The purpose of this thesis is to study Thailand's foreign relations. The specific argument will be that, to a large extent, Thailand was able to keep her independence because of her rulers' ability to adapt the country's policy to the changing circumstances in foreign affairs. Therefore, it was imperative for policymakers to look at the threats to the country's security from the local point of view and to develop appropriate policies for dealing with them accordingly. The thesis is organized into six chapters. After the introductory chapter, the second and third chapters examine the historical development and the general features of the foreign relations of Thailand, respectively. Chapter Four deals with the change in the direction of foreign policy after the Second World War. In contrast to the traditional foreign policy, the government under military dictatorship gradually moved in the direction of the Western, especially American, position. The positive and negative consequences of the pro-American policy are treated in Chapter Five, It is pointed out that this policy contributed to the sharp increase in activity of Communist insurgents in various parts of the country. By comparing the post-war foreign policy with the traditional policy prior to that time, a conclusion …

This study has a twofold purpose: to demonstrate the causes of and various responses (British domestic, Iranian, Arabian, American, and Soviet) to the British decision to withdraw and to illustrate the regional political consequences of that withdrawal. The British Labour Government decision resulted primarily from an economic crisis. The various responses to the decision seem to have been motivated by national self-interest. Some of the Gulf states-- Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait--predicted that the consequences of the withdrawal would be desirable while others--Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates-- predicted that the consequences would not be beneficial. In some ways, both sides were correct in their predictions.