r/todayilearned • u/RaccoonDoor • 3d ago

TIL Thailand declared war on the United States in 1942. However, the Thai ambassador to the United States refused to deliver the war declaration. As a result, the US simply ignored Thailand's declaration of war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_in_World_War_II#Contrast_of_Thai_and_Japanese_policy
24.4k Upvotes

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u/Token_Thai_person 3d ago

After the war, that Ambassador returned to Thailand to become prime minister.

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u/ViciousNakedMoleRat 3d ago

Between 1945 and 1947, he was one of seven Prime Ministers of Thailand, three of whom were the same Person.

He himself became Prime Minister three separate times, for four, one and six months respectively and with two decades between his first and second term.

Within the 13 months between his second and third term, he was replaced by his younger brother.

Thai politics has always been WILD.

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u/ActafianSeriactas 3d ago

His younger brother played the Prime Minister of a fictional Southeast Asian country in “The Ugly American” starring Marlon Brando, before he actually became the real Prime Minister of Thailand. Both brothers also represented separate parties at this time.

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u/yoloswagrofl 3d ago

Does everyone get to be Prime Minister in Thailand?

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u/Faiakishi 2d ago

Mom said it's my turn on the Prime Minister of Thailand.

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u/not-skaven-yes-yes 2d ago

Mom said we only have to switch when I die 😡

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u/TexasPeteEnthusiast 2d ago

Crusader Kings Intensifies

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u/MaximumGorilla 2d ago

Moooom! Set a timer!!

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u/BadmiralHarryKim 2d ago

We have the Prime Minister of Thailand at home.

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u/zwandee 2d ago

Interestingly "It's my turn" (in Yoruba) was the unofficial election slogan of the current Nigerian president.

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u/Semido 2d ago

Depends who your parents are

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u/ThePlanck 3d ago

His younger brother played the Prime Minister of a fictional Southeast Asian country in “The Ugly American” starring Marlon Brando, before he actually became the real Prime Minister of Thailand.

The Volodymyr Zelenskyy at home

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u/y0av_ 2d ago

There is no way is name is spelled like that

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u/_Trikku 2d ago

It’s spelled exactly like that in English, the Ukrainian language uses a Cyrillic Script though so his name is actually spelt Володимир Зеленський.

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u/EldritchPenguin123 3d ago

How do you know this stuff? Can read your source. I want to hiperfixate on this fascinating history for a few hours

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u/ActafianSeriactas 3d ago

Being from Thailand and having a Master’s in Intl History helps haha

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u/EldritchPenguin123 3d ago

Could you recommend any books on the topic?

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u/ActafianSeriactas 3d ago

The younger brother Kukrit Pramoj is an accomplished author so we tend to learn about him a bit anyway.

If you want some academic books on Thai history, a good beginner would be Thongchai Winichakul’s “Siam Mapped”, then you can carry on from there.

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u/pmp22 3d ago

I just want so say: Thailand and it's people is amazing and a true gift to the world. Thanks for exististing.

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u/Consistent_Drink2171 2d ago

Thailand is mid. Any of its neighbors are superior.

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u/pmp22 2d ago

How so?

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u/bagofpork 1h ago

Thailand is mid

No cap on god lowkey frfr?

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u/thehottip 2d ago

Yeah laos is way superior? Wtf

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u/Consistent_Drink2171 2d ago

As a tourist destination, yes. Laos has more authentic culture compared to commercialized Thailand. I guess Thailand is better for sex tourism, but Laos is a better choice if you want to get away from 7-11 and McDonalds.

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u/thehottip 2d ago

Yeah man I don’t care for this gate keeping. Yeah Thailand is more developed but you’re making it sound it likes some capitalist hellscape

Get real

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u/mashtato 2d ago

All of this is on Wikipedia.

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u/GreasyPeter 2d ago

Friendly reminder that the President of Ukraine is a man who has previously played the President of Ukraine in a TV show. Difference here being Zelensky is currently on-track to become one of the most celebrated leaders in Ukrainian history.

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u/cannotfoolowls 2d ago

Difference here being Zelensky is currently on-track to become one of the most celebrated leaders in Ukrainian history.

I mean, he doesn't have much competition in recent history.

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u/ColonelJohnMcClane 2d ago

Three decades and then a bunch of Russians or a specific Georgia  lol

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u/Pays4Porn 2d ago

He's named after Volodymyr of Keiv.

Aka "Vladimir The Great"

Aka Prince of Novgorod

Aka Grand Prince of Kiev

Aka Saint Vladimir.

That dude is pretty great, not recent tho.

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u/GozerDGozerian 2d ago

Both brothers also represented separate parties at this time.

Well that must’ve made for some awkward thanksgiving dinners! /s

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u/imathrowyaaway 2d ago

“Mom said it’s my turn to be prime minister!” :<

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u/Gemmabeta 3d ago

The long gap in the middle was due to Thailand's WWII-era (pro-Axis) dictator getting back into power and making nice with the Americans.

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u/TRLegacy 2d ago

Not liking the commies was the only thing that mattered back then

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u/TheBizzleHimself 3d ago

I’d like to speak to the person in charge

Thai ministers: SpiderManPointingMeme.jpg

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u/EldritchPenguin123 3d ago

How do you know this? I want to read your source so I could hyperfixiate for a couple hours

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u/ViciousNakedMoleRat 3d ago edited 3d ago

I wrote a thesis on the Democratic development of Thailand in University and lived / live there on an off.

