SEF WW1.

This is coolbert:

SEF = Siamese Expeditionary Force. World War One.

Siam a participant in the Great War? Siam of course now called Thailand.

YES and we have the full story from the outstanding Internet web site The Mad Monarchist.

Read the whole article at Mad Monarchist. Herewith only the first paragraph as copied in entirety:

"The Siamese in the Great War"

"Most people, outside of the country [Siam] itself, probably have no idea that the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand) was a participant in the First World War. This is not too surprising given that the Siamese contribution was necessarily limited but the southeast Asian kingdom was a member of the Allied nations and, unlike some who declared war simply as a symbolic gesture, Siam actually participated militarily. World War One brings to mind the trenches and cratered landscape of Belgium and France but it was a global affair and Southeast Asia was actually fairly well represented in the conflict. Forces from French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) participated on the Salonika and Western Fronts for example, the British had a potentially dangerous mutiny by Muslim forces on their hands in Singapore (dealt with by the Japanese) and so on. The Kingdom of Siam, like many others frankly, had no real reason to get involved given that Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey had done them no harm but it was considered that participation would bring real benefits to Siam both domestically and on the world stage."

SIAM AT THE TIME BEING ENCROACHED UPON BY THE COLONIAL POWERS OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND. PARTICIPATING IN THE GREAT WAR ON THE SIDE OF THE ALLIES IT WAS THOUGHT MIGHT VERY WELL PRODUCE A LOT OF GOODWILL WITH CORDIAL RELATIONS AS A RESULT!!

Thank you as usual Mad Monarchist!

coolbert.