Moussons (Nov 2020)

Pour « le bonheur et la prospérité publics » : introduction et répression du communisme au Siam (1922-1930)

  • Alexandre Barthel

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4000/moussons.6823
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 36
pp. 221 – 245

Abstract

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This article deals with the introduction of communism in Siam and the reaction of the authorities. The years following the end of the First World War coincided with the first mention in the Thai archives of militants and organizations supporting workers’ demands and then communists in Siam. These militants, all Chinese, were treated the same way by the Siamese authorities: by the mean of the deportation. Under the reign of King Vajiravudh, a policy of social control was developed based on the expulsion of foreigners considered undesirable who lasted beyond the Second World War. This policy underlines the precocity of the anti-communist policy in Siam, long before the beginning of the Cold War.

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