The origins of Chinese nationalism in Thailand

Abstract

This article studies fact about nationalism among the Chinese in Thailand, which appeared for the first time in mid-1905, using various data sources including newspapers in the early twentieth century and Thai-language documents. It has four main parts. The first examines a Japanese view of the overseas Chinese to locate a revolutionary cadre among the overseas Chinese. The second looks at the muted reception that Dr. Sun Yat Sen received from the overseas Chinese in Thailand on his first visit during May-June 1903. The third traces the rise of Chinese nationalism during the Russo-Japanese War, highlighting the key roles of the Chinese boycott of US goods and the foundation of the Tian Hua Hospital. The fourth describes the split of Chinese in Thailand into conservative and revolutionary factions around the time of Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s second visit to Thailand in 1908.