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The Kra Canal and Thai Security

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The Kra Canal and Thai Security View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive Theses and Dissertations Thesis Collection 2002-06 The Kra Canal and Thai security Thongsin, Amonthep Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School http://hdl.handle.net/10945/5829 NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California THESIS THE KRA CANAL AND THAI SECURITY by Amonthep Thongsin June 2002 Thesis Advisor: Robert E. Looney Thesis Co-Advisor: William Gates Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED June 2002 Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE: The Kra Canal and Thai Security 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Thongsin, Amonthep 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING Naval Postgraduate School ORGANIZATION REPORT Monterey, CA 93943-5000 NUMBER 9. SPONSORING /MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) This thesis addresses the possible consequences of the Kra Canal on both Thai Sea Power and Thai Security. The thesis starts by discussing the history of the Kra Canal, from the Ayutthaya period to the present. After analyzing the impact of the project on Thai Sea Power using the ideas of Alfred Thayer Mahan, the thesis concludes that the Kra Canal plays a major role on Thai Sea Power because the canal benefits both the Royal Thai Navy and Thai maritime commerce. Finally, the thesis examines the possible consequences of the Kra Canal project on Thai Security. In this case, the thesis found that the Kra Canal contributes to Thai Security because it benefits Thailand in handling tension involving its neighbors. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF The Kra Canal, Thai Sea Power, Thai Security. PAGES 64 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY 18. SECURITY 19. SECURITY 20. LIMITATION CLASSIFICATION OF CLASSIFICATION OF THIS CLASSIFICATION OF OF ABSTRACT REPORT PAGE ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified UL NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18 i THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited THE KRA CANAL AND THAI SECURITY Amonthep Thongsin Lieutenant, The Royal Thai Navy B.S., The Royal Thai Naval Academy, 1996 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN RESOURCE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL June 2002 Author: Amonthep Thongsin Approved by: Robert E. Looney Thesis Advisor William Gates Thesis Co-Advisor Douglas A. Brook, Ph.D. Dean, Graduate School of Business and Public Policy iii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK iv ABSTRACT This thesis addresses the possible consequences of the Kra Canal on both Thai Sea Power and Thai Security. The thesis starts by discussing the history of the Kra Canal, from the Ayutthaya period to the present. After analyzing the impact of the project on Thai Sea Power using the ideas of Alfred Thayer Mahan, the thesis concludes that the Kra Canal plays a major role on Thai Sea Power because the canal benefits both the Royal Thai Navy and Thai maritime commerce. Finally, the thesis examines the possible consequences of the Kra Canal project on Thai Security. In this case, the thesis found that the Kra Canal contributes to Thai Security because it benefits Thailand in handling tension involving its neighbors. v THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK vi TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 1 A. HYPOTHESIS................................................................................................. 2 B. METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................... 2 C. REASEARCH SCOPE ................................................................................... 2 D. ORGANIZATION OF STUDY...................................................................... 3 II. HISTORY OF THE KRA CANAL ........................................................................... 5 A. THE AYUTTHAYA PERIOD ....................................................................... 5 B. THE RATANAKOSIN PERIOD................................................................... 7 C. THE CONSTITUTION PERIOD.................................................................. 9 D. THE PRESENT............................................................................................. 10 E. SUMMARY.................................................................................................... 10 III. SEA POWER............................................................................................................. 13 A. SEA POWER AND WEALTH .................................................................... 13 B. THAI SEA POWER...................................................................................... 14 1. The Royal Thai Fleet......................................................................... 15 2. Thai Naval Bases ............................................................................... 17 3. Thai Commercial Fleet ..................................................................... 18 4. Thai Commercial Ports..................................................................... 19 5. Summary............................................................................................ 20 C. THE KRA CANAL AND THAI SEA POWER.......................................... 21 D. SUMMARY.................................................................................................... 23 IV. NATIONAL SECURITY.......................................................................................... 25 A. INFLUENCE OF THAILAND’S NEIGHBORS ....................................... 25 1. Thailand’s Neighbors........................................................................ 25 B. BURMA.......................................................................................................... 27 C. LAOS.............................................................................................................. 31 D. CAMBODIA .................................................................................................. 34 E. MALAYSIA ................................................................................................... 35 F. THE KRA CANAL AND THAI SECURITY............................................. 36 V. SUMMARY................................................................................................................ 39 A. THE KRA CANAL ....................................................................................... 39 B. HYPOTHESES.............................................................................................. 39 1. First Hypothesis................................................................................. 40 a. The Royal Thai Navy.............................................................. 40 b. Thai maritime commerce ....................................................... 40 2. Second Hypothesis............................................................................. 41 a. Burmese case .......................................................................... 41 b. Lao case .................................................................................. 41 c. Malaysian case ....................................................................... 41 vii BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 43 INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST ........................................................................................ 47 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Thailand.............................................................................................. 26 ix THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK x LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Type of His Majesty Ships in the Royal Thai Fleet ........................................ 16 Table 2. Naval Area Command..................................................................................... 17 Table 3. Ethnic groups in Burma................................................................................... 27 xi THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
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