Thais are proud of the fact that their country has never been colonized, although it has of course been strongly influenced by external governments from time to time. In the years preceding the outbreak of World War II (WWII), the countries bordering Thailand had all been colonized by European nations, while Thailand itself had only recently become freed from rule by absolute monarchy. The political scene was dominated by two factions, one of which was authoritarian and pro-monarchist - unofficially led by Phibun Songkhram - and another of a more liberal persuasion, concerned to a greater degree with improving equality throughout the kingdom, which coalesced around the figure of Pridi Banomyong.
When the Japanese launched their plan to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere through invasion of East and Southeast Asia, pressure on resources meant that they were prepared to come to an arrangement with leaders of Thailand rather than outright military annexation. Thai leaders managed to come to an arrangement with the invading Japanese which provided for a nominal alliance between the two but without military obligations on the part of the Thais. Thai leaders throughout this period acted in what they believed to be the best interests of their country and while they did not of course welcome the Japanese occupation that did not mean they - or the Thai people more generally - were strongly in favour of the allied cause.
The British authorities chose to take the stance of the Thai government as a hostile act and considered the Thais to be collaborating with an enemy power; the USA administration, on the other hand, considered Thailand to be under foreign occupation and its people to be allies currently oppressed by a foreign power. Thai-USA relations had a long and mostly auspicious history, which is frequently characterized by King Mongkut's offer of war elephants to Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. The lack of co-ordination and co-operation between British and American forces represented a considerable problem in organizing and supporting Thai resistance to the Japanese subsequently. This problem was exacerbated when dealings with the Chinese were involved - many Sino-Thais traveled to China to receive training and political indoctrination. Operations in the southern China border region were under the control of General Tai Li, under the leadership of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. Tai Li of course had his own concerns and these did not always coincide with the interests of the western powers. Consequently, the general tends to have a poor reputation in such English language histories of the conflict as have been published.
