Siam 1906

Thailand is one of those very few nations that remained unaffected by direct European colonisation throughout the time when its neighbours were swinging between British and French powers. The pre-colonisation Thailand had the Ayutthaya Kingdom (a name derived from the Indian city of Ayodhya) that existed for almost four centuries between 1351 to 1767. On several old maps, today's city of Ayutthaya (or Nakhon Si Ayutthaya) is mentioned as Siam or Iudea, a corrupt European spelling for Ayutthaya. Although Thailand was never really a European colony, it was colonised by Asian powers such as Burma and China. 

But between 1904 to 1925, France and Britain did divide Thailand into their respective spheres of influence. This division isn't the same as a colonial division in other countries. A pact was signed between the two countries known as Entente Cordiale that ended all significant areas of friction between the two colonial powers. But both the powers mutually denounced annexing and colonising Thailand, making it different from colonisation. This tension between the two forces started in the 1880s when the French penetrated Siamese possessions in Laos and Cambodia as far as the Mekong River, posing a considerable threat to the territorial expansion of Britain in India, Burma and Malaya. Hence, a pact was signed in 1904 to end this anxiety and treat Siam as a buffer zone between the two colonial territories of India, Burma and Indochina. 

But Thailand wasn't the only country divided into various colonial 'spheres of influence'. After the downfall of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, the Sykes-Picot Agreement was signed between Britain and France in 1916, dividing Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Similarly, China had various colonial spheres of influence wherein European powers had established their respective trade centres in the coastal towns such as Shanghai, Peking (Beijing), Amoy (Xiamen), Tientsin (Tianjin) etc. 

Another interesting phenomenon in Thai history was its name change from Siam to Thailand. The name change occurred twice, firstly in 1939 and firmly again in 1948 after the Tai tribe that is spread majorly in Thailand and parts of Laos, Vietnam, China, Burma and even India. Its local name is Prathet Thai, while the word Siam originates from Sanskrit for brown or dark, Shyam. This is interesting as once Thailand had a range of Sanskrit-derived settlements such as Sri Deva, Bhimapura, Lavapura, Mahendraparvata, Yasodharapura, Amarendrapura etc. Even today, several places in Thailand and Cambodia have their origin in Sanskrit, such as Uttaradit, Ayutthaya (from Ayodhya), Phetchaburi (from Vijayapura), Ratchaburi (from Rajaraja), Sukhothai (from Sukh and Udaya) etc. 

The Hindu and Sanskrit touch in southeast Asia declined with changing times, colonisation, far from the main Indian sphere, and a lack of central authority. But still, on several older maps, the territories to the east of Burma were known as the Hindoo States. With the phonetic evolution, consonant shifts and influence from surrounding languages, the Sanskritised names of these cities became more Thai. But on careful inspection, one would realise modern Thai settlement's Sanskrit origins. Here are a few interesting examples: 

• Phitsnulok - originates from Vishnu-lok (विष्णुलोक)
• Chantaburi - originates from Chandra-puri (चन्द्रपुरी)
• Ratchaburi - originates from Raja-puri (राजापुरी)
• Prachinburi - originates from Prachin-puri (प्राचीनपुरी)
• Sukhothai - originates from Sukha-sthana (सुखस्थान)
• Surat Thani - originates from Surya-sthana (सूर्यस्थान)
• Singburi - originates from Singha-puri; the same origin for Singapore (सिंहापुरी / सिंगापुर )

Here's a recreated version of Siam and neighbours dating 1904 by the original cartographer, Edward Stanford.