ART OF WAR - SIAM

Siam is the only nation in Asia unconquered. The people have been fiercely patriotic to the country and kings. Today, politics see Thailand divided.

Kedah was ceded to Malaya in 1893. Thanks to the British. Our kings were petty fighting among themselves.

Tamra pichai songkram - art of war.

Before going to war the country must be strong to defend itself against enemies within and without. Firstly, the country must be impregnable. To be so, the most strategic information needed is the layout of the country ie. accurate maps, and hence also of enemy territories and battlegrounds.

The fighting men well trained to be led into battle manoeuvres by hardened commanders.

The logistics and other paraphernalia needed for the fighting machine - elephants for transportation and battles.

(A reenactment of elephant battles at Surin, Thailand. Elepahnts were long used as pachyderm panzers and helped turned course of history in Thailand, Burma and Cambodia)

Advanced technology - ships and cannons.

Source: Santanee Phasuk and Philip Stott. 2004. Royal Siamese Maps: War and Trade in Nineteenth Century Thailand. River Books, Bangkok 208pp