The Roles of Propaganda Organizations in Thailand (03)

The Roles of Propaganda Organizations in Thailand (03)

In line with this propaganda, the Thai Premier, in his capacity as Minister of Interior, issued an order amending the Immigration Law whereby persons of T’ai race crossing Eastern frontier from Indo-China into Thailand were to be exempt for two years from taking out documents of identity or certificates of residence.

Miss Chalao Prasobsart

Who Sang the Song "Crossing The Mekong to Thailand"
in Thai "Kham khong pai su khwaen daen thai"

The order indicated that those Indo-Chinese who would be accepted had to be of T’ai race, and living in Laos and Cambodia. This order was followed by two others from the same Ministry, stipulating that those T’ai who crossed the border to their “motherland” would be provided with necessary accommodation, means of living, land, and agricultural equipment for farming.

The Governors of the border provinces in the East, who were responsible to the Ministry of Interior, were charged with conducting publicly inviting the T’ai-speaking population in French territories to cross the Mekong and make their home in Thailand.

While a group of young extreme nationalists in Eastern provinces of Thailand calling themselves the “Thai Blood Society” were responsible for Thai irredentist agitation on their side of the border, a song “Crossing the Mekong to Thailand” which was composed by extreme nationalist  Luang Vichitr Vadakarn and sung by Miss Chalao Prasobsart, was broadcast on radio Thailand. The Thais justified their conduct by claiming that the French authorities had come hostile towards and had maltreated Thai residents in indo-china.