With an total surface area of 514 000 km2, old Siam a position of crossroads in the middle of the Southeast Asia occupies. Heiress of the first Thai State, to the XIII E century, monarchy knew to maintain the independence of the country, escaping the European colonial domination then with the Indochinese conflicts from the XX E century.
Mongols
Under the pressure of the Mongolian conquerors, who put the hand on China, the Thais leave the high valleys of Yunnan in the middle of the XIII E century. They settle in Southeast Asia owing to small establishments thriving in margin of the two principalities my-Khmer which controlled the current territory inhabitant of Thailand and to which they provided suppletive units for the army.
The Thais free themselves from Khmer sovereignty and engage under the authority of Rowed the Fort, at the end of the XIII E century, in the peninsula of Malacca: a Thai State, having a territory, had been born vis-a-vis the Malayan Empire. With the Mongols, it borrowed their militaro-administrative organization and their social stratification; with the Khmers, it owes his religion, Singhalese Buddhism, and the cursive writing.
Consolidation of the kingdom of Siam
The conquest of a space and the emergence of the first official structures, during the era of Sukhothai (1220-1349), succeeds one consolidation period of the territorial structures and policies under the era of Ayuthia (1350-1782). During the latter, the instability of the limits inside whose the State exerts its authority constitutes a constant. The foreign policy, more marked by the military actions than by the diplomatic relations, oscillates between temptation to control the valley of Mekong - where the Khmer power is durably weakened - and need for containing the expansionism Burmese: Ayuthia, capital of the kingdom of Siam, is taken by the Burmeses (1563), who establish their supervision there during fifteen years.
The Thai State, which reappears at the end of the XVI E century, must take into account the play of the large companies of trade, European armed wing of the expansionism since the opening of the sea route of the Indies. Tributary of the Indian Ocean, the kingdom of Siam must resist the Portuguese aimings, English Dutchwomen then. King Phra Narai (1657-1688), advised by a superintendent of the foreign trade of Greek origin, Constantin Phaulkon, requests the alliance of France. The record of the reception in Versailles of a Siamese embassy by the Sun king, in 1684, inspired the French literature of the time. Three years later, a squadron of six ships, part of Brest, goes to Bangkok to strengthen the city. But the illness and the death of Phra Narai give birth to one period from instability. The troops of Louis XIV are folded up on the French Indies whereas threats at the borders appear again. During first half of the XVIII E century, Siam must contain, by meeting various successes, the claims Vietnameses on Kampuchea. During second half of the century, the Burmese pressure re-appears and is concretized by the catch of Ayuthia in 1767. However, the general Phya Tak (or Taksin) reorganizes the army, launches a victorious counter-offensive and is made proclaim king. Benefitting from the weakening of the Vietnamese part, it annexes the Laotian kingdom of Vientiane and reinforces its positions in Kampuchea.
The dynasty Chakri (1782-1932)
In 1782, Phya Tak is carried out after being dethroned by the Chakri general. Taking the title of I er (1782-1809) Rowed, this one inaugurates a dynasty which will take care on the destinies of the kingdom to the paddle of the Second world war. The work of rebirth of the power thaïe is continued, and the country opens on the Occident all while maintaining its territorial integrity and its independence.
Constant data in the history of the peninsula, the territories Khmer and Laotian, little populated, constitute a zone-plug between the powers thaïe and Vietnamese, of which the expansionism is especially felt starting from first half of the XIXe century Consequently, a true condominium siamo-Vietnamese exerts her control on the areas of Mekong: the South of Kampuchea is annexed by the Vietnameses, while the Eastern provinces of the country of the Khmers pass under Siamese control.
The imperialism growing of the European powers will put an end to the relative balance founded in the Indochinese peninsula by its two dominant powers. But whereas Viet-Nam (Tonkin, Annam and Cochinchine) becomes French protectorate, the kingdom of Siam preserves its independence, grace especially to the action of Rowed V (1868-1910), which can skilfully benefit from the competition between the colonial powers, even at the cost of the recognition of French protectorates on Kampuchea and Laos (1867), then English on the Malayan sultanates (1874). Surrounded by European possessions, the kingdom of Siam, become in its turn a “State-plug”, makes profitable this new era of stability in the peninsula to modernize the country. The king encourages immigration Chinese and called upon Western expert testimony to reorganize the administration and to build a rail network.
Contemporary Thailand
The world economic crisis causes the fall of the prices of rice as of the end of the year 1920 and multiplies the number of dissatisfied towards a mode which let derive public finances and by no means started its democratization.
The coup d'etat fomented in 1932, which maintains monarchy, is the work of military and administrative frameworks. In the absence of a middle-class of business, role monopolized by the Chinese and the Westerners, this social layer quickly will be identified with the apparatus of State, initiating one long period during which the armed forces will play a paramount role. From the years 1960, owing to the economic growth, the joint emergence of a middle-class and a national middle-class, at the same time as the assimilation of the Chinese, will relegate the soldiers of the role of controlling to that of guarantors of political stability.
Between 1932 and 1973, the coups d'etat put rhythm into the political life but hardly change nature it. They express the competition between clans related to the militaro-administrative class in their fight to reach the power. The successive governments, more authoritative than tyrannical, show the opposition to progress of the system whereas the country knows deep socio-economic changes, that translated, inter alia, appearance of an urban and rural proletariat. They are only while being based on the claims of the minorities that the Communist party inhabitant of Thailand (PCT), founded in 1942, manages to start hearths of guerilla. Their actions, contrary to what occurs to Indonesia and to Philippines, do not threaten however the central power.
With the beginning of the year 1990, Thailand takes the form of a parliamentary democracy, within which the political parties are characterized by a populism supported on the new middle-class; they control by coalitions under the less vigilant eye from now on of the soldiers. If in January 1995 Thailand saw proclaiming its fifteenth constitution since 1932, king Bhumibol Adubjadej celebrated his fifty years of reign in June 1996.