The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

10 Nicholas Tarling
Among the Siamese of the older generation I have never
found anything but fear and dislike of Japan, but they were
evicted last June, and I should not be surprised if the youthful
elements behind the Government today, obsessed as they are
with the bogey of 'foreign (British or French) domination',
are looking to Japan to hold us back in the event, as they
think, of our interfering in their domestic disputes. It is a
frame of mind that the Japanese might easily wish to
encourage, although I have seen no signs of their carrying on
any such propaganda in Siam .... 38
Early in 1934 the Foreign Office were still inclined to play down
the actual role of Japan, if not the potential. Prince Purachatra, in a
conversation with W.A.R. Wood, former consul-general at Chiengmai,
had alluded to irredentism 'amongst the younger members of the new
Government', who counted on Japanese support. Such ideas, Dormer
noted, were put forward before the revolution, for instance by Bowaradej
himself. These had, he agreed, made some impact on the new generation,
too. 'But I give them enough sense to realise that they have more
urgent tasks to think about than extending their present frontiers. They
must learn to work and to hold their own against a Chinese population;
and they must learn how to live in harmony with each other ....' Prince
Purachatra, commented C.W. Orde, head of the Far Eastern Department
at the Foreign Office, was trying to 'make our blood curdle'; and Sir
R. Vansittart, the Permanent Under-Secretary, suggested that it did not
need to be taken 'very seriously, though the idea of the decadency of the
West-no new one-is interesting in its frequent manifestations'. 3 9
Dormer did not think 'this new friendship for Japan which inspires tbe
younger Siamese' would last long 'because its benefits are so one-sided':
Japanese imports swamped the market, but Japan closed the door to
Siamese rice. A.W.G. Randall believed Japan was 'more after trade
than anything else. The movement needs watching, however.'4°
38) Dormer to Simon, 10 November 1933, No. 196, F.O. 371/17176 (F7922/42/
40).
39) Dormer to Simon, 11 January 1934, No. 13, and minutes, P.O. 371/18206
(Fl185/2l/40).
40) Enclosures in Dormer to Foreign Secretary, 6 February 1934 1
N. 33 1
an4
minutes 1
F.O. 371(18210 lf1691/1691/40~.