Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

6. Thailand and the Xinhai Revolution: Expectation, Reality and Inspiration

130 6 THAILAND AND THE XINHAI REVOLUTION: EXPECTATION, REALITY AND INSPIRATION1 Wasana Wongsurawat Introduction Up฀through฀the฀earliest฀decades฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀the฀Thai฀public฀ generally฀was฀rarely฀concerned฀with฀the฀domestic฀political฀affairs฀of฀any฀foreign฀ country฀beyond฀peninsular฀Southeast฀Asia.฀Events฀in฀China,฀however,฀proved฀ a฀major฀exception.฀The฀Xinhai฀Revolution฀of฀1911฀was,฀by฀all฀accounts,฀ among฀the฀best฀documented฀and฀best฀publicized฀political฀upheavals฀in฀the฀ history฀of฀Thai฀journalism.฀This฀was,฀of฀course,฀partly฀due฀to฀the฀very฀large฀ ethnic฀Chinese฀population฀in฀Thailand฀at฀that฀time.฀Chinese฀and฀Japanese฀ official฀sources2 ฀agree฀that,฀at฀least฀up฀to฀the฀end฀of฀the฀Second฀World฀War,฀ Thailand฀hosted฀the฀largest฀Overseas฀Chinese฀community฀in฀the฀world.฀ The฀last฀major฀influx฀of฀Chinese฀migrant฀workers฀was฀a฀major฀driving฀force฀ behind฀King฀Chulalongkorn’s฀(Rama฀V,฀1868–1910)฀modernization฀projects฀ in฀the฀latter฀half฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century.฀It฀was฀the฀values฀and฀aspirations฀ of฀these฀resident฀aliens฀that฀resulted฀in฀the฀momentous฀proliferation฀of฀ Chinese฀newspapers฀and฀Chinese฀educational฀institutions฀of฀various฀sorts฀ in฀Thailand.3 ฀ 06฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀130 8/24/11฀฀฀2:33:32฀PM Thailand and the Xinhai Revolution 131 Another฀significant฀factor฀contributing฀to฀the฀unusually฀high฀profile฀of฀ the฀1911฀Xinhai฀Revolution฀in฀the฀eyes฀of฀many฀Thai฀people฀was฀the฀overt฀ concern฀and฀obvious฀anxiety฀of฀the฀Thai฀ruling฀class฀about฀the฀possibility฀ that฀such฀an฀anti-monarchic฀upheaval฀could฀break฀out฀in฀the฀Kingdom฀as฀ well.฀In฀fact,฀the฀Thai฀court฀had฀been฀well฀aware,฀long฀before฀the฀outburst฀of฀ that฀revolution,฀of฀the฀dangers฀of฀allowing฀the฀general฀public฀to฀be฀exposed฀ to฀foreign฀political฀systems฀and฀ideas.฀Consequently,฀only฀a฀limited฀circle฀ of฀high-ranking฀members฀of฀the฀royal฀family฀and฀young฀nobles฀destined฀to฀ serve฀the฀court฀had฀been฀allowed฀to฀obtain฀higher฀education฀in฀Europe฀and฀ America฀during฀Chulalongkorn’s฀reign.฀Exposure฀to฀different฀political฀ideas฀ and฀developments฀from฀the฀West฀was฀jealously฀guarded฀and฀carefully฀restricted฀ in฀the฀local฀educational฀system.฀As฀Kasian฀Tejapira฀has฀noted,4 ฀no฀alternative฀ political฀ideology฀or฀mode฀of฀government฀was฀introduced฀to฀the฀general฀public฀ in฀Thailand฀via฀Western฀education.฀Instead,฀this฀information฀entered฀into฀ public฀awareness,฀becoming฀vastly฀popular฀among฀the฀lowest฀roots฀of฀urban฀ society,฀through฀the฀writings฀of฀Chinese฀revolutionaries฀like฀Sun฀Yat-sen,฀ whose฀words฀were฀published฀in฀numerous฀Chinese฀newspapers฀of฀the฀time฀ and฀translated฀into฀Thai฀by฀Overseas฀Chinese฀activists฀and฀journalists.฀ When฀ it฀ became฀ obvious฀ in฀ the฀ earliest฀ decades฀ of฀ the฀ twentieth฀ century฀that฀the฀proliferation฀of฀seditious฀ideas฀via฀the฀Chinese-language฀ press฀was฀getting฀out฀of฀hand,฀King฀Vajiravudh฀(Rama฀VI,฀1910–25)฀made฀ the฀dramatic฀decision฀to฀join฀the฀ranks฀of฀the฀journalists฀of฀his฀time฀in฀an฀ attempt฀to฀make฀use฀of฀journalism฀and฀the฀press฀to฀support฀his฀own฀political฀ agenda.5 ฀He฀then฀became,฀without฀doubt,฀the฀most฀prolific฀Thai฀critic฀of฀ the฀Xinhai฀Revolution.฀In฀the฀midst฀of฀the฀outbursts฀of฀enthusiasm฀among฀ ethnic฀Chinese฀and฀progressive฀Thai฀journalists,฀King฀Vajiravudh,฀writing฀ mostly฀under฀his฀pseudonym฀Asawaphahu,฀was฀among฀the฀very฀few฀to฀make฀ sobering฀comments฀—฀questioning฀the฀true฀validity฀of฀the฀1911฀cataclysm฀and฀ wondering฀if฀the฀dictatorship฀of฀Yuan฀Shikai฀could฀truly฀be฀the฀consequence฀ of฀a฀“successful”฀revolution.6 ฀Not฀surprisingly,฀critics฀of฀Vajiravudh฀never฀ hesitate฀to฀point฀out฀that฀the฀monarch฀felt฀threatened฀by฀the฀possibility฀that฀ such฀a฀revolution฀might฀break฀out฀within฀his฀own฀realm,฀and฀that฀he฀therefore฀ preferred฀for฀the฀sake฀of฀his฀own฀political฀position฀that,฀not฀only฀the฀Xinhai,฀ but฀all฀revolutions,฀be฀deemed฀failures.฀This฀is฀probably฀not฀far฀from฀the฀ actual฀facts.฀Nonetheless,฀one฀should฀not฀be฀too฀quick฀to฀dismiss฀the฀critiques฀ of฀Asawaphahu฀as฀self-serving฀propaganda.฀Closer฀investigation฀reveals฀the฀ intriguing฀image฀of฀a฀Thai฀monarch฀who฀grasps฀with฀unexpected฀clarity฀the฀ complexity฀of฀Chinese฀politics฀in฀his฀own฀time.฀Even฀more฀noteworthy฀is฀the฀ fact฀that,฀despite฀his฀well฀crafted฀arguments฀and฀his฀position฀as฀head฀of฀state,฀ 06฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀131 8/24/11฀฀฀2:33:32฀PM 132 Wasana Wongsurawat Vajiravudh’s฀views฀on฀the฀revolution฀appear฀to฀have฀carried฀much฀less฀weight฀ than฀the฀outbursts฀of฀sheer฀enthusiasm฀from฀patriotic฀Overseas฀Chinese฀and฀ progressive฀Thai฀journalists฀of฀the฀early฀twentieth฀century.฀ The฀ major฀ difference฀ between฀ the฀ skepticism฀ of฀ Asawaphahu฀ and฀ the฀enthusiasm฀of฀supporters฀of฀the฀1911...