The Shan Rebellion

Moving beyond the familiar story of Siam fending off European colonialism, this book reveals a new historical subject: Siam as coloniser. As European powers expanded their presence in Southeast Asia at the end of the nineteenth century, Siam launched its own colonial project to assert control over tributary states that lay outside the Siamese heartland. Most important was Lanna (now northern Thailand), a region where Siamese, British, and French colonial ambitions intersected. The outbreak of the Shan rebellion in 1902 began with the violent dismantling of the Siamese colonial administration in Phrae, one of Lanna's principal towns. As the rebels began moving towards other centres, they tested the limits of Siamese power in Lanna. With the British having valuable commercial interests to protect and the French itching for an opportunity to expand their reach, Siam's colonial project faced a dangerous moment. Drawing on rich archival sources from Thailand, Burma, India, France and England, this outstanding study provides the first detailed account of the rebellion and its impact on competitive colonialism in mainland Southeast Asia.