Franco–Thai War
| Franco-Thai War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |||||||||
.jpg) French Indochina |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Thailand
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Jean Decoux | Plaek Phibunsongkhram | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 12,000 regulars 38,000 colonials 20 light tanks ~100 aircraft 1 light cruiser 4 avisos (sloop) |
60,000 regulars 134 tanks ~140 aircraft 2 coastal defence ships 12 torpedo boats 4 submarines |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Land: 321 killed or wounded 178 missing 222 captured 22 aircraft destroyed Sea: 11 killed 1 light cruiser damaged |
Land: 54 killed 307 wounded 21 captured 8–13 aircraft destroyed Sea: 36 killed 2 torpedo boats sunk 1 coastal defense ship grounded |
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Indecisive
The Franco-Thai War (Thai: กรณีพิพาทอินโดจีน French: Guerre franco-thaïlandaise) (1940–1941) was fought between Thailand (Siam) and France over certain areas of French Indochina.
Negotiations with France shortly before World War II had shown that the French government was willing to make appropriate changes in the boundaries between Thailand and French Indochina, but only slightly. Following the Fall of France in 1940, Major-General Plaek Pibulsonggram (popularly known as "Phibun"), the prime minister of Thailand, decided that France's defeat gave the Thais an even better chance to regain the vassal state territories that were ceded to France during King Chulalongkorn's reign.
The German military occupation of a large part of France made France's hold on its overseas possessions, including Indochina, difficult. The colonial administration was now cut off from outside help and outside supplies. After the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in September 1940, the French were forced to allow Japan to set up military bases. This seemingly subservient behaviour convinced the Phibun regime that France would not seriously resist a confrontation with Thailand.
The French military forces in Indochina consisted of an army of approximately 50,000 men, 12,000 of whom were French, organised into forty-one infantry battalions, two artillery regiments, and a battalion of engineers. The most obvious deficiency of the French army was its shortage of armour. It could field only 20 Renault FT tanks against the nearly one hundred armoured vehicles of the Royal Thai Army. The bulk of the French forces stationed near the Thai border consisted of the Indochinese troops of the 3rd and 4th Tirailleurs Tonkinois, together with a battalion of Montagnards, French regulars of the Colonial Infantry, and French Foreign Legion units.
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