AH Challenge: Drag Thailand In

The 1960s and 1970s involved a great deal of war in Southeast Asia, most notably in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In OTL, Thailand was an important base of operations for the American military.

Your challenge is to make Thailand have to battle a Communist or rebel insurgency inside their borders, much like their Vietnamese or Laotian neighbors.

A possible route could include the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT), although AFAIK they were never all that effective. Another possibility could be an insurgency on the part of discontented Thai Muslims.

What could the effects be of the greater conflict in Southeast Asia spilling over onto Thai soil? How would America and the rest of the world react--notably, would this increase America's belief in the Domino Theory? IIRC Thailand was ruled by a military junta at the time. How would the government react to an insurgency against them?
 
Your challenge is to make Thailand have to battle a Communist or rebel insurgency inside their borders, much like their Vietnamese or Laotian neighbors.

They did. They won.

A possible route could include the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT), although AFAIK they were never all that effective. Another possibility could be an insurgency on the part of discontented Thai Muslims.

Actually, the Thais faced both during the 1970s and into the 1980s. They defeated both insurgencies, the communist one collapsing completely between 1976 and 1982.

What could the effects be of the greater conflict in Southeast Asia spilling over onto Thai soil?

The Vietnamese actually did a two-division invasion of Thailand in (IIRC) March 1980. The Thais drove them back in a two-day battle at a place called Mon Mak Moon. The international community did very little/

How would America and the rest of the world react--notably, would this increase America's belief in the Domino Theory? IIRC Thailand was ruled by a military junta at the time. How would the government react to an insurgency against them?

It's a non-question really; they were faced with such an insurgency and they defeated it by using rather sophisticated counter-insurgency techniques that represented a blend of French and British experience with their own abilities.

Sorry, but this isn't a what-if. Essentially your describing the OTL situation in Thailand between 1965 and 1985.
 
Sorry, but this isn't a what-if. Essentially your describing the OTL situation in Thailand between 1965 and 1985.

Oh. Well then, that kind of takes the wind out of my sails.

How about this ... WI the Thais hadn't been as successful against these insurgencies, and the threat to the government ended up being much stronger and well-organized?
 
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