The easiest way to deep-dive for any lay person is to go to any Wikipedia article on Thai politics (e.g. Politics of Thailand) and to click on all names and events that pop out to you as being of interest.

This list of articles on the various coups d'états should also give you some insight.

Looking into the death of King Ananda Mahidol is also rather interesting.

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u/PrrrromotionGiven1 3d ago

Can't you still be arrested for even very mild criticism of the King? Doesn't sound very democratic to me.

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u/Rianorix 2d ago

Yes, same as insulting Thai citizen and legal entity though the sentence for lese majeste is a bit longer and everyone can sue instead of the injured party only for regular folk.

Thus everyone abused the shit out of it against their political rival.

Anyway can you explain the relevancy of lese majeste/defamation law in relation of democracy?

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u/PrrrromotionGiven1 2d ago

You can't have democracy if you don't have the freedom to criticise state officials, up to and including the head of state.

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u/confirmedshill123 3d ago

This comment has so many levels of absurdity and stupid that I don't even know how to respond other than pointing it out.

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u/PrrrromotionGiven1 3d ago

If it's wrong then just say so.

But I looked it up just now - "Under article 112 of the Thailand’s criminal code, criticism of the monarchy is punishable with between three and 15 years in prison. It’s one of the most severe laws of its kind – known as lese majesty – anywhere in the world."

So what exactly is absurd and stupid about what I said?

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u/Token_Thai_person 2d ago

Fun fact : A foreign professor teaching in Thailand just got charged with it today.

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u/mstarrbrannigan 2d ago

Username checks out

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u/JohnGalt3 2d ago

Nothing, people definitely go to jail all the time for (perceived) slights against the monarchy. Even discussing whether having article 112 in the first place is a good thing or not can get you prosecuted under that very article.

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u/Das_Mime 2d ago

So what exactly is absurd and stupid about what I said?

The idea that any law protecting the dignity of His Majesty the General, Admiral and Air Chief Marshal King Vajiralongkorn Rama X could possibly be wrong in any way is just absurd on its face, you know?

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u/joecarter93 3d ago

Even now the seem to have a military coup every few years , but it still manages to be a stable country and the military returns it to democracy.

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u/Terrariola 3d ago

The military does not, in fact, return it to democracy. At best, it's been a hybrid regime for the last several decades.

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u/jakejensenonline 3d ago

u/ViciousNakedMoleRat please confirm if the last part of this statement is true ?

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u/coming_up_in_May 3d ago

It's not, they installed something like 60% of the senators, who decide who gets to be prime minister. In the last elections, the person who won and was slated to be prime minister was rejected by the military appointed senators and now a corrupt businessman's daughter is prime minister instead

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u/Atxlvr 2d ago

sounds like chile in the 70/80s

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u/GozerDGozerian 2d ago

This reads like one of those brain teaser logic riddles.

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u/Gregus1032 2d ago

Sounds like a trap.

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u/NikEy 2d ago

The prime minister's name? Albert Einstein

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u/sexy-porn 2d ago

They’ve have 13 successful and 9 unsuccessful coups in the last 100 years. So a coup every five years or so.

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u/RaccoonDoor 3d ago

Username checks out

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u/dongeckoj 3d ago

Three times! Definitely knew which way the wind was blowing

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u/MalevolntCatastrophe 2d ago

Yeah, he definitely knew how to keep Thailand out of the way of the US war machine!

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u/C_Gull27 3d ago

I mean he saved Thailand from getting the shit bombed out of them for 3 years I'd vote for him too

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u/Token_Thai_person 3d ago

Narrator : he did not saved Thailand from getting the shit bombed out of it.

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u/nungibubba 3d ago

Yall still got bombed tf out 😔

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u/dragnabbit 2d ago

When the U.S. wanted to firebomb Tokyo, they needed a city to test their ammunition on. They concluded that Bangkok was the closest Japanese-occupied city in terms of geography and building construction.

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u/Several_Vanilla8916 2d ago

I mean…his decision making abilities seemed to have been top notch.

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u/dragnabbit 2d ago

Thailand kind of hedged their bets in World War 2. They had a pro-Japanese government that stuck around in Bangkok and kissed ass for a few years, and they had a anti-Japanese government that was working in the background and ready to take over if/when the Japanese were finally beaten.

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u/OpenSourcePenguin 2d ago

Excellent username

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u/kog 2d ago

My first thought was "smart move by the ambassador", glad Thailand apparently agreed

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u/Muted-Airline-8214 1d ago

"On August 16, 1945, Thailand issued a 'Peace Declaration,' stating that the declaration of war against the United States and Great Britain was null and not binding on the Thai people. This was because the war declaration on January 25, 1942, was made against the will of the Thai people and violated the provisions of the Constitution and national laws."

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u/propolizer 1d ago

A-After my stand I returned to Thailand 🎶 

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u/xXprayerwarrior69Xx 3d ago

And that kids name ? Albert Einstein

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u/ThatAnonymousDudeGuy 2d ago

I feel there’s a wholly more interesting story buried in there, the ambassador refuses to deliver the message and goes on to become prime minister with the backing of the U.S State Department OSS Support.

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u/Token_Thai_person 2d ago

Nah the OSS backed the military who took power from him.