542s, nine Morane M.S.406s, and eight Loire 130 flying boats.
The Thai Army was a relatively well-equipped force. Consisting of some sixty thousand men, it was made up of four armies, the largest of which was the Burapha Army with its five divisions. Independent formations under the direct control of the army high command included two motorised cavalry battalions, one artillery battalion, one signals battalion, one engineer battalion and one armoured regiment. The artillery had available a mixture of aged Krupp and modern Bofors howitzers and field guns, while sixty Carden-Loyd tankettes and thirty Vickers six-ton medium tanks made up the bulk of the army's tank arm.
The Royal Thai Navy - consisting of several vessels, including two coastal defence ships, twelve torpedo boats and four submarines - was inferior to the French naval forces, but the Royal Thai Air Force held both a quantitative and qualitative edge over l'Armee de l'Air. Among the 140 aircraft that composed the air force's first-line strength were twenty-four Mitsubishi Ki-30 light bombers, nine Mitsubishi Ki-21 heavy bombers, twenty-five Hawk 75Ns, six Martin B-10 bombers, and seventy Corsairs(Nappy adds Corsairs has been disputed here previously)
The War
While nationalistic demonstrations and anti-French rallies were held in Bangkok, border skirmishes erupted along the Mekong frontier. The superior Royal Thai Air Force conducted daytime bombing runs over Vientiane, Sisophon, and Battambang with impunity. The French retaliated with their own planes, but the damage 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, the governor of French Indochina, grudgingly remarked that the Thai planes seemed to have been flown by men with plenty of war experience.
In early January 1941, the Thai Burapha and Isaan Armies lauched their offensive on Laos and Cambodia. French resistance was instantaneous, but many units were simply swept along by the better-equipped Thai forces. The Thais swiftly took Laos, but Cambodia proved a much harder nut to crack.
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. Because of over-complicated orders and nonexistant intelligence, the French counterattacks were cut to pieces and fighting ended with a French withdrawal from the area. The Thais were unable to pursue the retreating French, as their forward tanks were kept in check by the gunnery of French Foreign Legion artillerists.
As the situation on land was exacerbating for the French, Admiral Decoux ordered the available French naval forces into action in the Gulf of Thailand. In the early morning of January 17, the French navy caught a Thai naval detachment anchored off the island of Koh Chang. The subsequent Battle of Koh Chang proved a victory for the French and resulted in the sinking of two Thai torpedo boats, and a coastal defence ship.
On January 24, the final air battle took place when Thai bombers raided the French airfield at Angkor near Siem Reap. The last Thai mission commenced at 0710 hours on January 28, when the Martins of the 50th Bomber Squadron set out on a raid on Sisophon, escorted by three Hawk 75Ns of the 60th Fighter Squadron.
The Japanese mediated the conflict, and a general armistice was arranged to go into effect at 1000 hours on January 28. On May 9 a peace treaty was signed in Tokyowith the French being coerced by the Japanese into relinquishing their hold on the disputed territories.
Aftermath
The resolution of the conflict was received with wide acclaim among the Thai people and was looked upon as a personal triumph for the Major-General Phibun. For the first time, Thailand had been able to extract concessions from an European power, albeit a weakened one. For the French in Indochina, the conflict was a bitter reminder of their isolation following France's defeat by Germany. In the French view, an ambitious neighbour had taken advantage of a distant colony cut off from her weakened parent. Without hope of reinforcements, the French had little chance of offering a sustained resistance. The real gainers from the conflict were the Japanese, who expanded their influence in both Thailand and Indochina and won from Phibun a secret verbal promise to support them in an attack on Malaya and Burma.
Western Cambodia and the two Lao enclaves were only returned to French sovereignty in October 1946, after France threatened to veto Siam's membership of the United Nations.
Casualties
The French army suffered a total of 321 casualties, of whom 15 were officers. The total number of men missing after January 28 was 178 (6 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 a total of 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 Koh Chang, 36 men were killed, of whom 20 belonged to HTMS Thonburi, 14 to HTMS Songkhla, and 2 to HTMS Chonburi. The Thai air force lost 13 men. The number of Thai military personnel captured by the French amounted to just 21.
About 30% 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 in reality its losses were greater
In the course of its first experience of combat, the Royal Thai Air Force claimed to have shot down five French aircraft and destroyed seventeen on the ground, for the loss of three of its own in the air and another five to ten destroyed in French air raids on Thai airfields
Summary
This article talks about the disagreements between the French and the Thais, over the claiming of territories. Following the Fall of France in 1940, Major-General Phibunsongkhram, the Prime Minister of Thailand, decided that France's defeat gave the Thais an even better chance to regain the territories they had lost during King Chulalongkorn's reign. The opposing views eventually led to a battle of war that lasted for a period of time. The war involved equipments such as tanks, Potez 25 TOEs, Farman 221s,Potez 542s, Morane M.S.406s, Loire 130 flying boats, tank arms and field guns.
Evaluation
The problem of claiming territory has existed since Man existed. Man has been competing for food and for shelter (territory). However in this case, I think the underlying problem here is the Greed of Mankind. If the French had not stolen the territory from Thailand, this problem would not have occurred. War would not have occurred. The many lives that were lost could have been saved. France already has its own land, territory to say, but because she wants to gain for more power, all of which because of Greed, it all ended up in such devastation.
However, the Thais are also at fault. Knowing that France’s defeat already had a big impact on France, by claiming their territory from France, it is only adding injury to insult for France. France faced problem after problem, that could have forced her into a battle. What I would do if I were the Thai government then would have been to wait for period of time for the French to calm herself down from the defeat. Only then, approach them for the territory. Even so, to achieve a win-win situation, the Thais could have asked for only half of the territory, while the other half was for the French. This could have prevented a war from taking place.
All in all, Man is greedy. That’s a fact! However, we should not let that Greediness in us to go to the extent of affecting others. We must always know the consequences of our actions, before doing so. This War has taught us to be satisfied with what we have, and don’t be greedy for what you already has. If not, you will be suffering at the losing end.
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