Siam was the sole country in
Southeast Asia to maintain independence throughout the colonial era, and the only state in the region to enter the conflict entirely of its own free will, as an equal of the European powers rather than as part of their colonial contingents; as well as being one of the only two Southeast Asian peoples/nations (the
other being the Vietnamese) to fought in the conflict. On 22 September 1917, Siam declared war on the
German and
Austro-Hungarian empires. Immediately, 320 German and Austro-Hungarian nationals were put under guard, with 193 non-diplomatic males being peacefully interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Bangkok. 124 German women and children, including the Thai wives and children of German men, were interned at the German Club. However, the presence of two internment camps in Bangkok raised fears in the government, whilst Britain began pressuring Siam to transport their POWs to India. Eventually, the interned Germans and Austro-Hungarians were deported to British India in February 1918, where they would be interned in camps in
Ahmednagar and
Belgaum until 1920. Apart from the immediate seizure of enemy nationals, nine German ships on the
Chao Phraya River were then seized by Siamese authorities. These ships would remain in Siamese control for several months before the largest seven were handed over to the Allies, with Siam keeping the smallest two. German businesses, assets and property were also seized. As a clear symbol of the new two-track strategy of active association with the world powers and of renewal and restructuring within the nation, the King authorised a re-design of the
national flag. The new flag had an extra colour, blue, and was arranged in stripes. It was said to represent the three elements of the nation: creed, crown, and community. Representation of the military was subsumed between the King and the people. The new colours of blue, white, and red, also sat comfortably, almost certainly deliberately, with the
flags of Great Britain,
France, the
United States, and
Russia. The new flag appeared on the 28 September 1917. Initially, two variants were common: the current
minimalist five horizontal bands and a variant maintaining the continuity and prestige of the old flag, with the traditional white elephant symbol on a red disc, from the old flag, superimposed over the new stripes, a variant the remains today the flag of the
Royal Thai Navy. When the Siamese Expeditionary Force marched in the 1919 Paris victory parade, it was beneath the hybrid flag. In September 1917, a
volunteer expeditionary force was assembled, consisting of medical, motor transport, and aviation detachments. By early-1918, 1,284 men were selected from thousands of volunteers. The force, commanded by Major-General
Phraya Pichai Charnyarit, was to be sent to France. On 30 July 1918, the Siamese landed in
Marseille. Some 370 pilots and
groundcrew were sent to aerodromes in
Istres,
Le Crotoy,
La Chapelle-la-Reine,
Biscarosse and Piox for retraining, as the pilots were deemed incapable of withstanding high altitude air combat. Also in August 1918, the medical and motor transport detachments were sent to the front and took part in the 1918 Champagne and
Meuse-Argonne offensives. Siamese airmen had not finished training when the time the
Armistice of 11 November 1918 was signed. The ground forces, on the other hand, had distinguished themselves under fire and were awarded the
Croix de Guerre and
Order of Rama decorations. The ground forces participated in the occupation of Neustadt an der Haardt in the
Rhineland region of Germany and also took part in the
1919 Paris Victory Parade. ==Equipment==