日タイ同盟下の軍費交渉 1941~1944

書誌事項

タイトル別名
  • Military Expenditure Negotiations under the Japan-Thai Alliance Pact of 1941-1944
  • ニチ タイ ドウメイカ ノ グンピ コウショウ 1941 1944

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Actual state of Japan-Thai relations under the Pact of Alliance between the two countries during the Second World War is a theme of seemingly great interest in both modern Thai and Japanese history, but very little specific research on the subject exists today. This is because it is impossible to draw a detailed picture of the situation by using only Japanese materials, since there exists almost nothing. As to the Thai materials, there are plenty of diplomatic records, which, unfortunately, have yet to be examined thoroughly.<br>This study is an attempt to clarify some aspects of the real conditions o Thai-Japan relations under the Alliance Pact through investigating these dipf lomatic documents, especially those concerning military expenditures for the Japanese forces.<br>From the start of the war, the Japanese Government, relying on the Alliance Pact, demanded that the Thai Government supply baht funds to cover the military expenditures by the Japanese forces stationed in Thailand. Such expenditures included not only every cost of maintaining Japanese soldiers and sailors physically, but also the total cost of constructing military railways, strategical roads, aerodromes, wooden ships, military positions, and so on. Therefore, whether it was supplied fully or not was a matter of life and death for the Japanese forces. The amount was agreed to after negotiations between the Japanese Embassy in Thailand and the Thai Government conducted every 6 months. A mere 15 million baht were paid for the first half of 1942, but the amount increased to 470 million baht for the first half of 1945. To meet the Japanese request, the Bank of Thailand, which was established according to demands made by the Japanese Government in late 1942, issued baht notes against “special yen” as reserves. In addition to imported goods shortage during wartime, issuing unlimited amounts of baht notes caused a deteriorating inflationary effect on the Thai economy. The amount of notes in circulation increased form 275 million baht at the end of Nov. 1941 to 1, 993 million baht at the end of Aug. 1945. The consumer price index in Bangkok increased more than three times within the 2 years following the beginning of the War.<br>The first agreement for the first half of 1942 signed on 20 Dec. 1941 took the form of a loan which would be repayed in gold. Thereafter, on 21 April 1942 the Wanit economic misson visited Japan and agreed that all payments, including both commercial and non-commercial, between Japan and Thailand were to be made in special yen. Relying on this agreement, a system of granting reciprocal credit was adopted. The Japanese Government expected to get baht funds in exchange for special yen without repaying in gold. In spite of such expectetions, however, the Thai Finance Minister urged Japan to sell gold against special yen up to 50 percent of the baht funds supplyed by the Thai Government in order to stabilize its currency, and they finally succeeded in obtaining that amount of gold. They continued to insist on purchasing gold against special yen in the negotiation concerning military expenditure for the first 6 months of 1943.

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