oakdale160 wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 2:53 am
When I hear that Thai was never colonized, I look sad, lower my head and say "I'm sorry, i can't think why you weren't colonized"
Malaysia and S'pore are unusual--when they hear a British accent, sooner or later they say with a big smile "we used to be a British colony, you know"
Better advertisements for the pros of colonization than say the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Happily, colonization is a thing of the past, though. Forcibly 'educating' and 'civilising' a people is certainly wrong even if the colonizers believe it's for the benefit of the colonized.
Thai was never colonized....555...big joke. They forget Japanese occupation..WWII
About the past, the real reason of never been colonized is: Brits and French wanted to keep a buffer zone between them.
Even if colonization was not always good, we must admit the benefits for colonized. The main remaining benefit is the language: French and English.
Not too many benefits in India, Pakistan, The middle east, Africa. The British took over, made a mess and left it a mess. Ditto the French, Spanish and Portuguese. Most of the European messes have been cleaned up the British messes remain. I often wonder why the Middle Easterners are always mad at the U.S. when it was the British who created the present situation? The U.S. did exacerbate it. The liquid gold is just too tempting to keep one's fingers out of the pot.
europtimiste wrote: ↑Sat May 26, 2018 10:37 am
Thai was never colonized....555...big joke. They forget Japanese occupation..WWII
About the past, the real reason of never been colonized is: Brits and French wanted to keep a buffer zone between them.
Even if colonization was not always good, we must admit the benefits for colonized. The main remaining benefit is the language: French and English.
The Japanese were military occupiers, not colonizers.
europtimiste wrote: ↑Sat May 26, 2018 10:37 am
Thai was never colonized....555...big joke. They forget Japanese occupation..WWII
About the past, the real reason of never been colonized is: Brits and French wanted to keep a buffer zone between them.
Even if colonization was not always good, we must admit the benefits for colonized. The main remaining benefit is the language: French and English.
The Japanese were military occupiers, not colonizers.
A colonization starts wit military occupation. Japanese lost and had no time to colonize.
europtimiste wrote: ↑Sat May 26, 2018 10:37 am
Thai was never colonized....555...big joke. They forget Japanese occupation..WWII
About the past, the real reason of never been colonized is: Brits and French wanted to keep a buffer zone between them.
Even if colonization was not always good, we must admit the benefits for colonized. The main remaining benefit is the language: French and English.
The Japanese were military occupiers, not colonizers.
A colonization starts wit military occupation. Japanese lost and had no time to colonize.
handdrummer wrote: ↑Sat May 26, 2018 4:42 pm
Attention: We all must remember that Europessimist is always right.
Really ? You will soon let us believe that they were not occupier as they were cordially welcomed by the Thai government, knowing that their glorious army cannot fight them,
Finland was colonised first by Sweden for about 600 years and then by Russia for about 100. Good or bad, tough to say, mainly not good. Some good things came out of the Russian colonisation, we started to realize we were Finns.
Before the French, Vietnam was colonised by China for around 1000 years. Again, good or bad, well the Vietnamese didn't like it but it changed their language from non-tonal to tonal. Might be easier for the rest of us if it was toneless. The French changed their writing system from Chinese characters to the present alphabet. Surely easier for us.
It is interesting how little "Frenchness" remains in Indochine, the French empire in SE Asia. In VN very little, more in Hanoi than Saigon. There are a few touches--great bread and coffee, some impressive buildings. The Cathedral and old Post-office in Saigon are a must to visit.
Cambodia even less--during Khymer Rouge rule all the French speakers were executed. Loas, a little more, many older people still speak French although Loas is slowly but surely falling under China's neo-colonial umbrella.
A bit farther afield than Viet Nam and Cambodia, but not so far as Finland lies Taiwan which was occupied/colonized by Japan for ~50-years (compared to the Pacific Coast of Russia [~40-years], Korea [~35-years], and mainland China [<15-years]).
On a visit to Taiwan in May I noted relatively little residual resentment (aside for the Japanese's over-logging of Camphor trees and coal mining practices), but rather a respect for what the Japanese built (roads and railroads, but also Japanese cemeteries and places of worship).
Haven't been to either Korea or Mainland China, but the news reports indicate a great deal of nationalistic ritualistic resentment and almost no appreciation for any benefits from the occupation/colonization, while Japan and Russia have never even signed a peace treaty ending their short-lived participation in World War II (declared war on August 8 - in between the United State's bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and still argue about various islands and islets.
It seems that some nations are able to take what they like and leave the rest while others never give up their resentment.
handdrummer wrote: ↑Sat May 26, 2018 4:42 pm
Attention: We all must remember that Europessimist is always right.
Really ? You will soon let us believe that they were not occupier as they were cordially welcomed by the Thai government, knowing that their glorious army cannot fight them,
I'm sorry about your inability to comprehend a simple sentence. For your benefit I'll repeat what I said: The Japanese were occupiers, not colonizers. On the other hand, I'll "let" you believe whatever you wish to believe. And, oh yes, the Japanese, for whatever reason ("glorious army cannot fight them") were cordially welcomed by the Thai govt. However, the Japanese were still occupiers, not colonizers. Please look up the definition of both words. Capish? Katalava? Comprend?