Editing History of Thailand (section)

=== Dictatorship of Phibunsongkhram ===
{{see also|Thai cultural mandates|Franco-Thai War}}
[[File:Plaek Phibunsongkhram Speech at Grand Palace 1940.jpg|thumb|right|Phibun welcomes students of Chulalongkorn University, at Bangkok's Grand Palace – 8 October 1940.]]
When Phibulsonggram succeeded Phraya Phahon as Prime Minister in September 1938, the military and civilian wings of Khana Ratsadon diverged even further, and military domination became more overt. Phibunsongkhram began moving the government towards [[militarism]], and [[totalitarianism]], as well as building a [[personality cult]] around himself.

The defeat of France in the [[Battle of France]] was the catalyst for the Thai leadership to begin an attack on [[French Indochina]]. This began with smaller conflicts in 1940 and resulted in the [[Franco-Thai War]] in 1941. It suffered a heavy defeat in the sea [[battle of Ko Chang]], but it dominated on land and in the air. The [[Empire of Japan]], already the dominant power in the Southeast Asian region, took over the role of mediator. The negotiations ended the conflict with Thai territorial gains in the French colonies of [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]].

By 1942, he had issued a series of cultural decrees ("ratthaniyom") or Thai cultural mandates, which reflected the desire for social modernisation, but also an authoritarian and exaggerated nationalist spirit. First, in 1939, he changed the country's name of [[Siam]] to [[Thailand]] ''(Prathet Thai)'' ({{langx|th|ประเทศไทย}}). This is based on the idea of a "Thai race", a [[Pan-Thaiism|Pan-Thai nationalism]] whose program is the integration of the [[Shan people|Shan]], the [[Lao people|Lao]] and other [[Tai peoples]], such as those in Vietnam, Burma and South China, into a "Great Kingdom of Thailand" ({{langx|th|มหาอาณาจักรไทย}}). Other decrees urged the citizens to embrace Western-style modernisation.