Phibun urged the cabinet to comply to the
Japanese’s request for the troop passage
through Thailand to attack British in Malaya &
Burma
• 8 Dec 1941: the Japanese troops landed and was
granted a safe passsage
• Jan. 1942: Thailand formally declared war on
Britain & the U.S.A.
• With the “Pan-Thai” in mind, Phibun told the
Cabinet: “We shouldn’t let them[Japan] build
Asia alone …” [E.B. Reynolds, Thailand and Japan’s Southern
Advance, 1940 – 1945, New York: St Martin’s Press, p. 11