AHC: How Do You Make Siam/Thailand A Great Power?

It doesn't matter how you do it, but at least one of these criteria should be met:

Economic: Thailand is, at the very least, a major economic hub in Asia the way Japan is today. Could be through industrialization, finance, whatever.

Military: Thailand is one of the strongest countries in South East Asia, able to project power anywhere in the region., including Japan, Korea, and China. All of the Western countries clamor to be their friend. For this I'll be a bit specific, they must have a strong, blue water navy capable of going toe-to-toe with, I'll say today's Royal Navy.

Cultural: Thailand's culture is adopted by most countries in South East Asia (and even the Far East).

So, I'm looking for a POD that will let them rival Japan by 1935 and meet one of the above criteria by 2000. Anyone want to take a shot?
 
Well they did try modernising OTL, so maybe if they met more success? Perhaps if Japan and the USA gave them backing against France and the UK?
 
The main problem would be population, or so I think. In pre modern times, Thailands population was much lower then China or Japans. Even Indochina combined had a lower population. Now im not sure whether Thailand was capable of supporting more people, but if it was, then thats a main POD right there. I would guess if you could get a population of 15 million by 1800, then Thailand will have a solid population base which will be a major help in becoming a great power.
 
Perhaps the Palace Revolt of 1912 is successful and you end up with a 'revolutionary' republic in Siam? Industrialization, and capitalization, especially using foreign sources of capitol, could lead to Siam becoming a regional power.
 
I tried, but I don't see it.

If you make Thailand have a bit more success and avoid all the British & French territory grabs, you still end up with a 1922 population of 14,420,000. If you have Thailand be a bit more successful against Burma and get that stuff that sticks down, you get a population of 16,130,000 and some nice oil.

But Japan has a population of 57,650,000, with Korea at 17,650,000, itself larger than Mega-Thailand. On the other hand, today Mega-Thailand would have a population of 100,000,000 - maybe higher without all the unpleasantries in Cambodia an Laos, and the outlying areas would probably be much better economically developed.

Of these areas, most of the territory in Laos and Burma is Thai-populated; so there may be some issues with Malays and Khmers, but Thailand is already multi-ethnic and hasn't had any insurmountable problems so far.

Regarding resources, it's probably a bit better off than Japan, but it's going to get a later start. I don't see an equivalent power to Japan being possible, or having a navy as capable as the RN, but you could have a totally predominant Thailand in SE Asia.
 
Er, shameless plug: my timeline below is centered around a Thai equivalent nation becoming a great power.
 
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