Monument to the
Expeditionary Force
someone still remembers
The Monument to the Expeditionary Force The Monument to the Expeditionary
The Monument to the Expeditionary Force
in Bangkok is a memorial to the Thai soldiers killed on the Western Front in World War I. It's not widely known that Thailand deployed an expeditionary force to fight on the side of the Western powers during the Great War in Europe 1914 - 1919.

At the northern edge of Sanam Luang near the National Gallery, there's a neat garden with well trimmed hedges. In the center stands a white four-sided structure topped with a chedi-like spire. This is the Monument to the Expeditionary Force with the names of the dead inscribed on the sides; 9 on the western face and 10 on the eastern face. Some of them were just 21.

In the reign of King Vajiravudh or King Rama VI, World War I broke out between Britain/France and the Central Powers made up of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Like the USA, Thailand was initially neutral.
The Monument to the Expeditionary

When the USA entered the war in April 1917, it became clear that they would tip the balance against the Central Powers. Thailand decided to join the Western allies. Why did Thailand join in a European war among mostly colonial powers?

King Vajiravudh's leaning to the Western allies may be no surprise. He was the first Thai king to be educated overseas, having studied at Oxford, trained at Sandhurst and served in the British Light Infantry. The call to war was a fight for right and civilization.


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